I wanna learn english!

dagcrack · Post by **dagcrack** » Sun Sep 11, 2005 9:25 am

well its not altavista.. its just babelfish - you can buy a bebelfish sdk and implement it in your web as another service... blame babelfish, its their engine not altavista's..

I havent tried google's.
But you can use the DEFINE: command in it.. (you can also calculate some maths in google as well as doing much more)..

did anyone try xtra-google for searches? (http://www.xtragoogle.com/)

dagcrack · Post by **dagcrack** » Sun Sep 11, 2005 11:05 am

Fou-Lu: http://www.ucalgary.ca/UofC/eduweb/gram ... uation.htm

that might be of good use - I found it while searching something that had nothing to do about this... but oh well, life..

Fou-Lu · Post by **Fou-Lu** » Sun Sep 11, 2005 5:34 pm

dagcrack wrote:

"!" - Exclamation sign..
usage: "HEY YOU BASTARD!!! GIMME DA ROCK BACK!!! YOU WILL DIE!! DIE!!!"

see?

Now,

"?" - Interrogation sign/mark..
usage: "ARE YOU GAY?" or "HOW MANY PRESIDENTS DID YOU SHOOT AT ONCE?"

see?

Now,
an extra!

"," - Comma!

The comma is used to make small pauses on a paragraph. When reading a text, if you see a comma, you must do a very small pause and keep on. With a period (dot) the pause should be a little longer than with a comma.

When you have asma, you talk all like: When, are, we, going, to.., end, this, type, of, questions, please, I, Need, AIR! -flushes medicine-, ah, thats, better - sigh - (Notice im not making fun of asmatics, in fact my brother was asmatic so you have no rights of saying im making fun OK! hehe).

I'll go on with the dot comma (thats how we call them in spanish..) brakets, etc. and by the way the *** are asterisks.

"Call *6969 For quick sex! And if you call RIGHT NOW! We'll send you a -used- playboy magazine! NO CHARGE! just 69 dollars the minute! - Presented: TOP (The Orgasmic Phone) Company."

Thanks dagcrack, but I know what they're for, I just wanted their names.

BTW, thanks everybody, I couldn't imagine so many people would help me.

Post by **Dare2** » Sun Sep 11, 2005 6:36 pm

Heya Fou-Lu,

Do a google for "Punctuation" or "Punctuation marks"

I know you have some of these, so forgive duplication:

"!" Exclamation mark
"?" Question mark
":" Colon
";" Semi-Colon
"[ ]" Brackets, square brackets. Note - Parenthesis are: ()
"{ }" Braces, curly brackets
"^" Accent,
"*" Asterisk.

Also http://webster.commnet.edu/grammar/marks/marks.htm looks like it might give you some reasonable info.

Also, just for fun, google for "strine".

Fou-Lu · Post by **Fou-Lu** » Sun Sep 11, 2005 10:31 pm

Australian slang!! Thanks Dare2! I've never seen those expressions.

You call "^" just "accent"? Because in portuguese "^", "´" or "`" are all called accents, but they have different names. Well, maybe that's because they're not used in english...

lexvictory · Post by **lexvictory** » Mon Sep 12, 2005 11:24 am

Fou-Lu wrote:Australian slang!! Thanks Dare2! I've never seen those expressions. :)

You call "^" just "accent"? Because in portuguese "^", "´" or "`" are all called accents, but they have different names. Well, maybe that's because they're not used in english...

well, in english, we dont have accents like portuguese, french, italian, etc - and i'm not even sure about wat that accent is used for.... unless it is used wen typing maths...... (2^3=8 ) = (2 to the power of 3=8) -- (i think.......)

Post by **Dare2** » Mon Sep 12, 2005 11:43 am

Heya Fou-Lu,

With accents generally, it is as lexvictory says.

Regarding the ^, I have always called it an accent. I could be wrong (it has been known to happen)

Also know ~ as tilde. Hopefully this is correct but I won't swear to it.

I am amazed at how well people with non-English backgrounds use English on these boards.

Fred, Freak, Traumatic, Num3, yourself, just to name a few, and with apologies to everyone whom I did not mention (dagcrack

). Then there are all the Norwegians - although there may be fewer of those than we think

Amazing.

When I go to, say, the French boards to track something I have to have Alta's babelfish open in another window. It takes me a long time to find things!

Edited to correct spelling: Traumatic

dagcrack · Post by **dagcrack** » Mon Sep 12, 2005 12:13 pm

Tilde, perhaps.. It has a formal name though, which I never remember. Perhaps someone does.

I believe that programming helps with your english knowledge too. Apart from reading lots of english documentation, you do programm in English as well.

I've been told that I speak better english than some guys from UK..

Okey that can be true but my english is not perfect at all.. I wish it was

- English is so important, in my opinion its one of THE languages (at least, when you have a job offer they always require you to speak english -- at least as a plus, its good to know: speak/understand/write ).

PB&J Lover · Post by **PB&J Lover** » Mon Sep 12, 2005 3:16 pm

The "^" symbol is called a caret. We use if for math on the computer or to insert something when editing text by hand. It is not used in written English.

