Hello everyone Words are fascinating :) 'Pidgin' does sound like the name of the bird ;) Interesting (I hope) facts: Pidgin English is a business language where groups don't have a common language. 'pidgin' is derived from a Chinese word meaning 'business' (as in trade, commerce, etc.)
Literal or computer translations take the most common use of a word, so when we translate for 'lace speak' we have to have some understanding. So, if I choose from German to English for example, and 'point' is repeated throughout the English translation, I look for a similarly repeated word in the German text. By now I know that 'spitze' translates to 'sharp' (or point/pointed) for lace. In French, 'la dentelle' is from a root word for 'toothed' (or pointed?!) but hurray, babelfish gives 'la dentelle' as 'lace' In one's copious free time one could play with lace words in babelfish with different languages. One is off to work now. (thank you Agnes and Jo for the other meanings) On Thu, Jan 12, 2012 at 3:44 AM, Agnes Boddington < [email protected]> wrote: > It is a bit more complicated than that: > Dutch steek = stitch (in needlework) or stab (of a dagger; stabbing pain) > Dutch slag = stroke (of brain, stroke the cat), hit (with a bat), battle > (military etc.), movement in lace/knitting e.g. linneslag = WS > Dutch beslag = stroke (brain) or batter (for pancakes etc.) > English battle = slag (military), struggle, fight > South African usage of Dutch words and their meaning can vary from > standard Dutch. > > -- Bev in Shirley BC, near Sooke on beautiful Vancouver Island, west coast of Canada - To unsubscribe send email to [email protected] containing the line: unsubscribe lace [email protected]. For help, write to [email protected]. Photo site: http://community.webshots.com/user/arachne2003/albums/most-recent
