show transcripttumblr post by seokoilua: it's so wild to me that some people just speak english all the time… like they can't switch it off to speak in a #real language when they need to

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[–] 4 points 10 months ago (4 children)

Also, what a lot of non-native speakers might not understand is that sometimes, especially with English, the correct translation is to leave a word untranslated.

You know, since all words are English words, as long as you get the grammar correct 🤣

(joking but it's kind of true though)

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  • [–] 2 points 10 months ago (3 children)

    You're right. English can be real tricky. I've known Spanish speakers to say "scape" instead of "escape," because similar words in Spanish that have English counterparts usually drop the e-. For example, escuela -> school; estudiar -> to study; hell, even Español -> Spanish. There are loads of examples of this pattern, but a handful of words (like "escape" and "escalate") defy it. It's gotta be so confusing.

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  • [–] 3 points 10 months ago (2 children)

    Yeah, I'm not sure where we got the e- prefix from, but once upon a time it seems to have been used to modify the meaning of words. Obviously it's no longer in use, just a relic of lost grammatical rules.

    And now we have a new e- prefix, such as email and e-bikes. I wonder if future linguists will think that "escape" refers to a digital lawn 🤔

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