[selfdrive]

Originally Posted by Samurai

When I started the sentence, I was not planning to mentioned all 3 of them. So I started with both.

I don't want to be like the French when it comes to language.

Professor Henry Higgins: The French don't care what they do actually, as long as they pronounce it properly.

Now I think it would have been better to keep my Sunday morning observations rather than sharing them!

You dont want me to start about the French
Edit: I must admit they pronounce my name more correctly than my other English or American friends/ colleagues

[noopster]

Originally Posted by selfdrive

Edit: I must admit they pronounce my name more correctly than my other English or American friends/ colleagues

How difficult is it to pronounce "selfdrive"? Duh!

[Thad E Ginathom]

Originally Posted by selfdrive

In terms of relatives, an uncle's sister is also an aunt.

That's good enough for most of the world, but is it good enough for India?

[Gansan]

Originally Posted by Thad E Ginathom

That's good enough for most of the world, but is it good enough for India?

No, it is not.

If the "uncle" in question is the sibling of one's parent, then both his sister as well as his wife will automatically be aunts!

But if he is an "Uncle" by virtue of being the husband of your parent's sibling, HIS sister is not an aunt! That relationship has no name!

The relationships, when stated in vernacular, will not give room for any doubt.

English can be so inadequate sometimes, you know!

[selfdrive]

Originally Posted by noopster

How difficult is it to pronounce "selfdrive"? Duh!

Good one, thats exactly what my birth certificate says. Very Indian name that!
Some of the drawls that I have heard make me question whether all these folks speak English at all!

Originally Posted by Thad E Ginathom

That's good enough for most of the world, but is it good enough for India?

As with everything else, it is ok for some and not ok for others. It needs only 2 people to have 2 opinions, and we have a few multipliers of that number

Edit:

Originally Posted by carboy

But any random woman on the street can be addressed as 'Aunty' :-)

he said aunt, not aunty! The latter word has its own meaning in India.

[carboy]

Originally Posted by Gansan

But if he is an "Uncle" by virtue of being the husband of your parent's sibling, HIS sister is not an aunt! That relationship has no name!

But any random woman on the street can be addressed as 'Aunty' :-)

[Gansan]

Not any woman, but a woman of suitable age, if one wants to keep all his teeth!

But that is merely a polite way of addressing. Not an actual relationship.

Again, all that stems from the vernacular, irrespective of where you are in India. Because it is culturally acceptable to address a stranger like that.

I am sure no Englishman or American will address any stranger that way! Neither will we address a foreigner like that, whether here or while abroad!

[Thad E Ginathom]

Originally Posted by Gansan

No, it is not.

...

English can be so inadequate sometimes, you know!

Oh, absolutely!

Originally Posted by carboy

But any random woman on the street can be addressed as 'Aunty' :-)

Originally Posted by Gansan

Not any woman, but a woman of suitable age, if one wants to keep all his teeth!

I was talking to a teenager only the other day who was really upset to have been called Auntie by someone on a bus. I told her, don't worry about that, someone called me ThaTha

[noopster]

You want to make an American woman's day?

Just call her "miss". Works every time!

[Thad E Ginathom]

The thing that gets put on the head of a king or queen: a crown.

The ceremony during which it gets put there: a coronation.

The verb, ie the action of putting it there: to crown.

...Not "coronate."

Even if that abortion of a word does exist, it is horrible. Remember, when there is a choice between one syllable and three, choose the one!

[amitoj]

Originally Posted by Thad E Ginathom

Even if that abortion of a word does exist, it is horrible. Remember, when there is a choice between one syllable and three, choose the one!

Did you mean "abomination" by any chance?
Or am I going to learn something new today?

[Thad E Ginathom]

I was speaking poetically

[Sheel]

In this post, I make a comment. Now, is the word sense appropriate to be used? I feel it is not, hence I landed here.

The second para that is.

Thanks for this brilliant thread & members who are enriching it Whenever I am in a doubt, I almost always land up here.

[Samurai]

Currently I am reading the novel The Last of the Mohicans. I have seen the movie many times, so I was really interested in reading the original book it is based on.

But... after reading about 25% I have serious doubts about finishing it. The book was published in 1826, about an incident that happened in 1757, so it is written in the English of those days. I often read a full page and wonder what it meant. They use a sing song language that is very hard to follow. Although I mostly understand, I am missing many of the nuances.

Since it is a free book at Project Gutenberg, you can see what I mean: http://www.gutenberg.org/files/940/9...m#link2HCH0006

That made me really wonder about the proper English we are trying to teach and learn here.

Our linguistic righteousness is naught but a passing trifle in the long history of English. (Phew, that was not easy to write. How can people write whole books like that?)

[anupmathur]

Originally Posted by Samurai

.....
Our linguistic righteousness is naught but a passing trifle in the long history of English. (Phew, that was not easy to write. How can people write whole books like that?)

Ha ha, it's because this was the only English they knew and could write without making an effort!
English as she was spoke.