New Verb formation!
New Verb formation!
(OP)
Sorry, lost the original thread, but if you have been reading the "lost in translation thread" and, more recently, the "Question for UK members", the term "Babel Fish appeared. This is sometimes now encountered as a single word "bablefish" and on this web site the verb "babelise" appears:http://www.tashian.com/multibabel/
Ain't that cute?
Ain't that cute?
JMW
www.viscoanalyser.com
eng-tips, Pro bono publico
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"Si tacuisses philosophus mansisses"
"If you had kept quiet, you would have remained a philosopher"





RE: New Verb formation!
Does it have anything to do with the "tower of babel"?
Buy a dictionary, keep it nearby and USE it. Webster's New World Dictionary of American English is recommended, and Webster's Collegiate Dictionary.
RE: New Verb formation!
First appeared in Douglas Adams' "Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy"
http://www.bbc.co.uk/cult/hitchhikers/guide/babelfish.shtml
RE: New Verb formation!
Cheers
Greg Locock
RE: New Verb formation!
RE: New Verb formation!
Without babelfish, we wouldn't have babelize (for the Bill Gates default dictionary-spelling types).
So does anyone know of verbs with a similar etymological history?
JMW
www.viscoanalyser.com
eng-tips, Pro bono publico
Please see FAQ731-376 for tips on how to make the best use of Eng-Tips Fora.
"Si tacuisses philosophus mansisses"
"If you had kept quiet, you would have remained a philosopher"
RE: New Verb formation!
What do you mean fictional?! I've got one in my ear right now.
J.
RE: New Verb formation!
A fish or an automatic translator program?
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RE: New Verb formation!
RE: New Verb formation!
Jesus is THE life,
Leonard
RE: New Verb formation!
Bung
Life is non-linear...
RE: New Verb formation!
As the Hithiker's Guide explains...
"The poor Babel fish, by effectively removing the barriers of communication between all cultures and races, has caused more and bloodier wars than anything else in the history of civilization..."
Talk about getting lost in translation..
So be careful next time you decide to stick a fish in your ear!
-Mark
RE: New Verb formation!
RE: New Verb formation!
RE: New Verb formation!
Keep the wheels on the ground
Bob
showshine@aol.com
RE: New Verb formation!
RE: New Verb formation!
Has this genuinely entered the US version of the language?
This perverse approach to word usage has its counter parts in the UK where such phrases as "I learned him how to do it" trip naturally off the tongue for some people. Or, "that'll learn yer."
JMW
www.viscoanalyser.com
Eng-Tips: Pro bono publico, by engineers, for engineers.
Please see FAQ731-376 for tips on how to make the best use of Eng-Tips Fora.
RE: New Verb formation!
RE: New Verb formation!
Those are from the UK?
When I hear phrases like those I immediately think of "Deliverance"
RE: New Verb formation!
------------------------------
If we learn from our mistakes,
I'm getting a great education!
RE: New Verb formation!
He's came with it
He's went with it
The engines was ran
That car needs painted
and my all time favorite
He's borrowed me that
I once suggested English as a second language courses for Minnesota natives, but I was shot down by the HR manager - A Minnesota native - who would have guessed.
RE: New Verb formation!
Has this genuinely entered the US version of the language?"
I recall seeing a televised briefing in which the verb "attrit" was used by a general. That was during the previous war with Iraq. Given that your colonel was probably a captain at that time, I'm sure that from *his* point of view "attrit" *is* an existing word he can use. (Besides which, it's more politically correct than the phrase "blow to smithereens"...)
RE: New Verb formation!
Not to forget about 'collateral damage'. Much easier to say at press converences
The best phrase like that recently has to be Janet Jackson's 'wardrobe malfunction' though.
RE: New Verb formation!
I was just re-reading and feel like I'm missing something. The colonel was on a bird of prey? [no, not a Klingon reference]. raptor = eagle, falcon. or is that "A ravisher; a plunderer"?
RE: New Verb formation!
The Eagle is the F-15, and the Falcon is the F-16.
RE: New Verb formation!
oh.. fixed wing, not flapping wing.
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...but it might prove interesting...
TTFN
RE: New Verb formation!
RE: New Verb formation!
oh... sorry I'm in isolation aren't I, so I'm not in the general population
TTFN
RE: New Verb formation!
Well, these days it's no longer referred to as "isolation". It's the "Behavioral Adjustment Unit"...
RE: New Verb formation!
TTFN
RE: New Verb formation!
RE: New Verb formation!
RE: organic raptors being used in combat: I read an interesting story a few years ago about honeybees being trained to sniff out mines. They learn to associate the smell with being rewarded (with nectar or sugar water or whatever), and are taught to land where the smell is strongest. They are so tiny, of course, that their weight can't be registered by the mine and it does not explode. Then the experts seeking the buried mines can mark the area, entice the bees away with their reward, and then go dig up and disengage the mine. My brother keeps honeybees and finds them remarkably intelligent and easily capable of learning, but primarily as a group. Individuals cannot learn, but their memory and intelligence apparently is collective. They are able to apply experience to improve their lot later.
(Sorry - I know this has nothing to do with grammar or bad brand names, but the reference to the raptors in combat got me going!)
RE: New Verb formation!
www.fmp.com/rodent/spycow
RE: New Verb formation!
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Just like the bee's, our collective intelligence is amazing.
Say What?
RE: New Verb formation!