Abeyance........ temporarily set aside (stopped). "The plan was put in abeyance until more facts could be gathered."

Abrade ........... means (now) to irritate (not commonly used). ""

Abreast .......... basically means: across. "We sat three abreast of each other."

Abridge .......... to shorten the form or content of. "Bill is the abridged form of William. My dictionary is abridged, so it does not have all of the words in it."

Acquaint ......... to become familiar with. "I need to acquaint myself with the rules of English."

Acquiescence ...the act of submiting to something (is not commonly used).

Acquit .............. to find innocent of a crime. "The jury acquitted O.J. of the murder of his wife Nicole."

Acrimonious...... (is not commonly used). An argumentative tone/voice. Use heated, sharp or angry instead.

The other words not listed above you don't have to know. They will never come up in your speaking of English.

Hope this helps.

Fou-Lu · Post by **Fou-Lu** » Mon Sep 12, 2005 3:21 pm

lexvictory wrote:well, in english, we dont have accents like portuguese, french, italian, etc - and i'm not even sure about wat that accent is used for.... unless it is used wen typing maths...... (2^3=8 ) = (2 to the power of 3=8) -- (i think.......)

Accents are completely useless. They should be abolished from our language. (I'm increasing my vocabulary, see?)

There's another thing I wanted to learn. Do you know those expressions like "OMG" or "BTW"? Well, I know what some of them mean, but generally I stumble upon a different one and I don't understand it.

PB&J Lover · Post by **PB&J Lover** » Mon Sep 12, 2005 3:30 pm

OMG - means: Oh, my God! It is an exclamation.

BTW - means: By the way. in other words: I have some additional info that pertains to another topic.

LOL - means: Laugh out loud.

Does that help?

dagcrack · Post by **dagcrack** » Mon Sep 12, 2005 3:49 pm

They are not expressions but Accronyms OF expressions/phrases!

Heres my list..
includes some of the higher-toned ones too.. and rested the ones that PB&J Lover explained.

WTF = What The F*** | (you know what F*** is!)
OMFG = Oh My F***ing God!
RTFM = Read The F***ing Manual
ASAP = As Soon As Possible | (this is used by militars though we use it sometimes)
AFAIK = As Far As I Know
IMO = In My Opinion
IMHO = In My Humble Opinion
LMAO = Laughting My Ass Off

...and theres quite a few more but I don't feel like talking about them

Num3 · Post by **Num3** » Mon Sep 12, 2005 4:01 pm

lexvictory wrote:
Fou-Lu wrote:Australian slang!! Thanks Dare2! I've never seen those expressions.

You call "^" just "accent"? Because in portuguese "^", "´" or "`" are all called accents, but they have different names. Well, maybe that's because they're not used in english...
well, in english, we dont have accents like portuguese, french, italian, etc - and i'm not even sure about wat that accent is used for.... unless it is used wen typing maths...... (2^3=8 ) = (2 to the power of 3=8) -- (i think.......)

They are used to change the way the words are spoken and there meaning!

For example:

e = and : pronounced i
é = is : pronounced eh (like in eh eh)

contem = contains
contêm = contain (but for a plural meaning)

The envelope contains -> contem
The envelopes contain -> contêm

tem = it has
têm = they have (plural)

Of course the some words in other contexts have diferent meanings

It's easier than chinese

trust me !

Our grammer is just like French, but the words and verbs are more latim based then theirs...

Most of our words are just latim words that where slightly changed in the course of time.

Also many words cannot be correctly pronounced by english speakers because their voice chords are not used to use the entire harmonic range!

Brasilian is based on portuguese with slight changes, and new words...
The way it's spoken is also more flavoured than portuguese PT, kinda of like british and american...

Num3 · Post by **Num3** » Mon Sep 12, 2005 4:24 pm

On the same subject....

Here are some phrases (directly translated to english has spoken in portuguese and their meanings) for you to laught at:

Put yourself at a stick -> keep your eyes opened

You are here, you are there -> Beat it...

I DO NOT SEE THE POINT OF A HORN -> Can't see shit

EASE THE GUTS - Take a crapper

AS GOOD AS CORN - said to women (has good has hey came)

I'D JUMP INTO HER SPINE - I'd jump her panties

IF YOU DON'T DOOR'S WELL, YOU ARE HERE YOU ARE EATING -> Or you behave or i'll kick ya

SMART AS A GARLICK - Smart Ass

TO BE IN THE JAM - to be making out with her

I AM SAND-PAPERED - I'm screwed

In real life i've seen this one at a TV series translation:

There was a party going on and someone says: "Let's have a toast"
Translation to portuguese -> "Let's have a toast (has in toast & coffe for breakfast)

LOL

Num3 · Post by **Num3** » Mon Sep 12, 2005 6:50 pm

Fou-Lu wrote:There's another thing I wanted to learn. Do you know those expressions like "OMG" or "BTW"? Well, I know what some of them mean, but generally I stumble upon a different one and I don't understand it.

Try here:

http://www.polyamory.org/~joe/