[G4] Re: English

[keith_w]

Eric Wood wrote:
> I believe many languages include a lot of strange grammar - "I get to go
> fishing," for instance. To get is simply to receive, isn't it? Yet now,
> to state that sentence in another way would likely sound awkward, mainly
> because you can't simply say "I will (or shall) go fishing," as then you
> lose a hint of meaning in the former statement - one of achievement, of
> pleasure at the prospect.

"Get to" suggests a release, and some unmentioned person or circumstance 
was holding you back from doing what you wanted to do, therefore, "I get 
to..."

So, you could substitute "I am free to go..." That would fit with 
"...get to go."
Or, more restrictive, but still fits, "I [now] have permission to go..."

> One of my greatest disappointments with American English is the use -ize
> in place of -ise. It's inconsistent at this point, since there are still
> some hold-outs with the -ise ending. I dread seeing them transformed by
> future ignorance, and I am aghast at those which are misspelled and can
> never be recovered.

Actually, if you ignore the UK English use thereof, my American Edition 
of the Oxford Pocket dictionary shows those two American English endings 
DO differ from each other.

To wit:

   -ise is a suffix forming *nouns* of quality, state or function.

   -ize is a suffix forming *verbs* = to make or become such, to treat
    in such a way.

> And I will indeed blame the french-speaking Normans, because it fits my
> theory. English underwent some heavy transformations to become what it
> is today, and at least most of it is French in nature. French and Latin,
> with some sprinklings of Greek. And our "bad," four-letter words are
> Germanic in origin. I believe they came from the hated Saxons and were
> suppressed in high society, just as all Germanic language came to be.
> 
> Sonst hab' ich nichts zu sagen :) Bis später!
> 
> Eric

Last, "Bis später" doesn't translate well in my rudimentary knowledge of 
the language. Literally, I get "to later" out of it. Makes little sense 
to me.
Probably an idiom.

Thanks for the dialog,

keith whaley