Category: English

The elusive illusive

By Simon

Sometimes you think you know a word, but when you check it, you discover that you’ve mixed it up with a similar-sounding word. That’s what happened to me this week with the words elusive and illusive. Without looking them up, do you know what they mean?

When you’re searching for something but have trouble finding it, that thing is elusive. According to the Collins English Dictionary, it means:

1. difficult to catch (an elusive thief)
2. preferring or living in solitude and anonymity
3. difficult to remember (an elusive thought)

So something that is elusive might difficult to find, describe, remember, or achieve.

Illusive, on the other hand, means illusory or unreal.

So something that is illusive could also be elusive.

Elusive comes from the Latin elus-, the past participle stem of eludere (to elude, frustrate) plus the -ive ending. Elude comes from ex- (out, away) and ludere (to play) [source].

Illusive comes from illusion + -ive. Illusion comes from the Old French illusion (a mocking, deceit, deception), from the Latin illusionem (a mocking, jesting, jeering; irony), from the past participle stem of illudere (mock at), from in- (at, upon) and ludere (to play) [source].

Rowing your boat

By Simon

The French equivalent of to go for a row (in a boat), is faire un tour en barque or faire de la barque, and to row (a boat) is ramer, which also means to stake, although if you’re rowing as a sport then it’s faire de l’aviron.

A barque is a small boat or rowing boat, a barque de pêche is a fishing boat, a patron de barque is a skipper. Aviron is rowing or an oar, which is also main d’aviron or pagaie, and avironner means to paddle, which is also pagayer.

To ram in French is percuter, and a battering ram is a bélier, which is also a ram (male sheep).

A row (noise) in French is un vacarme, and a row (noisy argument) une dispute and to row is se disputer.

So to have a row [raʊ] while going for a row [rəʊ] would be “se disputer en faire un tour en barque”, I think.

Source: Reverso

Micro-learning

By Simon

I got an email yesterday from someone who is “developing a micro-learning program dedicated to language learning”. This was the first time I’d heard the term micro-learning so I wasn’t entirely sure what it meant.

According to Wikipedia, microlearning “deals with relatively small learning units and short-term learning activities”. This sounds like the technique some people recommend of using whatever spare moments you have to learn a bit more of a language, or whatever you’re studying.

Do you engage in microlearning?

Do you find it a good way to learn?

I’ve tried this, and find it can be quite effective, but prefer to learn in a focused way with as few distractions as possible for a longer time – about 30 minutes seems work best for me.

Peripatetic false friends

By Simon

The English word peripatetic means “tending to walk about; constantly travelling; itinerant; nomadic”. It is also related to Aristotle, his philosophy, and the school of thought he founded. A peripatetic teacher is one who teaches in a number of different schools, and it’s common, at least in the UK, for music teachers and sometimes language teachers, to be peripatetic.

It comes from the French péripatétique, from the Latin peripatēticus, from Ancient Greek περιπατητικός ‎(peripatētikós – given to walking around), from περιπατέω ‎(peripatéō – I walk around), from περί ‎(perí – around) and πατέω ‎(patéō – I walk). The French and Latin words mean “of or relating to Aristotle and his philosophy” [source].

The French for a peripatetic teacher is enseignant itinérant, and a travelling salesman is vendeur ambulant and a busker is musicien ambulant. The word péripatéticien(ne) does exist in French, but refers to a streetwalker / prostitute [source]. So should be handled with caution.

In the Land of the Eagles

By Simon

Snowdon / Yr Wyddfa

Yesterday I climbed Snowdon with other members of the Bangor Ukulele Society. We set off from Pen-y-Pass (The head/top of the pass) and took the Miner’s Track to the top, then went down the Llanberis Path. On the way up and the way down we stopped a number of times to sing a few songs, and got a bit of an audience in places.

The name Snowdon comes from the Old English for “snow hill”, and the Welsh name – Yr Wyddfa [əɾ ˈwɨ̞ðva] – means “the tumulus” or “burial mound”. According to legend a giant known as Rhitta Gawr was buried there after being defeated by King Arthur [source].

