Archived posting to the Leica Users Group, 2002/10/25
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Hi Dan,
Håkan is in Sweden, so I assume he is Swedish or Norwegian (the name
Håkan is quite common in Norway too).
You are right, "smør" in Danish means "butter" (in Swedish it is smör, I
think, they do not use the letter ø), and "smøre" means to grease
something. The noun grease is usually translated as "fedt" in Danish or
"fett" in Swedish, obviously related to the English "fat".
English, German, Dutch and the Scandinavian languages all belong to the
Germanic family, but English more than the others has also been shaped
by interaction with other language families. Keep in mind that while the
Romans conquered Britain they never ventured up to the barbarians in
what today is the Netherlands, Denmark, northern Germany or
Sweden/Norway. So English is more influenced by the Latin languages than
is the case in the other Germanic languages.
Skål!
Nathan
Dan Post wrote:
> I read with interest the answer (tongue in cheek at that- does that
> translate in to your Norse language{ Danish?}, I wonder?) that Neil Beddoe
> gave!
> Actually, a light baffle is a device to absorb or diffuse the light
> reflected inside the camera chamber itself- should make for a higher
> contrast negative. The word 'baffle' is interesting in this context- I guess
> it would in fact 'confuse' the light bouncing around inside the camera and
> keep it away from the film! :o)
>
> I am surprised at the number of English words that confuse Germanic and
> Norse speakers since so many of our English words come from those languages-
> I read somewhere that 60% of English is derived from Germanic languages...
> and I still have difficulty with German! As Mark Twain commented- He said
> he'd rather decline several drinks than one German verb!
>
> I also recall seeing the word 'smor' with the little line through the 'o' is
> Swedish which I recall means 'butter' but is also used for the generic term
> for 'grease'- amd I would assume gives rise to the English word 'Smear'-
> since we smear butter on our bread, and smear grease on our bearings!
>
> Anyway, Hakan, I hope that clears things up, since I am now thorroughly
> confused! Cheers! Prost! Prosit! Nastrovya! Opah! A vos sante! Slainte!
>
> Dan ( Tell me about th' rabbits, George!) Post
>
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Nathan Wajsman
Herrliberg (ZH), Switzerland
e-mail: wajsman@webshuttle.ch
mobile: +41 78 732 1430
Photo-A-Week: http://www.wajsman.com/indexpaw2002.htm
General photo site: http://www.wajsman.com/index.htm
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