this post was submitted on 05 Sep 2023
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Curated Tumblr

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For preserving the least toxic and most culturally relevant Tumblr heritage posts.

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Don't be mean. I promise to do my best to judge that fairly.

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[–] nottheengineer@feddit.de 45 points 2 years ago (3 children)

And then there's Zangendeutsch, where germans replace every single loanword with a calque. It doesn't matter how much sense it makes, all that matters is that it's technically correct.

[–] Duke_Nukem_1990@feddit.de 14 points 2 years ago (1 children)
[–] DasRubberDuck@feddit.de 14 points 2 years ago (1 children)
[–] Duke_Nukem_1990@feddit.de 9 points 2 years ago (2 children)
[–] onichama@feddit.de 9 points 2 years ago (1 children)
[–] Duke_Nukem_1990@feddit.de 6 points 2 years ago (1 children)
[–] Chariotwheel@kbin.social 7 points 2 years ago (1 children)
[–] OtherPetard@feddit.nl 2 points 2 years ago

Love how all these accounts are from feddit.de

[–] unexposedhazard@discuss.tchncs.de -3 points 2 years ago* (last edited 2 years ago)
[–] SolarNialamide@lemm.ee 6 points 2 years ago

I kinda love that about German though. In Dutch we don't do that and I feel like it's approaching silly levels with the English words we just take over as is, even if there is or could be a much better Dutch alternative. With how much we want to be America and how badly we want to be relevant it just seems very try-hard, while Chad Germany is confident in its language and culture and doesn't need to bend to Angelsaksisch gebrabbel.

[–] TheGreenGolem@lemm.ee 2 points 2 years ago

I also very much love to translate things literally, I mean word by word instead of the meaning. My friends very, very much hate it. It's glorious.

[–] IndefiniteBen@feddit.nl 45 points 2 years ago (2 children)

Post about linguistics, but they used i.e. when they meant e.g.

[–] Erika2rsis@lemmy.blahaj.zone 29 points 2 years ago (2 children)

Anyone looking to remember the difference: "id est" (that is) vs "exemplī grātiā" (for the sake of an example). You use the first to clarify meaning, and the second to begin a non-exhaustive list of examples.

What matters is ultimately if you can convey your ideas, so using the wrong term is fine when people can still figure out what you meant. But it's still a good idea to learn the difference, because there will be times when mixing up "i.e." and "e.g." will create ambiguity or misunderstanding.

The best idea is maybe to use "for example" or "that is to say". The former could be abbreviated to "f.ex." like in Norwegian, and the latter could be abbreviated "t.i.t.s."

...Alright, on second thought maybe don't abbreviate that one.

In any case, the Wikipedia Manual of Style recommends avoiding use of "e.g." and "i.e." in regular running text altogether, saying that these abbreviations are better fit for parentheticals, quotations, citations, tables, and lists. This is because there is no word or character limit on Wikipedia, nor is there on Tumblr, and so the language is more clear when abbreviations are avoided. Even when someone is using "i.e." and "e.g." in the prescribed way, that doesn't guarantee that the reader knows the distinction.

[–] Hexarei@programming.dev 14 points 2 years ago (1 children)

I remember "eg" as "example given" and "ie" as "in explanation". Nice mnemonic ways imho

[–] AEsheron@lemmy.world 2 points 2 years ago

I remember it as eg-zample.

[–] _number8_@lemmy.world 3 points 2 years ago (3 children)

what is the point of the distinction even? 'that is' make sense to introduce an example and vice versa

[–] IndefiniteBen@feddit.nl 11 points 2 years ago

To add to the explanations, here are some examples that might help:
There are various transportation methods, e.g. cars

There are various transportation methods, i.e. ways for a person to move from one location to another

[–] Erika2rsis@lemmy.blahaj.zone 9 points 2 years ago* (last edited 2 years ago)

I guess another way to put it is that "i.e." is more specific while "e.g." is more general. So "i.e." carries an energy of "I am referring very specifically to the following" while "e.g." means "there are other things that I'm not mentioning". So the use of "i.e." in the Tumblr post would imply that "tattoo", "sushi", and "guillotine" are the only loanwords in the English language.

[–] dream_weasel@sh.itjust.works 4 points 2 years ago (1 children)

One gives a definition or clarification and the other is a set of examples. If you do that with a word that your listener has never seen or heard before, you will miscommunicate.

Here watch when I use made up words:

I enjoy multifacetous martialific numbrate (i.e., chess).

