Name: La Fantasma
Placed: January 19, 2003 (I'm way behind--what can I say?)
State: CA
County: SLO
Nearest Town: Morro Bay
URL: http://www.geocities.com/rscarpen/Lb/US/CA/LaFantasma
The clue is in my best Spanish immitation. It may not be perfect,
but it should be readable! At least if you know any Spanish. =)
You could try an online translator to see what pops out. My opinion
of the one I tried is that it makes the clue even funnier than it was
before. =)
I wanted to use the word 'letterbox' in Spanish, which none of my
dictionaries has, so I tried making up my own word for lack of a
better idea. Taking the fact that it's a compound word of 'letter'
and 'box', I get the Spanish equivelent of 'carta' and 'caja'. In
Spanish it seems all of their compound words always have two
characteristics: They are ALWAYS plurl and they are always feminine.
Thus, can opener is 'abrelatas' (abre=open, latas=cans) and bodyguard
is 'guardaespaldas' (guarda=guard, espaldas=backs). And so on.
Since I already have two nouns that are already feminine, it's just a
matter of choosing which should come first and which should be last
(and plurlized). I kind of see the 'letter' part of the word as an
adjective describing what kind of box we're talking about (we talk
about BOXES all the time, but we never talk about 'letters' on this
board!), thus using the normal grammer in Spanish of the adjective
coming after the noun, we get cajacartas. I've never invented a new
word before, and this is really exciting for me! =)
Naturally, we need to turn cajacartas into a verb, but this is a bit
trickier. To say that one is letterboxing, we frequently shorten it
to say that someone is 'boxing'. Boxing would clearly be cajando in
Spanish (caja + r to turn it into a verb, and turned into an -ing
word drops the r but adds ando). But then how would one
say 'letterboxing'? Since 'carta' comes after 'caja' in cajacartas,
we could say we were cajacartando, which really doesn't sound too
good and I find difficult to say. But then shortening it by dropping
the first half of the word leaves us with 'cartar', which isn't the
same as 'cajar' which I've already decided is a great way to say 'to
box'. It's a perplexing question beyond the limited scope of my
Spanish abilities, but I'm inclined to say the verb for "to box"
is 'cajar' and "boxing" would therefore be 'cajando'. It rolls off
the tongue really well that way! And then add the restriction that
there is no equivelent of 'LETTERboxing' in Spanish, just 'boxing'.
So what do all you other Spanish speaking folks out there think? =)
-- Ryan
CA: New letterbox and a question of Spanish
13 messages in this thread |
Started on 2003-03-08
CA: New letterbox and a question of Spanish
From: rscarpen (RiskyNil@hotmail.com) |
Date: 2003-03-08 09:27:26 UTC
Re: [LbNA] CA: New letterbox and a question of Spanish
From: (gbecket@aol.com) |
Date: 2003-03-08 07:34:38 UTC-05:00
Yay! I'm happy to see this as I've been thinking I'd like start posting bilingual english and spanish clues. My neighbors are Peruvian and I want to do them the favor of infecting them good and proper with my favorite obsession. I tried "letter box" on Alta Vista's translation service and came up with "caja de letra" and it says that letra and carta both mean letter.
Personally, I've had problems with the answers I got back on this service sometimes (made my neighbor howl with laughter at one paragraph). Anyone good on Spanish out there? For "letterboxing in North America" I got "caja de letra en Nortamerica". Personally, I like "cajacarta". Cajacarta en Nortamerica?
Mother of Crickets
Personally, I've had problems with the answers I got back on this service sometimes (made my neighbor howl with laughter at one paragraph). Anyone good on Spanish out there? For "letterboxing in North America" I got "caja de letra en Nortamerica". Personally, I like "cajacarta". Cajacarta en Nortamerica?
Mother of Crickets
Re: [LbNA] CA: New letterbox and a question of Spanish
From: rscarpen (RiskyNil@hotmail.com) |
Date: 2003-03-08 22:13:38 UTC
> I'm happy to see this as I've been thinking I'd like start posting
> bilingual english and spanish clues.
