Which language has the LARGEST vocabulary?
"Why does French have so many meanings for one word like "foi"
Il etait une foi, dans la Ville de foi, un marchand de foi, qui disait ma foi...."
Well, you are listening, but you aren't reading enough. In English we have "blew" and "blue" and they sound alike, but have different meanings, of course.
The first one should be "fois", not "foi" if you are talking about the start of fairy tales and such.
Foie gras=FWA gras fatty liver
Foi=FWA faith
Fois=FWA time, turn
These are the ones I can think of quickly. You also may be thinking of other words like "foin" (hay).
I should add that "foin" is not pronounced like "fwa".
Who was talking about immigrant workers, they're obviously illiterate, I'm talking about Hispanics in Spanish speaking countries in an everyday conversation, they have a wider vocabulary than those in English speaking countries. -Guest
This is the problem with using "guest". I wrote two posts in reply.
One was to someone who complained about Spanish speakers and one was to you, I guess.
My point is that the cognates give latin-based language speakers a seemingly larger vocabulary, that's all.
I know my vocabulary in English is better because I learned other languages. It's the same the other way around. In general, people who learn languages to a higher level end up knowing more vocabulary IF the language is one like Greek, Latin, or romance languages.
It's not that I don't know what "Polyglot" means. It's not a big word in English. 'Brobdingnagian' is (pun fully intended). Polyglot's frankly a nerdy sounding word to be quite honest. Using this word will get you beat up! : ) (and deservedly so)
A polyglot is a person; multilingual is rightly an adjective. When referring to a person who speaks more than one language, or several languages, I say: "He/She speaks several languages"--that is the usual way of saying it in educated, self-respecting English. If I actually heard someone say: "He/She is a polyglot"--already, I'm turned off. What an Idiot, I'm thinking to myself. I would not want to associate with someone like that because they aren't, well, cool. Okay, I said it. Using words like that in English is just uncool. Sorry.
This however does not reflect on Your language's use of the word. I'm not inferring that in any way. It may actually be the acceptable/cool word for such a person in your tongue. Not English though.
That's ridiculous. In real life I rarely use the word "polyglot" unless I am speaking French or Spanish. I did use it once recently and I was not beat up. The situation allowed for the word. I was at a table of polyglots/multilingual people. It's knowing when to use a word and that isn't always easy.
My native language is English and yes, I am a polyglot or a multilingual person. I also know many such people, so it is not an unusual word for me, but sure, I would not have used it in college or before coming to antimoon.
Uncool. Am I uncool? Sometimes, but you don't know me in real life. Extroverted, fun-loving people like me and I know not to throw too many big words to them. Shy people like the fact that they can ask me something without fear of sounding too uppity, geeky or intellectual.
"such a person in your tongue"
Too funny.
Look, I didn't say you were not cool because you used polyglot.
Sure there's an appropriate time and place for it, and I would definitely agree with your use of it above that it was alright, but you've got to admit that it's not like in other languages where it's the "usual" word to say.
<<I was at a table of polyglots>> ...
<<I am a polyglot >>...
hee hee
touché ; ]
I just don't think multilingual people are that rare or unusual. Of course, this depends on your social group and contacts. Most physicians I know are not multilingual unless they grew up overseas for some reason, but many want to know some Spanish now.
<<< Guest wrote:
Why on hell do you want as many words in English? Do people say "I arrived to the meeting too tardy" Clearly the don't.>>
I agree that there are lots of superfluous words in english, but that is not one of them.
"Tardy" is VERY common word, that everybody knows, and is frequently used (particularly in a school setting); just not the way you did in that sentence.
Common examples:
"He was tardy 20 times this month."
"Habitual tardiness will get you fired."
"How many tardies do you have on your report card?"
etc...
<< Guest wrote: English has many latinates like tardy that are not used at all. >>
LOL!! BWAHAHA. Where are you all from, where they don't use the word "tardy"?
"Tardy" is an everyday common use word, than even the most uneducated people know and use.
<<LOL!! BWAHAHA. Where are you all from, where they don't use the word "tardy"?
"Tardy" is an everyday common use word, than even the most uneducated people know and use. >>
I think what the original poster was trying to say was that 'tardy' is an *additional* word for English 'late'. It means 'late' but it cannot exactly be used in all situations where 'late' can be used--it's not an equal one for one swap.
However, 'late' can ALWAYS be substituted for 'tardy'; and 'lateness' for 'tariness', etc.
<<Common examples:
"He was tardy 20 times this month."
"Habitual tardiness will get you fired."
"How many tardies do you have on your report card?"
etc... >>
And 'tardy' is a restricted word in usual senses. It is kept alive only in school or work as a student/employee state. In this sense, it really isn't a living word, but a relic of a past time when it was equal to 'late'. Its use nowadays is not productive, but artificially maintained.