Around the Year in 52 Books discussion
Archives
>
[2024] Poll 13 Voting
@Amanda - when I was a kid I knew a girl who really wanted a horse, but her parents got her a cat. She named her cat Horse.Did you really want a beer the day you got your cat? 😉
A short clip of someone speaking Yiddish: https://www.google.com/gasearch?q=yid...I also learned when looking for this that Yiddish is a combination of Hebrew, German, Slavic, French, and I think Italian (not sure in what percentage, but you are correct in that it seems to be heavily German). I also heard in one discussion that there is at least some Hungarian influence in places. Basically, Yiddish was developed after the Jews were expelled from where Israel is now. They first went to Rome (well some did, referring to the Ashkenazis who developed Yiddish), then amended the language based on the local language where they continued to relocate.
Harini wrote: "The fascinating thing I found is that the same language changes from region to region as well. My husband and I belong to two different regions of the same state and sometimes the words we use for the same objects differs vastly...."isn't it funny when that happens? I think it probably happens in all languages. Definitely it happens in English, and not just British English vs American English vs Australian English. Just within the USA, words for things will vary based on where you live.
Tracy wrote: "A short clip of someone speaking Yiddish: https://www.google.com/gasearch?q=yid...I also learn..."
Yeah I bet there is Hungarian in there too. I think the Jews in Hungary spoke Yiddish. Didn't Elie Wiesel say something like that in Night? Or maybe it was in Maus?
And words like "bupkis" which I thought was Hungarian because my Hungarian grandmother and aunts used to say it (and it just SOUNDS Hungarian if you ask me) but it's quite common all over NJ / NYC metro area, and if you google the etymology, it says it's from Yiddish "bobkes."
Your link didn't work, it's got too much source crap appended to the address, but I think this was the video:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PNZge...
Tracy wrote: "@Amanda - when I was a kid I knew a girl who really wanted a horse, but her parents got her a cat. She named her cat Horse.Did you really want a beer the day you got your cat? 😉"
Haha, I actually picked it out before I even got him! I knew a dog named Fleishmann and I liked the idea of naming him after a spirit, but my friend thought of Beer and I was sold.
Amanda wrote: "Tracy wrote: "@Amanda - when I was a kid I knew a girl who really wanted a horse, but her parents got her a cat. She named her cat Horse.Did you really want a beer the day you got your cat? 😉"
H..."
That is hilarious!
Nadine in NY wrote: "Tracy wrote: "A short clip of someone speaking Yiddish: https://www.google.com/gasearch?q=yid......"Thanks for letting me know Nadine. I was wondering if that link would work. The one you guess isn't what I was going for, but it was one I looked at when I was researching. This is the one I actually intended (it seemed a little bit easier to hear, and was good length):
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hG5rM...
Dixie wrote: "Nike wrote: "Even though Swedish is our official language there are also five official minority languages and information is always provided for the biggest immigration languages so I don't see tha..."Ok , I see
Tracy wrote: "A short clip of someone speaking Yiddish: https://www.google.com/gasearch?q=yid...I also learn..."
Yes, I remember having read about this once. So interesting.
Nadine in NY wrote: "Tracy wrote: "A short clip of someone speaking Yiddish: https://www.google.com/gasearch?q=yid......"And what is bupkis?
“Bupkis” means something like “nothing at all”. Example: You know bupkis about technology.
Dixie wrote: "Star Trek for mine. I currently have a cat named Spock and a dog named Gabriel (for Gabriel Lorca in ST: Discovery). Others in my life have included Damar, Jean-Luc, Riker, Geordi, and Tasha..."My dog is Sulu. :)
Tracy wrote: "And then we get into the idea of what it even means to be "an English speaking country". I checked Wikipedia to get a list, and came up with the idea that there are categories of what the means:1..."
In this is that includes countries where English is an official languge by law, Canada is forgotten!!!!!!
Canada as a nation has two equal official languages--this was in the articles of Confederation in 1867, and this status was reinforced by Acts (aka laws) passed in 1969 and 1982. Every company that wants to sell products in Canada has to design special labels with both languages on them.
This does not mean that everyone speaks, reads and writes both fluently, and French is not an official language in most of the provinces, but if this were for a country where French is an official language, of course it would count.
From the Vancouver International Aiport, and of course the French is only there due to federal law--note what is below it which is very important in BC
Dixie wrote: "Nike wrote: "Even though Swedish is our official language there are also five official minority languages and information is always provided for the biggest immigration languages so I don't see tha..."Having an official language is practical, not xenophobic unless it means that people are banned from speaking any other. It allows people to communicate with each other even if they aren't using their first language.
