Ayudh, I will check that out, sounds interesting. James, off the top of my head I don't know of any really good online sources. My knowledge is the remnants of an arts degree majoring in linguistics. The relationship between the French derivations and formal/technical registers is well documented, though. As an example, check out this page (specifically section two):
http://www.signiform.com/french/ff.htm On Wed, 06 Oct 2004 22:18:54 +1000, Ayudh Nagara <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > You might want to check out "The Rise and Fall of the Third Chimpanzee" > by Jared Diamond. Although it probably covers a much wider time span > than what we're talking of here, there's some really interesting > chapters on the evolution of language and culture through mass > migrations and conquests throughout human history. If nothing else, you > can start dropping terms like "Proto Indo European" and add a few > colorful Pidgin phrases to your vocabulary to spice up your > conversation. :-) > > > > James Macpherson wrote: > > That's pretty interesting Ben, do you know of somewhere online I could read more? > > > > I mean, that's a pretty cool observation (however since most of our words are of a > > Germanic origin I'm not suprised most offensive words are, but what would suprise > > me is something demonstrating more of the polite French words - I have no > > profanity filter here so I'm happy to go to a good website reference :-) > > > > Good post! > > > > - James > > > > > >>-----Original Message----- > >>From: Ben Smith [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] > >>Sent: Wednesday, 6 October 2004 1:58 PM > >>To: CFAussie Mailing List > >>Subject: [cfaussie] Re: Profanity in Posts > >> > >> > >>Interestingly, most words considered crude and vulgar in English are > >>of Germanic origin, which is why German often sounds blunt and > >>unrefined to our ears. English is at its most basic origins a Germanic > >>language, and when the Normans invaded in 1066, they established > >>French as the language of the nobility. Most sophisticated or polite > >>terms are French in origin. I'd give a few side-by-side comparisons > >>but I don't want to trip off anyone's profanity filter :) > >> > >>A less offensive way of illustrating things is to look at the > >>etymology of the different ways of describing food animals. It sounds > >>vulgar and crude to say you ate "cow" for dinner, you'd call it beef. > >>Beef comes from the old French "buef" whereas cow is from the old > >>English "cu". Likewise, "swine" = old English "swin", pork = old > >>French "porc". > >> > >> > >>On Wed, 6 Oct 2004 13:39:48 +1000, Barry Beattie > >><[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > >> > >>>but all this about profane words is a carry on from the elitist > >>>attutudes of imperial Europe where words we are "offended" at were > >>>commonplace in some social circles and classes and it was social > >>>conditioning that placed them in the "bad" category > >>> > >>>those who have done any history of language will know what I mean... > >>> > >>>to back this up, check out this history of a word we take > >> > >>for granted: > >> > >>>http://www.softlab.ece.ntua.gr/~sivann/pub/swf/english_f-word.swf > >>> > >>>cheers > >>>barry.b > >>> > >>> > >>>-----Original Message----- > >>>From: [EMAIL PROTECTED] > >>>[mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] On Behalf Of Adam > >>>Cameron > >>>Sent: Tuesday, 5 October 2004 5:46 PM > >>>To: CFAussie Mailing List > >>>Subject: [cfaussie] Re: Profanity in Posts > >>> > >>> > >>>>It sounds like this is something you need to clarify with your > >>> > >>>superiors. > >>> > >>>>Let them know what the list is, its normal content, and > >> > >>that it's for > >> > >>>>your legitimate business use. Mention that you have seen > >> > >>a couple of > >> > >>>>mails blocked due to minor profanity, and get the OK to > >> > >>continue using > >> > >>>>it. I can't imagine this approach being seen as anything but > >>>>reasonable. > >>> > >>>Blathering about "it ain't fair!" such like mine are one > >> > >>thing; but this > >> > >>>is > >>>actually a very good suggestion. > >>> > >>>Adam > >>> > >>>--- > >>>You are currently subscribed to cfaussie as: [EMAIL PROTECTED] > >>> > >>> > >>>To unsubscribe send a blank email to > >>>[EMAIL PROTECTED] > >>>Aussie Macromedia Developers: http://lists.daemon.com.au/ > >>> > >>>--- > >>>You are currently subscribed to cfaussie as: > >> > >>[EMAIL PROTECTED] > >> > >>>To unsubscribe send a blank email to > >> > >>[EMAIL PROTECTED] > >> > >>>Aussie Macromedia Developers: http://lists.daemon.com.au/ > >>> > >> > >>--- > >>You are currently subscribed to cfaussie as: > >>[EMAIL PROTECTED] > >>To unsubscribe send a blank email to > >>[EMAIL PROTECTED] > >>Aussie Macromedia Developers: http://lists.daemon.com.au/ > >> > > > > > > --- > > You are currently subscribed to cfaussie as: [EMAIL PROTECTED] > > To unsubscribe send a blank email to [EMAIL PROTECTED] > > Aussie Macromedia Developers: http://lists.daemon.com.au/ > > > > -- > Regards: Ayudh > > +----------------------------------------------------------------+ > | SOAP is the glue! Hook up your server directly to your bank. | > | Connect to VeriPay xServ, the Australian Payments Web Service. | > | Reliable, Secure, FAST: http://www.xilo.com/xserv | > +----------------------------------------------------------------+ > > > > > --- > You are currently subscribed to cfaussie as: [EMAIL PROTECTED] > To unsubscribe send a blank email to [EMAIL PROTECTED] > Aussie Macromedia Developers: http://lists.daemon.com.au/ > --- You are currently subscribed to cfaussie as: [EMAIL PROTECTED] To unsubscribe send a blank email to [EMAIL PROTECTED] Aussie Macromedia Developers: http://lists.daemon.com.au/