I'm not sure I'd go to the effort of creating "bilingual" clues
myself--I just thought a couple of Spanish clues would give an
interesting flavor to the usual sorts of clues out there. Anyhow,
doesn't everyone in California already know Spanish? ;o)
> I tried "letter box" on Alta Vista's translation service and came
> up with "caja de letra" and it says that letra and carta both mean
> letter.
I considered that as a possible translation, but to me that
means "box of letters", which is clearly NOT the same
as "letterbox". The former could mean the box was full of letters or
it was actually made of letters, neither of which seems like a good
translation to me. Keeping the word a compound word seemed like the
best solution which is why I suggested cajacarta.
As for the letra vs. carta thing, there is a HUGE difference between
the two in Spanish. 'Letra' does mean letter--as in the letters of
the alphebet. 'Carta' means letter--but as the kind of thing that
one writes to another person and drops in the mailbox. So yes, they
both mean letter, but they have very different meanings and cannot be
used interchangeably! I always associated the "letter"
in "letterbox" as a message one person leaves for another, thus I
used 'carta' instead of 'letra'.
> Personally, I've had problems with the answers I got back on this
> service sometimes (made my neighbor howl with laughter at one
> paragraph).
They really are a hoot, though. I've had a lot of fun playing with
those translators! And while its translations are something less
than perfect, it's usually "good enough" for someone reading it to
figure out what it's really trying to say. =)
Isn't Spanish fun?! =) Why it took me so long to get into it I'll
never know. *rolling eyes* Actually, I do, but that's another
story....
-- Ryan
> bilingual english and spanish clues.
I'm not sure I'd go to the effort of creating "bilingual" clues
myself--I just thought a couple of Spanish clues would give an
interesting flavor to the usual sorts of clues out there. Anyhow,
doesn't everyone in California already know Spanish? ;o)
> I tried "letter box" on Alta Vista's translation service and came
> up with "caja de letra" and it says that letra and carta both mean
> letter.
I considered that as a possible translation, but to me that
means "box of letters", which is clearly NOT the same
as "letterbox". The former could mean the box was full of letters or
it was actually made of letters, neither of which seems like a good
translation to me. Keeping the word a compound word seemed like the
best solution which is why I suggested cajacarta.
As for the letra vs. carta thing, there is a HUGE difference between
the two in Spanish. 'Letra' does mean letter--as in the letters of
the alphebet. 'Carta' means letter--but as the kind of thing that
one writes to another person and drops in the mailbox. So yes, they
both mean letter, but they have very different meanings and cannot be
used interchangeably! I always associated the "letter"
in "letterbox" as a message one person leaves for another, thus I
used 'carta' instead of 'letra'.
> Personally, I've had problems with the answers I got back on this
> service sometimes (made my neighbor howl with laughter at one
> paragraph).
They really are a hoot, though. I've had a lot of fun playing with
those translators! And while its translations are something less
than perfect, it's usually "good enough" for someone reading it to
figure out what it's really trying to say. =)
Isn't Spanish fun?! =) Why it took me so long to get into it I'll
never know. *rolling eyes* Actually, I do, but that's another
story....
-- Ryan
Re: [LbNA] CA: New letterbox and a question of Spanish
From: (gbecket@aol.com) |
Date: 2003-03-09 08:18:45 UTC-05:00
In a message dated 3/8/2003 5:16:13 PM Eastern Standard Time, RiskyNil@hotmail.com writes:
I wanted to do this to make some boxes and clues for people who don't speak or read English and to foment interest in letterboxing in Spanish speaking countries. Wouldn't you like to go hunting in Costa Rica? I would!
Anyhow,
That's "Spanglish" to you, chico, at least in LA. ;) Mother of Crickets
I'm not sure I'd go to the effort of creating "bilingual" clues
myself--I just thought a couple of Spanish clues would give an
interesting flavor to the usual sorts of clues out there.
I wanted to do this to make some boxes and clues for people who don't speak or read English and to foment interest in letterboxing in Spanish speaking countries. Wouldn't you like to go hunting in Costa Rica? I would!