I live in a fairly multilingual part of the States (not the first one I've lived in, either) and I would say that you can't speak for every state this way. I hear a lot of Portuguese and Creole (of various ilks) along with other languages in this neck of the woods, but in other areas there is more Spanish or other languages.
What I like here is how much kinder the system is to children who start school and don't know English than it was for my dad when he started school in Saskatchewan where they were forbidden to speak anything but English. My aunt wet her pants the first day because of that rule, so after that they were all taught how to ask to use the washroom.
Like it or not, English has become a lingua franca (not literally true, since it's not French) around the world and it helps people to know it. I think kids should all be bilingual and even English ones should get a good shot at learning another, not the jokes of classes offered, but of course it's costly.
Tracy wrote: "A short clip of someone speaking Yiddish: https://www.google.com/gasearch?q=yid...I also learn..."
That is a bit confusing to me since Hebrew was a dead language until the modern one was constructed based on ancient Hebrew, unless they borrowed some ancient Hebrew in with the other languages. When the Jews were expelled from where they are now they spoke a form of Aramaic. I wonder if they meant Aramaic but said Hebrew by mistake.
Mod
My brother regularly has a chance to speak other languages with people he meets. He took me to his neighborhood restaurant where everyone knows him, and the staff is from at least 6 different countries. Although I live in a university town with some foreign students, my daily life is almost exclusively around white, Midwestern people.
Nike wrote: "Nadine in NY wrote: "Tracy wrote: "A short clip of someone speaking Yiddish: https://www.google.com/gasearch?q=yid......"bupkis means nothing. So you could say "I asked everyone in the department about this issue and I got bupkis."
Misty wrote: "Dixie wrote: "Star Trek for mine. I currently have a cat named Spock and a dog named Gabriel (for Gabriel Lorca in ST: Discovery). Others in my life have included Damar, Jean-Luc, Riker, Geordi, an...My dog is Sulu. :)"
LOL Have you ever been watching Star Trek with your dog and had him react to someone on the show saying "Sulu!"
Karin wrote: "Dixie wrote: "Nike wrote: "Even though Swedish is our official language there are also five official minority languages and information is always provided for the biggest immigration languages so I..."This tends to be a very American phenomenon, but whenever the idea of English as the official (legal) language comes up politically, it very much does stem from xenophobia - because the rhetoric around it is less "well it's practical to have a shared language!" (true!) and more "if you don't speak English you don't belong in this country" (untrue!). Obviously a language in common is very useful in multiple ways... but whenever there are attempts to codify that into law, it's more of a "we want to get these non-English speakers out of our country" angle people come from.
English as a lingua franca is super interesting since it's basically five languages standing on top of each other in a trench coat. We've borrowed very liberally from a bunch of other languages and cobbled it together into something that, in all honesty, has bizarre, byzantine rules and structures, so the fact that it's become such a shared language is pretty wild (and obviously owes a lot to British colonialism in general for being so widespread). I used to teach English overseas and it's a very hard language to learn to speak, especially to speak like a native.
One of my favorite stories to highlight how crazy English is (or maybe just the craziness of language evolution in general!) is the history of the letter "h" in "ghost" - apparently the original Anglo-Saxen ghost actually comes from "gast" or "gost." But the first people in England who were capable of setting down books into type had Flemish typesetters (specifically William Caxton) and practiced their trade in Flanders. And in Flemish, ghost is "gheest" - so these Flemish typesetters added in the h, as the spelling was more familiar to them. And since this version of ghost was in the Bible, which would be the book most literate people of the day would be reading, it became the standardized spelling. Which is why today we have a silent "h" in ghost!
@Kristina, that is such a cool explanation.
Aimee wrote: "Tracy wrote: "4. A book with a bilingual character: Bilingualism is not as common a trait in the US as it is most other places. For a lot of people, even if you learn a second (or more) languages, ..."It is in common in the US. It's less common once you get away from border areas and to smaller communities. I live in a large metropolitan area and off the top of my head can think of friends or coworkers who speak fluently in the following languages in addition to English: Spanish, French, German, Danish, Italian, Swahili, Mandarin, Cantonese, Farsi, Portuguese, Brazilian Portuguese, Korean, Japanese, Vietnamese, Hindi, Afrikaans, Sinhala, and Maltese.
I don't know of many schools that require at least two years of a foreign language.
