Temperature

November 11, 2005

,

I used to be an English major and the etemology of words leads me to

be able to give you an answer to your question (and it should be noted

that etymologies are not definitions; they're explanations of what our

words meant and how they sounded 600 or 2,000 years ago).

First some history...

http://www.krysstal.com/english.html

" The history of the language can be traced back to the arrival of

three Germanic tribes to the British Isles during the 5th Century AD.

Angles, Saxons and Jutes crossed the North Sea from what is the

present day Denmark and northern Germany. The inhabitants of Britain

previously spoke a Celtic language. This was quickly displaced. Most

of the Celtic speakers were pushed into Wales, Cornwall and Scotland.

One group migrated to the Brittany Coast of France where their

descendants still speak the Celtic Language of Breton today. The

Angles were named from Engle, their land of origin. Their language was

called Englisc from which the word, English derives.

" An Anglo-Saxon inscription dated between 450 and 480AD is the oldest

sample of the English language.

" During the 7th and 8th Centuries, Northumbria's culture and language

dominated Britain. The Viking invasions of the 9th Century brought

this domination to an end (along with the destruction of Mercia). Only

Wessex remained as an independent kingdom. By the 10th Century, the

West Saxon dialect became the official language of Britain. Written

Old English is mainly known from this period. It was written in an

alphabet called Runic, derived from the Scandinavian languages. The

Latin Alphabet was brought over from Ireland by Christian

missionaries. This has remained the writing system of English.

At this time, the vocabulary of Old English consisted of an Anglo

Saxon base with borrowed words from the Scandinavian languages (Danish

and Norse) and Latin. Latin gave English words like street, kitchen,

kettle, cup, cheese, wine, angel, bishop, martyr, candle. The Vikings

added many Norse words: sky, egg, cake, skin, leg, window (wind eye),

husband, fellow, skill, anger, flat, odd, ugly, get, give, take,

raise, call, die, they, their, them. Celtic words also survived mainly

in place and river names (Devon, Dover, Kent, Trent, Severn, Avon,

Thames).

" Many pairs of English and Norse words coexisted giving us two words

with the same or slightly differing meanings. Examples below.

" In 1066 the Normans conquered Britain. French became the language of

the Norman aristocracy and added more vocabulary to English. More

pairs of similar words arose. "

If you take a look at the Spanish way of speaking (and Spanish is also

derived from Latin, when they say " It's cold " the say it this

way: " Hace Frio. " Literally, that means " It makes cold. "

In Latin, words have gender (male, female, and neutral) and " cold " is

a neutral gendered word.

This has been carried over to the English way of saying the same

phrase, though we don't realize it, because very few of us have an

understanding of the history of our language.

I do understand your point though. People will make the world be all

about them. THEY are not cold, but the WORLD is, and so they turn up

the thermostat instead of putting on a sweater.

Tom

Administrator

I know this is relatively trivial but it bugs me. Why do people

say 'It's hot' instead of 'I'm hot' or 'It's cold' instead of 'I'm

cold'? Everywhere I've ever worked or group I've been in, this

happens. It's usually women who do it--they will insist that because

they're hot or cold, IT'S hot or cold and they will often adjust the

thermostat to their desire. They will never bring a sweater or dress

in layers and they will never concede to an accepted temperature. They

will never reason that if they were hot this morning at 71 degrees F

but cold this afternoon at 73 degrees F that it's them and not the

actual temperature that is the problem. It's not having to be hot or

cold as a result of their whims that bothers me but just the illogical

ego-centricism of it. Is it because NTs usually assume that everyone

feels the same way and that group-think equals truth in their eyes?

November 11, 2005

Yeah, English isn't the best language for communication, but it's a

pretty good one for poetry!

>

> I know this is relatively trivial but it bugs me. Why do people

> say 'It's hot' instead of 'I'm hot' or 'It's cold' instead of 'I'm

> cold'? Everywhere I've ever worked or group I've been in, this

> happens. It's usually women who do it--they will insist that because

> they're hot or cold, IT'S hot or cold and they will often adjust the

> thermostat to their desire. They will never bring a sweater or dress

> in layers and they will never concede to an accepted temperature.

They

> will never reason that if they were hot this morning at 71 degrees F

> but cold this afternoon at 73 degrees F that it's them and not the

> actual temperature that is the problem. It's not having to be hot or

> cold as a result of their whims that bothers me but just the

illogical

> ego-centricism of it. Is it because NTs usually assume that everyone

> feels the same way and that group-think equals truth in their eyes?

>

November 11, 2005

mikecarrie01 wrote:

> Yeah, English isn't the best language for communication, but it's a

> pretty good one for poetry!

>

> -

.... I beg to differ here. English may be difficult to learn as a second

language in some respects, but it " works " great for communication. It

lets me say anything I want or feel. Sure there may be ambiguities,

there are things I don't get, but that's true of any language in any

culture.

BTW, I believe the most difficult language to learn is spoken in the

Philipines, Tagalog. :-) (Or maybe it is Amheric spoken in Ethiopia?)

My 2 cents.

and the zoo.

November 14, 2005

Hi, , is English your second language? I'd like to see how

someone for whom English is not their first language sees it. I've

noticed that in several languages as compared to English, it's easier

to find a specific word to describe what you want to say and it can

be said in fewer words. But every language has something another

doesn't. I've known people who speak 3 languages who will talk in a

combination of all three, in order to be able to express things the

best way. I had a roommate who was Hungarian and though I can't

remember it now, there was something really interesting you could do

with that language that you could do with no other.

>

> > Yeah, English isn't the best language for communication, but it's

a

> > pretty good one for poetry!

> >

> > -

>

> ... I beg to differ here. English may be difficult to learn as a

second

> language in some respects, but it " works " great for communication.

It

> lets me say anything I want or feel. Sure there may be

ambiguities,

> there are things I don't get, but that's true of any language in

any

> culture.

>

> BTW, I believe the most difficult language to learn is spoken in

the

> Philipines, Tagalog. :-) (Or maybe it is Amheric spoken in

Ethiopia?)

>

> My 2 cents.

> and the zoo.

>

November 14, 2005