Snowdonia, the region in which Snowdon sits, is known as yr Eryri [əɾ ɛrˈərɪ] in Welsh. I was told yesterday that this comes from the word eryr (eagle) so is poetically translated as “The Land of the Eagles”. However this is apparently a folk etymology and it actually comes from the Latin word orīrī, from orīor (to rise, get up, appear, exist) and means highland or upland [source].

The Latin word orīor comes from the Proto-Indo-European *(H)r ̊-nw- ‎(to flow, move, run), which is also the root of the Middle Irish rian ‎(river, way), the Old Church Slavonic reka ‎(river), the Latin rivus ‎(stream), the Sanskrit ऋति ‎(ṛti – course, way), and the Gaulish *Renos ‎(that which flows), which is where the name of the river Rhine comes from [source].

Do we have a moving forward position?

By Simon

I often receive emails from advertisers and people who run advertising networks wanting to place their ads on Omniglot. Or as they put it, they want to “buy redundant inventory” or “buy website traffic”. They talk about fill rates, CPMs, passback options, DSPs, geos, volume impressions and monetization strategies. Recently one asked me to let them know “if we have a moving forward position”, after an exchange of emails.

I know what some of this jargon means, and have looked up the rest, but I still don’t fully understand some of it, and don’t think it’s worth the effort. Usually I just say I’m not interested.

I don’t really have a monetization strategy for Omniglot – I just place ads and affiliate links that I think are relevant, and make sure they don’t get in the way of the content. This seems to work as I’m making a good living from the site.

Jargon like this develops in many fields. It’s a quick way of referring to things that you often talk about. However it is only really meaningful to others in your field. Outsiders can find it impenetrable and might need some help, not only to understand the terms, but also the concepts behind them.

Some jargon, especially business jargon, doesn’t really mean anything – blue sky thinking outside the box, and all that.

Do you use jargon?

Do you have any interesting examples of jargon you use, or have heard others using?

Les mots de la semaine

By Simon
français English Cymraeg
ambulant travelling teithiol
crwydrol
vendeur ambulant travelling salesman trafaeliwr
trafeiliwr
marchand ambulant
commerçant ambulant		 peddler / pedlar
street vendor
huckster		 pedlar
pacmon
musicien ambulant busker clerwr
cerddor stryd
cerddor crwydrol
catastrophe ambulante walking disaster trychineb gerddol
enseignant itinérant peripatetic teacher athro peripatetig / teithiol / cylchynol
professeur remplaçant supply teacher athro llanw / athrawes lanw
péripatéticien(ne) peripatetic
streetwalker		 crwydryn
putain; merch ddrwg
la cohérence consistency cysondeb
cysonder
principalement
surtout		 mainly yn bennaf
gan mwyaf
souhaiter to wish (to do sth) dymuno (gwneud rhywbeth)
faire un vœu to make a wish
to wish for sth		 dymuno
J’aimerais bien I wish! Mi hoffwn i
Byddai’n dda gen i
secours help; aid; rescue; relief cymorth
secourir to help; to aid; to assist cynorthwyo
helpu
aider to help; to assist cynorthwyo
helpu
la relecture proofreading darllen proflenni
cywiro proflenni
la rédaction (copy) editing golygu (copi)

Soggy days

By Simon

This morning the weather app on my phone told me that it would be a soggy day today. It wasn’t wrong – it rained all morning and much of the afternoon. When I saw the word soggy I started wondering whether days could be described as soggy in other languages.

It seems you can talk about un printemps détrempé (a soggy spring) in French, according to Reverso, though I don’t know how commonly this expression is used.

How about in other languages?

Earth apple in the garden dress

By Simon

Baked potato

An interesting French expression I learnt last week was “pomme de terre dans la robe de jardin” or literally “apple of the earth in the dress of the garden”, which is apparently one way French speakers refer to a baked / jacket potato.

Other names include:

– pomme de terre au four = lit. “apple of the earth in the oven”
– pomme de terre cuite au four = lit. “apple of the earth cooked in the oven”
– pomme de terre en robe des champs = lit. “apple of the earth in the dress of the fields”

Are these expressions all used in French?

Are baked potatoes popular in French-speaking countries?

How about in other countries?

In the UK a baked potato can be a meal in itself. They are often served with cheese, tuna and other fillings – my favourite is cheese and bacon. Is this a peculiarly British thing?