You know you're a language nerd when…

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luke
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Re: You know you're a language nerd when…

Postby luke » Sun Feb 13, 2022 11:44 am

Adrianslont wrote:… when you know Krashenite is not a rare mineral.

When you read this post and begin to wonder, was the original post meant to be a play on "Kryptonite", and all that would imply?
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Re: You know you're a language nerd when…

Postby Iversen » Sun Feb 13, 2022 4:17 pm

mick33 wrote:"конфеы".


When your eyes are mercilessly drawn to the word above because it looks like a spelling error, and only later you notice that it's about Mick's mother getting a chocolate bar from Russia. And you write the previous sentence before the thought occurs to you to look it up in Google, and only then you discover that it is a plural word meaning "sweets" in Ukrainian ("конфеї "- please notice the trema). We all have holes in our vocabularies... :oops:
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Re: You know you're a language nerd when…

Postby guyome » Sun Feb 13, 2022 8:44 pm

When the year is 1810 and you feel the urge to publish a Syriac poem in praise of Napoleon. You are Italian, by the way.
Of course, you realise that your readership is going to be pretty limited so you add a Latin translation (and notes, for good measure).



https://it.wikipedia.org/wiki/Amedeo_Peyron_(filologo)
https://www.google.com/books/edition/In ... =fr&gbpv=0
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Re: You know you're a language nerd when…

Postby Le Baron » Sun Feb 13, 2022 10:00 pm

Iversen wrote:
mick33 wrote:"конфеы".


When your eyes are mercilessly drawn to the word above because it looks like a spelling error, and only later you notice that it's about Mick's mother getting a chocolate bar from Russia. And you write the previous sentence before the thought occurs to you to look it up in Google, and only then you discover that it is a plural word meaning "sweets" in Ukrainian ("конфеї "- please notice the trema). We all have holes in our vocabularies... :oops:

Related to the word 'confection/confectionery'?
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Re: You know you're a language nerd when…

Postby Iversen » Mon Feb 14, 2022 1:11 am

I suppose it all goes back to Latin "conficio" > "confectus" (to make, to manufacture), devenu "confiture" in French (meaning 'jam' - "confit" is something inedible composed of dead animals). However in Danish we have got the word "konfekt" (meaning 'sweets') from the same source, which is closer to something you would write on a chocolate bar.

The thing that wondered me about "конфеы" on a sweetish item was the lack of a descendant of the 'ct' part (which could have been кт) . The "ы" did however look like a Russian plural ending so at first I just suspected a spelling error, but it seems that the form "конфеы" actually is used in Russian. I then found Ukrainian "конфеї" (that language uses '-і' rather than "ы" as a plural nominative ending), but Mick33 clearly indicated that the form used was "ы" so so that was a blind alley. And now I wonder whether the Slavic descendants of "conficio" > "confectus" generally mean jam or sweets, but maybe it doesn't matter as the tendency in those languages seems be to use a slew of words built on the respective words for sugar instead.

As for Danish "konfekt" it is usually small pieces of sweet things like nougat or marcipan or chocolate or liquorice, typically composed of more than one thing and invitingly decorated to make you forget the price tag.

And with this rant I have probably shown once again that I do harbour a certain degree of nerdish leanings...

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Re: You know you're a language nerd when…

Postby Serpent » Wed May 25, 2022 4:57 pm

When twitter is blocked in your country and you don't bother to use it on desktop for 2 months but immediately install vpn when the Super Challenge begins.
mick33 wrote:The other day my mom was given a candy bar with a wrapper with the words "коровка вафелбные конфеы шоколад" and she asked me if it was German.
When you double-check whether конфеы exists even though you know it's a typo :lol:
The words are likely коробка вафельные конфеты шоколад, but коробка is a box and this would likely be written on a box, not a wrapper. Коровка (literally little cow) is a kind of sweets similar to toffee, but the second word means waffle. I don't see how you can combine toffee and waffle :shock:
I can confirm this is not German :lol: Perhaps it's from a Russian store in Germany :? The text may have been copied from a different product by a non-native speaker
I don't think anyone would write конфеы instead of конфеï, the last letter/sound is completely different.
конфитюр also exists in Russian btw. As a kid I found it confusing :lol:
Iversen wrote:As for Danish "konfekt" it is usually small pieces of sweet things like nougat or marcipan or chocolate or liquorice, typically composed of more than one thing and invitingly decorated to make you forget the price tag.
Конфета is exactly the same thing, but there are also basic cheaper ones that you wouldn't give as a gift but just eat at home with your tea and offer to your guests/neighbours/visitors. I wouldn't be surprised if many people actually like the basic ones more, especially those they remember from childhood. I'd say most ppl have at least one kind they really like and one they hate :lol: Look up советские конфеты if you want some examples.
Nowadays a small candy bar can also be considered a big конфета, generally sold by the weight or in packs of 3+ items.
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Re: You know you're a language nerd when…

Postby Cainntear » Wed May 25, 2022 6:30 pm

Serpent wrote:Коровка (literally little cow) is a kind of sweets similar to toffee, but the second word means waffle. I don't see how you can combine toffee and waffle :shock:

Well there's the Dutch stroopwafel for a start, and there are various confections involving wafers held together by caramel

The border between wafer and waffle is fuzzy, as is the one between toffee and caramel...
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Re: You know you're a language nerd when…

Postby Cainntear » Thu May 26, 2022 4:08 am

Actually, it looks like the little cow here is just the brand, and not anything to do with toffee.
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Re: You know you're a language nerd when…

Postby DanDan » Fri May 27, 2022 3:57 am

You have no more languages available to add to your babylon software anymore...
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Re: You know you're a language nerd when…

Postby Cainntear » Mon Jun 13, 2022 2:48 pm

luke wrote:
Adrianslont wrote:… when you know Krashenite is not a rare mineral.

When you read this post and begin to wonder, was the original post meant to be a play on "Kryptonite", and all that would imply?

Krashenite is a mineral necessary for the correct function of certain parts of the brain, most notably Broca's area. However, you can't eat it -- it must simply be absorbed...
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