Now You're Speakin' My Language (or Dialect)

[Anna]

Yeah, I think most of it works the same all over Europe, with some countries having it better in one area, and others in another area. At least in the EU.

[Jemppu]

Anna wrote: "Anyway, thanks, I now know more about the sick day thing, I still don't understand it logically, but I at least know how it works."

There's no really logic to it. Other than company greed.

[Allison, Fairy Mod-mother]

Yeah, it is very frustrating, our system. And also frustrating that people will say "but look how bad it is in...X place" and the graphic is like a hospital from during the Bolshevik Revolution.

[Anna]

Oh yeah I understood the bad parts just fine, just not the "good" parts, which, to me, sounded like you could save up sick days and then just say I'm gonna take eight months of sick leave, see you next year!

[Mareike]

Anna wrote: "Yeah, I think most of it works the same all over Europe, with some countries having it better in one area, and others in another area. At least in the EU."

Yes, that is my general feeling, too.

[Leonie]

Here in Australia it can be a bit variable. If you're a 'full time permanent' employee, there are definitely sick leave days, that are fully paid. But it can depend on your employer exactly how many they are. Some companies carry them over, and some don't. Some companies have discretionary sick leave - however long is required dependent on the employee.

And then there's carer's leave, and also maternity/paternity leave which is not sick leave.

For example:

1. My husband had a total hip replacement in 2021, which meant he required twelve weeks off work. It was all covered by his accrued sick leave. And he still has about six months accrued sick leave available. (Doesn't get sick much!)

2. I'm about to have toe surgery. I work casually, which means I don't have accrued sick leave (my choice) but my hourly rate is larger to compensate. And my husband has two weeks carers leave booked, which will be fully paid, to look after me for the first couple of weeks. Only thing required is for my surgeon to provide him with a note saying that it's necessary.

And of course, I will have more reading time!

[Cheryl]

Long time no see, Leonie, I hope it all went well.

Anna directed us over here when we started talking about such things as the correct spelling of aluminum in the Quotes to Live By thread.

I recently read The Language Hoax which confirms my admiration for the author, John McWhorter. (In other books) he's definitely a descriptivist, not a prescriptivist, but his work could still stand up to the judgement of the fussiest pedant.

[Tamara]

I watch a lot of Korean and some Chinese TV drama series, and the English titles are often either strange or amusing, especially with Chinese ones. For example, a recent Chinese series - dramatic historical-fantasy epic - was called 'Butterflied Lover' in English. Not sure what the original Chinese title was or what it meant, but I think it has to do with butterlies themselves (butterflies feature a bit in fantasy shows, both Korean and Chinese). Whenever I see this title, I wonder if no-one told the producers what the term 'butterflied' means, and what it would mean when used that way...

The term 'lover' is another one. It gets used a lot in these shows (both countries) as a translation, and I don't think the term being used in either Chinese or Korean is the same. Usually, it seems to be literally someone you love, or a boyfriend/girlfriend. I would probably translate it as 'sweetheart' or 'beloved' (not knowing those languages, but based on observation), to give a more equivalent sense in English. Here, nowadays, 'lover' is taken physically-literally, whereas in the past, it did use to mean more what it perhaps still means in those cultures/languages: someone you love and have chosen, or are pursuing romantically.

[Allison, Fairy Mod-mother]

Is this not a book about a serial killer???

[Tamara]

Allison wrote: "Is this not a book about a serial killer???"

It sounds like it, right? I haven't seen it, so I don't know exactly; it surely has killing in it. But the 'butterflied lover' doesn't refer to that - it's about the romance - a lover connected with butterflies/renewed life/rebirth, etc.

[Anna]

What do you call the at sign (@) in your language? Anything fun?

I recently learned that in Swedish it's called snabel-a, meaning "trunk (proboscis) A" or "A with trunk".

In Finnish it's mostly ät in spoken language (same as "at"), but some also call it kissanhäntä ("cat's tail") or miukumauku (umm, "mewmeow"? :D)

[Michelle]

I really like "kissanhäntä"! It's much better than the boring English " at".

[Beth]

Swedes do also say "att", which is pronounced just like English "at", but I normally say "snabel-a" because it's such a lovely word 😊

The Danes also have "snabel-a". In Russia they call it "собака" which means "dog".

[DivaDiane]

I thought the @ was called an ampersand. But that’s actually &. Wikipedia says, “At sign” and lists a few other words like ampersat and asperand, which may account for my misremembering, but those terms never gained much popularity. I could swear my mother called it an ampersand. She could actually take dictation in shorthand and I’m sure that’s one of the symbols.

[Olga]

Anna wrote: "What do you call the at sign (@) in your language? Anything fun?"

We call it собака [sobaka] in Russian, which means 'dog'.

[Anna]

It's fun how many different animals are involved :D

[a.g.e. montagner]

Edit: and for a different animal, the @ is called chiocciola in Italian, meaning snail.
One of the rare cases in which we came up with our own name (and a funny one) rather than coopting mouse or homepage or whatever.

[Beth]

Italy is winning so far - of all the ark we have accumulated, it looks most like a snail to me!

[Netanella]

In Greek, the @ symbol is called a papaki, which means a litlte duck.

[Raucous]

This piece has a list with a few others:

https://www.mentalfloss.com/article/7...

I'm liking the image that I get with another Swedish option: kanelbulle (“cinnamon bun”).

[Raucous]

These choices really do make the English "at" sound kind of boring. I so want to quote an email address as "... kanelbulle dot com.

[Michelle]

Raucous wrote: "This piece has a list with a few others:

https://www.mentalfloss.com/article/7...

I'm liking the image that I get with another Swedish option: kanelbulle (“cinnamon ..."

Cinnamon bun is a great description