If I selected carelessly, does this mean I like games or that I specifically like chess? Maybe here it doesn't matter, but what if I'm describing a category of things I'm allergic to vs a specific example? It's worth being able to articulate either case distinctly no?

[–] stevehobbes@lemmy.world 4 points 2 years ago

Not just specific example. i.e. when used in contract law is a limited list of things covered.

Acts of god (i.e. fire or flood) would not include hail or rain or lightning or….

Acts of god (e.g. fire or flood) would include anything you could argue to a judge is an act of god.

If they use ie in a contract, you would first have to argue they didn’t mean to use ie and both parties believes them not to be a complete list, and were supposed to be examples of.

[–] _number8_@lemmy.world 13 points 2 years ago (1 children)

curated tumblr is the best sub on reddit and lemmy

[–] Toldry@lemmy.world 7 points 2 years ago (1 children)

curated lemmy is the best blog in tumblr

[–] Rentlar@lemmy.ca 7 points 2 years ago (1 children)

It will be a memorable day when I see on Lemmy a screenshot of a Twitter, Tumblr or Reddit post screenshotting Lemmy.

[–] Viking_Hippie@lemmy.world 2 points 2 years ago

A facebook post screenshot of a tumblr post of a twitter screenshot of a reddit screenshot of a threads screenshot of a lemmy post. Also known as the social media singularity.

[–] Squids@sopuli.xyz 13 points 2 years ago (2 children)

Does guillotine count as a loanword when it's actually named after someone? That's like saying pasteurise is a loanword because Louis Pasteur was French, even though the word is clearly just his name

[–] SolarNialamide@lemm.ee 7 points 2 years ago

Fun fact about the guillotine, it's not named after the person who 'invented' it (there were other iterations outside of France). Or well, it was briefly, it was called the louisette after Antoine Louis, but the guy named Guillotin was just the person who proposed using it as a more humane way to carry out the death penalty instead of the more brutal breaking wheel at the very beginning of the French Revolution.

[–] Canadian_Cabinet@lemmy.ca 4 points 2 years ago

While I'd say no in English, the word is at least a loan word in Spanish

[–] Jax@sh.itjust.works 11 points 2 years ago (2 children)

"Did anyone notice the funny that you could literally only guess at?"

Odd way to write.

[–] Turun@feddit.de 7 points 2 years ago* (last edited 2 years ago) (1 children)

Well, it is obvious that calque is not a calque. But I did not care to notice that until it was pointed out explicitly.

[–] Comment105@lemm.ee 3 points 2 years ago (1 children)

"...I did not care to notice..."

[–] Turun@feddit.de 2 points 2 years ago (1 children)

English is my second language. How should it be written instead?

[–] Pizza@lemmy.world 3 points 2 years ago

I don't think it was wrong. In fact, it's such a good phrase that I'm going to incorporate it into my vocabulary

[–] paraphrand@lemmy.world 2 points 2 years ago

Neurodivergence.

[–] Damage@feddit.it 7 points 2 years ago

Orca is a much better name for killer whales

[–] PetrichorBias@lemmy.one 5 points 2 years ago (1 children)

Felt like I was having a déjà vu when watching Tom Scott's latest video (https://youtu.be/TFpzps-DCb0) but I dug a bit deep to find where I read it. He spoke about the same thing!

[–] HonoraryMancunian@lemmy.world 5 points 2 years ago

He totally saw this meme when it was doing the rounds

[–] Gogenon@lemmy.world 2 points 2 years ago

You borrowed the wrong word for killer whale. In Swedish its "lard stabber" and that is a infinitely better name.

[–] ToyDork@sh.itjust.works 1 points 2 years ago

This hurts my brain.

[–] Etterra@lemmy.world 0 points 2 years ago (2 children)

Hey Japan? Yeah we already have three discreet words for "savory," "meaty," and "delicious" - you can have your ambiguous catch-all back.

[–] drislands@lemmy.world 1 points 2 years ago

Which one is that? Umami?

[–] Classy@sh.itjust.works 1 points 2 years ago (1 children)

Sure but having a singular catchall for the phenomena around that taste is actually better and I would argue more discrete (wait wtf is it discrete or discreet?). Imagine if we had to describe the fundamental tastes like this:

  • Salty
  • Sweet
  • Sour
  • Bitter
  • Savory, meaty and delicious
[–] rooster_butt@lemm.ee 1 points 2 years ago* (last edited 2 years ago)

discrete

That's the correct one for your usage of it.