Anyhow,
doesn't everyone in California already know Spanish? ;o)
That's "Spanglish" to you, chico, at least in LA. ;) Mother of Crickets
Re: [LbNA] CA: New letterbox and a question of Spanish
From: be ma (bema57@hotmail.com) |
Date: 2003-03-09 15:03:37 UTC
BeMa planted a box entitled "Universal Language" in VA. Its clues are in several different languages (can't say which ones -- that's part of the puzzle!) There are numerous free translating programs available on the WEB to help. Some of the most fun is seeing what strange interpretations the software comes up with! BeMa
P.S. According to the Washington Post (and Hollywood...) Spanglish is the next cool thing. They are sprinkling it increasingly in TV and movies to add a "cool" factor. All I can say is the more languages you know -- the more interesting conversations you can eaves-drop in on while waiting in line....
>From: gbecket@aol.com >Reply-To: letterbox-usa@yahoogroups.com >To: letterbox-usa@yahoogroups.com >Subject: Re: [LbNA] CA: New letterbox and a question of Spanish >Date: Sun, 9 Mar 2003 08:18:45 EST > >In a message dated 3/8/2003 5:16:13 PM Eastern Standard Time, >RiskyNil@hotmail.com writes: > > > I'm not sure I'd go to the effort of creating "bilingual" clues > > myself--I just thought a couple of Spanish clues would give an > > interesting flavor to the usual sorts of clues out there. > > > >I wanted to do this to make some boxes and clues for people who don't speak >or read English and to foment interest in letterboxing in Spanish speaking >countries. Wouldn't you like to go hunting in Costa Rica? I would! > >Anyhow, > doesn't everyone in California already know Spanish? ;o) > > >That's "Spanglish" to you, chico, at least in LA. ;) Mother of Crickets > >
MSN 8 helps ELIMINATE E-MAIL VIRUSES. Get 2 months FREE*.
Re: [LbNA] CA: New letterbox and a question of Spanish
From: Eric Polk (ericpolk@attbi.com) |
Date: 2003-03-09 07:11:42 UTC-08:00
What's really interesting is to put the translation
back into the translator and move it back to English. That can be REALLY
funny.
I did this once with German. I had written
something about seeing a baseball game for a German co-worker. I put the
German back into the translator to see how well it translated and it was sort of
close.
Just for laughs, I copied that English sentence
back into German then returned to English again. After a few runs through
the translator, the sentence about seeing a baseball game had turned into a hunt
for boys with shiny belts. We never could figure out exactly what that
meant. : )
___________________________
Eric Polk
Eric Polk
----- Original Message -----From: rscarpenSent: Saturday, March 08, 2003 2:13 PMSubject: Re: [LbNA] CA: New letterbox and a question of Spanish
They really are a hoot, though. I've had a lot of fun playing with
those translators! And while its translations are something less
than perfect, it's usually "good enough" for someone reading it to
figure out what it's really trying to say. =)
Re: [LbNA] CA: New letterbox and a question of Spanish
From: rscarpen (RiskyNil@hotmail.com) |
Date: 2003-03-09 16:21:59 UTC
> I wanted to do this to make some boxes and clues for people who
> don't speak or read English and to foment interest in letterboxing
> in Spanish speaking countries.
By all means, go for it! I didn't mean to sound discouraging, but I
personally am too lazy to create the same set of clues twice using
two differenent languages simply to forment interest in letterboxing
in the Spanish speaking community. I'm not fluent in Spanish, and
writing a clue in Spanish is a LOT of effort for me. Heck, it took
me over a month to write the clue in Spanish that I did do from the
time I hid it!
> Wouldn't you like to go hunting in Costa Rica? I would!
Well you're in luck! I've hidden a dozen boxes or so in Central
America--including Costa Rica--that are easily accessible and fun to
get! There's a couple more that someone else hid before me that I
never got a chance to get mostly because I was too cheap to stay in
the motel it was at or to ride anything but public transportation so
it didn't work out. When you get used to those $3/night hotel rooms,
the $70/night ones comes with a bit of sticker shock!
However, all my clues for boxes in Central America are written in
English, primarily for those tourists visiting the area and want to
go letterboxing. The intended audience was NOT the locals, although
I certainly don't mind if they try looking for them either!
