When I'm reading, I occasionally use Reverso Context to look up an unfamiliar word or expression. It usually works pretty well, and as I scan through the sample sentences, sometimes I find some really useful ones that are fairly general, but sometimes I find ones that are so bizarrely specific that they make me laugh. They are sentences that I'm 99% sure I'd never have occasion to say, but who knows? Maybe one day I will really need to say:
The Rapporteur invites the Commission to draw up a European map of aboriginal sports and to support its dissemination.
word I looked up -> stilare: to draw up, to draft, to compile
Maybe this is a stupid thread idea, but I thought it could be fun to post similarly specific and "unhelpful" sentence examples.
Let's share highly specific and unhelpful example sentences
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Let's share highly specific and unhelpful example sentences
Last edited by StringerBell on Sun Mar 31, 2019 7:02 pm, edited 3 times in total.
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Re: Don't know what to call this thread...highly specific and unhelpful sentences?
Stupid? Certainly not! I fully expect this thread to rival "You know you're a language nerd when..." in a few years.
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Re: Don't know what to call this thread...highly specific and unhelpful sentences?
I’ve subscribed!
I’ve only been using reverso and linguee lately for the first time and I can’t say I like them. The examples always seem to come from the kinds of texts I don’t really want to read - bureaucratic, very serious news etc. I’m more interested in seeing more “everyday” examples. It can be hard to understand a word if the context is complex.
I’m sure they are great resources if you are interested in that kind of text and I’m pretty confident they will yield some humour!
I’ve only been using reverso and linguee lately for the first time and I can’t say I like them. The examples always seem to come from the kinds of texts I don’t really want to read - bureaucratic, very serious news etc. I’m more interested in seeing more “everyday” examples. It can be hard to understand a word if the context is complex.
I’m sure they are great resources if you are interested in that kind of text and I’m pretty confident they will yield some humour!
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Re: Don't know what to call this thread...highly specific and unhelpful sentences?
Maybe one day I will need to say:
If you're Alec Guinness and you've been in a box in a Japanese prison for six months, yes, you need to stretch your legs, but after 30 miles in a car, you don't.
If you're Alec Guinness and you've been in a box in a Japanese prison for six months, yes, you need to stretch your legs, but after 30 miles in a car, you don't.
Last edited by StringerBell on Sun Mar 31, 2019 7:02 pm, edited 1 time in total.
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Re: Don't know what to call this thread...highly specific and unhelpful sentences?
This isn't a sentence, but while looking up some unfamilar words while extensively reading a German fantasy book I learned the words for:
High treason(useful for plot)
Dungeon(also good)
Swordfighting terms(check)
And...the term for "longitudinal axis"(don't see myself needing that one too often...)
High treason(useful for plot)
Dungeon(also good)
Swordfighting terms(check)
And...the term for "longitudinal axis"(don't see myself needing that one too often...)
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Re: Don't know what to call this thread...highly specific and unhelpful sentences?
The thing is, constant warnings are unnerving for anyone aspiring to be an overlord.
Those poor aspiring overlords.
Those poor aspiring overlords.
Last edited by StringerBell on Sun Mar 31, 2019 7:02 pm, edited 1 time in total.
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Re: Don't know what to call this thread...highly specific and unhelpful sentences?
I seriously just came across this right now:
One of your piranhas in the lake is very rude.
*I'd really like to figure out where Reverso Context pulled this sentence from.
One of your piranhas in the lake is very rude.
*I'd really like to figure out where Reverso Context pulled this sentence from.
Last edited by StringerBell on Sun Mar 31, 2019 7:02 pm, edited 1 time in total.
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Re: Don't know what to call this thread...highly specific and unhelpful sentences?
StringerBell wrote:I seriously just came across this right now:
One of your piranhas in the lake is very rude.
Uno dei pirana del lago è stato molto sgarbato.
*I'd really like to figure out where Reverso Context pulled this sentence from.
Sounds like a Duolingo sentence to me.
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Re: Don't know what to call this thread...highly specific and unhelpful sentences?
StringerBell wrote:*I'd really like to figure out where Reverso Context pulled this sentence from.
Hotel Transylvania.
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Re: Don't know what to call this thread...highly specific and unhelpful sentences?
Web sites and services that provide Word of the Day language learning all too often use sentences to illustrate the word that do not provide useful context. For example, a very useful sentence to show a word in a context that can be remembered could be something like:
shovel: The man used a shovel to dig a hole in the ground.
But all too often, you see this sort of thing:
shovel: He saw the shovel.
I harvest a lot of sentences from my reading. I often edit and add to the sentence to ensure that, by itself, the sentence helps convey the meaning of the word. For example, I might read:
flashlight: It was a very dark and stormy night. The student used a flashlight to find his book.
My context sentence becomes: Because it was so dark, the student had to use a battery-powered flashlight to find his book.
With just a few extra words and/or a bit of editing, you can make context sentences much more self-explanatory, not needing a translation to your native language.
shovel: The man used a shovel to dig a hole in the ground.
But all too often, you see this sort of thing:
shovel: He saw the shovel.
I harvest a lot of sentences from my reading. I often edit and add to the sentence to ensure that, by itself, the sentence helps convey the meaning of the word. For example, I might read:
flashlight: It was a very dark and stormy night. The student used a flashlight to find his book.
My context sentence becomes: Because it was so dark, the student had to use a battery-powered flashlight to find his book.
With just a few extra words and/or a bit of editing, you can make context sentences much more self-explanatory, not needing a translation to your native language.
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