Ask a foreigner

[Rose White]

There’s an Irish comedy show that makes a joke of sending someone to the “bold chair”, which would be the equivalent of the “naughty stool”.

 

[Rose White]

Question for French speakers. I saw the title of a book and it said, “N’y a-t-il pas d’amour heureux”.

I ran it through the translator and it said “Is there no happy love”.

But my question is… can you explain the part of the title that says “n’y a-t-il”. What is going on there? Is it an abbreviation?

 

[Teasel]

n’y a-t-il
The n is negative kind of like not
Y is there
A is have
Il is he or it

But basically it is

not there has it


Or in English

is there no

Wikipedia prolly explains it better

n'y a-t-il - Wiktionary, the free dictionary

en.m.wiktionary.org

 

[Rose White]

Thank you @Teasel ! Is “t” also a word? And why are there hyphens?

 

[Teasel]

I thought it was just to make it sound good when followed by a word beginning with a vowel

Like when we say an instead of a before a word beginning with a vowel

But here they describe it standing for a word or letters that have been missed out

What is that "t" in "Quel âge a-t-il/elle ?"

I know that the order of the words has changed to form an interrogative sentence, and I comprehend that a means "has" and il/elle means "he/she", but what is the meaning of -t-, and from where it has

french.stackexchange.com

 

[Teasel]

I don't know why the hyphens :)

 

[RainbowSearchParty]

Yes yes, the T’s are for pronunciation. Just the same as we add N in English: an apple, an apron, etc. Would sound weird to try and say a apple, a apron, etc.

Fun fact, in old English it was “a napron” but the pronunciation eventually changed the word to be “an apron”.

 

[Teasel]

Reminds me of a joke by a favoured comedian, who talks about how we are not actually saying an onion, but a nunion

 

[Rose White]

Fun fact, in old English it was “a napron” but the pronunciation eventually changed the word to be “an apron”.

Love these kinds of facts! One of my faves is that bird used to be spelled “brid” but people kept saying it wrong and now wrong is right.

 

[OceanSpray]

Is anyone on here familiar with Diwali? My boss was honestly great this week getting people scheduled off for Thanksgiving and again for Christmas. More so than most bosses I’ve known. I want to do something in return since he doesn’t celebrate either holiday. He does celebrate Diwali though, but from my understanding I’ve missed it. Is there anything I can still do (like a gift) to show my appreciation and acknowledgement of his celebrations? Or is it rude since it’s already past? Do they do gifts or like what other traditions are there?

 

[Warrior Sunflower]

What is the holiday Sinterklass is in? A lot of people mistake him for the original Santa Clause but People with a Dutch background are saying it's a completely different holiday.

 

[Friday]

Yes yes, the T’s are for pronunciation. Just the same as we add N in English: an apple, an apron, etc. Would sound weird to try and say a apple, a apron, etc.

Fun fact, in old English it was “a napron” but the pronunciation eventually changed the word to be “an apron”.

Or a “nappie”. Napkin. (Not diaper!) The most hilarious cross-cultural story I’ve ever come across being Trevor Noah’s Taco-Story >>>

Another super wacky thing? Looooooow class English (and Appalachian Mountains; W. Virgina E. Kentucky hill folk) still has a double handful of PERFECT Latin Christmas carols. Normanised, & modern/middle/upperclass English? Nope! All those are modernised/bastardised. Jump a few rungs lower? Actual proper, 7 declensions, occupied Britain 1,000 years ago Latin… Christmas carols. That jumped the pond in the 16-1700s. Only the lowest of the low class in Britain & US Hillbillies… sing university perfect 1,000+ year old Latin.

Also, apparently? The K (as Monty Python knows) is “not” supposed to be silent? In old/Middle English it really was cah-no-weh for know, cah-nigget (knight), cah-ni-feh (knife).



Our “silent” letters are love letters to proper pronunciation???

English is SUCH a bizarre pidgin of Celtic, Germanic, Norse, Latin, Drunken Slurring. Committed to paper. Literally. As the first dictionary was a response to the violent floooooow of English making Canterbury Tales WTFO & Shakespeare brilliant, making people want to know wtf Chaucer was funny?!? And, OMFG, would their geniuses be lost?!? (If you haven’t read it? DO read the very first dictionary. 7/10 entries are collapse on the ground rolling… as people first sought to constrain language). To be fair? Attempting to corral Old English, Cornish, Welsh, Gaelic, & Danelaw Norse? <low whistle> That’s like trying to corral Chinese, Arabic, & Brazilian into one tongue.

A napron. An apron.
A nunion. An onion.

Lay’ers!
Laters!
See you later!