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New Verb formation!

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?

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's a babelfish?

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!

And is now a website that mistranslates from one language to another.

Cheers

Greg Locock

RE: New Verb formation!

To close the loop, the Babel fish name from "Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy" is a direct reference to the Tower of Babel.

RE: New Verb formation!

(OP)
What is interesting is that Douglas Adams popularised the term "Babel Fish" or "Babelfish", as some use it, yet the verb to "babelise" (english spelling, and why not?) is spawned by the term "Babelfish" but is based on the original reference to the Tower of Babel.
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!

>A Babel fish is a fictional fish that when placed in your >ear


What do you mean fictional?! I've got one in my ear right now.

J.

RE: New Verb formation!

"I've got one in my ear right now."

A fish or an automatic translator program?

=====================================
Eng-tips forums: The best place on the web for engineering discussions.

RE: New Verb formation!

In any event, The Hitchhiker's Guide is a must read for those who have not already had the pleasure.

RE: New Verb formation!

I've got one in my right ear now.

Jesus is THE life,
Leonard

RE: New Verb formation!

I got a flea in my ear for forgetting to do something else while reading the "Guide".  Remember, don't panic!  Not nearly as effective as the fish.

Bung
Life is non-linear...

RE: New Verb formation!

Beware of the Babel Fish!!

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!

Don't forget the answer is 42!!

RE: New Verb formation!

And always know where your towel is

RE: New Verb formation!

you mean there's a Towel of Babel too??

Keep the wheels on the ground
Bob
showshine@aol.com

RE: New Verb formation!

And an Improbability Drive.  I want one of those.

RE: New Verb formation!

(OP)
I love the way a colonel of the US air force, flying a raptor, talked about its ability to attrit the enemy and was able to do so without the least evidence of discomfort and plainly no sense that there might be an existing word he could use.
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!

I can only add that if there is a Towel of Babel, it has to be almost entirely different - but not quite - from the Tower of Babel. (Sorry, I do not have the English wording so I did a mental babelfishing from Swedish. Is it somewhat correct?)

RE: New Verb formation!

"I learned him how to do it"  Or, "that'll learn yer."

Those are from the UK?

 When I hear phrases like those I immediately think of "Deliverance"

RE: New Verb formation!

Parts of the North East - Easington and Loftus to name a couple that spring to mind - are populated by the brothers and sister of the bald kid with the banjo!


------------------------------

If we learn from our mistakes,
I'm getting a great education!

RE: New Verb formation!

Around here I hear phrases such as:

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!

"I love the way a colonel of the US air force, flying a raptor, talked about its ability to attrit the enemy and was able to do so without the least evidence of discomfort and plainly no sense that there might be an existing word he could use.
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!

Yes indeed - sweep and clear, not seek and destroy.
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!

Quote (jmw):

I love the way a colonel of the US air force, flying a raptor, talked about its ability to attrit the enemy and was able to do so without the least evidence of discomfort and plainly no sense that there might be an existing word he could use.

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 Raptor is an F-22 fighter aircraft.
The Eagle is the F-15, and the Falcon is the F-16.  

RE: New Verb formation!

Quote (Cajuncenturion):

The Raptor is an F-22 fighter aircraft.
The Eagle is the F-15, and the Falcon is the F-16.   

oh.. fixed wing, not flapping wing.

RE: New Verb formation!

well, as far as I know, organic raptors have never been used in modern combat

...but it might prove interesting...

TTFN

RE: New Verb formation!

And to go still further afield from the original topic--Before the movie "Jurassic Park", how much of the general population would have been able to tell you that "raptor" means, "bird of prey"? I couldn't have...

RE: New Verb formation!

me! me! me!

oh... sorry I'm in isolation aren't I, so I'm not in the general population

TTFN

RE: New Verb formation!

"oh... sorry I'm in isolation aren't I, so I'm not in the general population "

Well, these days it's no longer referred to as "isolation". It's the "Behavioral Adjustment Unit"...

RE: New Verb formation!

dang... not only am I isolated, but maladjusted too...

TTFN

RE: New Verb formation!

Didn't know I had company.

RE: New Verb formation!

Now THAT'S isolation!

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!

Where do you guys get this stuff? (

RE: New Verb formation!

I log on to this web site everyday just for stuff like this!!
Just like the bee's, our collective intelligence is amazing.

Say What?

RE: New Verb formation!

Collective something, anyway ...

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