Give examples of words that English is missing

"For example, if someone said that they met someone in a bar, there's no way to know if they mean they went there and met someone new, or meet up with an old friend. In other languages, are there way to differenciate the two?"

There is in Serbo-Croatian. If you met someone for the first time, you say "Upoznao sam nekoga", and if you just met someone you already knew, you say "Sreo sam nekoga". (If you're a female, you will say "upoznala" and "srela").

=>GOD: Supreme Being; Divine Being; Alpha and Omega; The Infinite; The Eternal; The All-Wise; The All Merciful; The Almighty; The Most High; The All Holy; The Ruler of Heaven and Earth; The Judge of All Men (and women presumably); The Maker of All Things; The Creator; The Preserver; Lord of Hosts; God of Our Fathers; The Father; Our Father; Great Spirit in the Sky; Holy Trinity; Hypostatic Union; Demiurge. <=

Where's imaginary friend? ;-)

Anyway Paul,

Allah means 'almighty one' and he is a god.

I think English don´t have a word for "ragga" "raggare". But it sounds strange I think there is a word for it at least a slangword. "Ragga" means "chase, pick up, girls" very often by car . "Raggare" is the person who do that.

"Sanja Sat Aug 13, 2005 4:54 pm GMT
"For example, if someone said that they met someone in a bar, there's no way to know if they mean they went there and met someone new, or meet up with an old friend. In other languages, are there way to differenciate the two?"

There is in Serbo-Croatian. If you met someone for the first time, you say "Upoznao sam nekoga", and if you just met someone you already knew, you say "Sreo sam nekoga". (If you're a female, you will say "upoznala" and "srela")."

True, there's not the clear distinction like in Serbo-Croatian but you could say in English that "I was acquainted with someone in a bar" but even then, it just might mean getting to know them better not necessarily meeting them up the first time.

I'm really interested in the discussion about the lack of you plural in English, because I think it can cause quite a lot of confusion. It's interesting how different dialects do their best to come up with their own version of you plural.

In the province of Munster, Ireland, most dialects use you for singular and ye (pronounced yee) for the plural. This is only acceptable in spoken English and you is still used as the plural in written English. However, I know many people who were in their twenties, and had moved to other countries or other parts of Ireland before they realised that ye wasn't the official plural of you.

I now work in Dublin and I find myself working hard constantly to say "you guys" or "all of you" rather than "ye" because no-one knows what I'm talking about when I say "ye" - and I have to say it's really difficult. English needs a word for you plural. I've researched the origins of ye, because it puzzles me why it is in common usage in parts of Ireland, and apparently it was the word for you plural until it fell out of usage in the late 1600s. I have no idea why it is still in use in Munster because the people there didn't make the change from Irish (Gaelic) to English until later than that.

PS - I also think we need a word other than "they" for a gender-neutral singular.

You had a 'you plural' and a 'you singular' not too long ago, 'You' for plural , and 'thou' for singular.

Earlier in this discussion, someone was asking for Irish (Gaelic) words that are missing. It may surprise you to learn that Irish has no words for "Yes" and "No". The closest approximations are Tá and Níl - but they're not exactly right. They can't be used on their own, but must be used with pronouns. For example, "Tá mé" means "I am" and "Níl sé" means "he's not". You could also use "Sea" or "Ní hea" but they mean "It is" and "It isn't" respectively.

Well, I´m not sure but isn´t it the same in Chinese? I mean they don´t have words for yes and no. I think it depence on the situation how you say "yes" and "no".

I just remembered another thing.

You see, English hasn't got a positive form of 'not'.

-o- You are going to school!!!

-x- I am not going to school!

(after the beating ;)

-x- I am going to school...

In Dutch that last sentence would be ;

Ik ga wel naar school...

Litt.

I am *(positive form of 'not')* going to school...

they put the positve of not in the verb

little brat:i am not going to school(=i don't go )
daddy:oh yes you do go to school
after the beating
brat : ok i do go to school

ats,

Nah that's different.

-x- I don't go to school. (as in I am too old)

-o- Oh but you do go to 'music school' once a week!

-x- Oh yeah, I do go to school.

I don't know if this has already been mentioned, but English lacks the distinction between inclusive and exclusive "we".

Another thing that I've thought about is that English lacks is negative forms of adjectives. We have:

positive: big
positive comparative: bigger
positive superlative: biggest

But we don't have the corresponding:

negative: (not big)
negative comparative: (less big)
negative superlative: (least big)

We have to use the adverbs "not", "less", and "least".

<<Another thing that I've thought about is that English lacks is negative forms of adjectives. We have:>>

Edit:

<<Another thing that I've thought about is that English lacks negative forms of adjectives. We have:>>

I guess not for "least big", the closest being small, smaller, smallest

There are many words they have in English that other languages don't have.

The French cannot distinguish between "house" and "home", and "mind" and "brain."

The Spanish can't tell the difference between "president" and "chairman."