6 up two downwarm or heated atmosphere-neutral
A book another ATY group member gave 5 stars-down. I feel like this can be any book and wanted something meatier
A second book that fits your favorite prompt-neutral. I feel like i see this a lot (i do other challenges)
A book with a bilingual character-neutral. I feel like this is a lot of books i read. so i wanted something different
5. A book related to the Addams Family-up! between it and unique families we are good
6. A book related to “Going for the Gold”-so many on my list with the word gold and i have some athletes also on my list
7. A book nominated for a Goodreads Choice Award-
8. A fiction book with a reference work in the title-sure. i think i have stuff for this
9. A book set in a group living situation-sure. looks fun!
10. A book with a divided, or split, cover-sure
11. A novel disguised as a guide or manual-gotta find read 'a good girl's guide to murder"
12. A book for a prompt that was used in a previous year -neutral. done this before
13. A book longlisted for a Booker Prize-neutral
14. A historical fiction book that takes place before the 20th Century. neutral only b/c i love historical fiction of lots of time periods and places.
15. A cozy mystery-down! I don't do well with mysteries
Feel free to discuss the prompts below, but please remember to be respectful to the other group members.
VOTE HERE: https://forms.gle/NuHgYYD51AaS57RK7
reply | flag
Mod
Emily wrote: "Mod spoiler: We will have three winners tomorrow (the votes have been very clear with no close calls or polarizing prompts!). What's your guesses?"Ohh exciting....Not my choices but I'm guessing
3. A second book that fits your favorite prompt
5. A book related to the Addams Family
12. A book for a prompt that was used in a previous year
or maybe
6. A book related to “Going for the Gold” instead of 12!
I am terrible at this, but I will guess 3, 7, and 12.
Ooh how fun!! I definitely think 2 and 12, although that makes me a bit sad.I would love Goodreads awards but people don’t seem to like them as much as previous years , so maybe going for gold or the divided/split covers
I meant 3 and 12. Favorite prompt and previous year prompt.
1, 3 and 12, though I didn't vote for the choose your own prompt ones, I can see them being popular.
I think the GR Award has a better chance this year since it’s not limited to the previous year, which we don’t even know what’s on that list at the time of voting! I never vote for it but did this time because there are books from 2022 on it I still want to read and I’m assuming a few books from 2023, that I’m interested in, will make the list. I’m hoping that one of the 3 is one of the more creative ideas and it’s not 3 list prompts!
Mod
Mod
I’m guessing 1, 3, and 12, like Ellie, but I’d prefer 3, 4 or 5, and 12 (but I voted for them all).
Emily wrote: "Mod spoiler: We will have three winners tomorrow (the votes have been very clear with no close calls or polarizing prompts!). What's your guesses?"How exciting!
My guesses:
3. A second book that fits your favorite prompt
6. A book related to “Going for the Gold”
7. A book nominated for a Goodreads Choice Award
Welll, Emily, I’m glad to hear that none of our combinations were correct!
My guess (1 I up voted, 1, I was neutral and 1 I downvoted):1. A book with a warm or heated atmosphere
3. A second book that fits your favorite prompt
7. A book nominated for a Goodreads Choice Award
I'm not going to guess, but of all the guesses so far ... only one prompt is on my UP vote list.
Mod
I've been completely our of sync with the winners lately so don't hold much hope to guess correctly. I'll say 6, 7, 12.
Are you going to tell us if someone gets it right? I think it's:3. A second book that fits your favorite prompt
12. A book for a prompt that was used in a previous year
13. A book longlisted for a Booker Prize
changed to1, 3, 5
Emily wrote: "No one has gotten all three yet!"Emily- have some people got some right?
I will guess
Goodreads awards ( which I hypocritically voted for)
Addams family ( will need help working it out)
Either 8 or 11
I know it won’t be 3 and 12 no way they both get in ( could be neither can’t be both)
I'm guessing warm, bilingual, and gold.
Mod
Mod
2 and 15 ( fewest people guessing them so I’m guessing they’re both in)
Around the Year in 52 Books
Books mentioned in this topic
A Psalm for the Wild-Built (other topics)Dead Wrong (other topics)
Pumpkins & Poltergeists (other topics)
Happy Place (other topics)
The Addams Family: An Evilution (other topics)
More...
Authors mentioned in this topic
Rhys Bowen (other topics)Alyssa Maxwell (other topics)
Jim Lavene (other topics)
Cleo Coyle (other topics)
Tasha Alexander (other topics)
More...
Thank you Mods for providing this friendly space :)