Speaking of audience, even though the clue for the letterbox I hid is
in Spanish, the intended audience are really gringos that only speak
English. I thought it would be fun to hear about what efforts they
go to in order to get the clue translated into English. Something
different from the norm. *shrug* But of course Spanish-speaking
individuals are welcome to hunt for the box as well. =)
> That's "Spanglish" to you, chico, at least in LA. ;)
There's an idea--maybe I should try writing a clue or two in
Spanglish! ;o)
-- Ryan
> don't speak or read English and to foment interest in letterboxing
> in Spanish speaking countries.
By all means, go for it! I didn't mean to sound discouraging, but I
personally am too lazy to create the same set of clues twice using
two differenent languages simply to forment interest in letterboxing
in the Spanish speaking community. I'm not fluent in Spanish, and
writing a clue in Spanish is a LOT of effort for me. Heck, it took
me over a month to write the clue in Spanish that I did do from the
time I hid it!
> Wouldn't you like to go hunting in Costa Rica? I would!
Well you're in luck! I've hidden a dozen boxes or so in Central
America--including Costa Rica--that are easily accessible and fun to
get! There's a couple more that someone else hid before me that I
never got a chance to get mostly because I was too cheap to stay in
the motel it was at or to ride anything but public transportation so
it didn't work out. When you get used to those $3/night hotel rooms,
the $70/night ones comes with a bit of sticker shock!
However, all my clues for boxes in Central America are written in
English, primarily for those tourists visiting the area and want to
go letterboxing. The intended audience was NOT the locals, although
I certainly don't mind if they try looking for them either!
Speaking of audience, even though the clue for the letterbox I hid is
in Spanish, the intended audience are really gringos that only speak
English. I thought it would be fun to hear about what efforts they
go to in order to get the clue translated into English. Something
different from the norm. *shrug* But of course Spanish-speaking
individuals are welcome to hunt for the box as well. =)
> That's "Spanglish" to you, chico, at least in LA. ;)
There's an idea--maybe I should try writing a clue or two in
Spanglish! ;o)
-- Ryan
Re: [LbNA] CA: New letterbox and a question of Spanish
From: letterboxing mobots (themobots@yahoo.com) |
Date: 2003-03-09 14:41:17 UTC-08:00
Hi, I'm a high school spanish teacher so I think I can
help. I would like to first apologize if I sound too
critical. My usually charming demeanor doesn't always
transfer through e-mail.
These are all just random comments on what the word
should be and the grammar to be used.
-The word for mailbox is "buzon"
-To convert it into a verb would be "buzonear" (I
belive that as of a certain year all new verbs in
Spanish are -ar verbs as decided by the royal academy
of language in Spain)
-words or ideas taht come from other languages often
maintain the same name or get changed slightly.
-Likely translations for "to letterbox" once explained
would be "hacer letterbox" or "letterboxear"
-good guess on cajacartas vs. cartacajas. one would
probably imply putting letters in boxes the other
woudl imply labeling boxes (probably)
-Letterboxing as a term would shift depending on
whether or not it was being used as a noun or a verb.
Nouns usually are infinitives or have different
suffixes.
When used as a part of a verb in the a progressive
tense it would take the suffix -ando but would tend to
refer to the action itself as it was in progress.
-I enjoy letterboxing (the activity)
could be:
me gusta cajacartar, me gusta cartacajamiento, me
gusta letterboxear, me gusta hacer letterbox, me gusta
buzonear, me gusta buzoneamiento.
-I was letterboxing (past progressive tense to
describe what you were doing) could be:
yo estaba cartacajando, yo estaba letterboxeando, yo
estaba haciendo letterbox, yo estaba buzoneando.
In my opinion, I would suggest using "hacer letterbox"
or "letterboxear" as they seem less contrived. I
think it would still be appropriate to refer to the
"caja" once it was established that one was talking
about letterboxing.
On a side note, buzonear sounds pretty bad, cajar also
runs the risk of being confused with the verb "cagar"
or "cagarse" which would be a vulgar way of describing
the act of defecation.
compound words are generally formed by a noun and a
verb. WHile they appear to be feminine and plural.
They always take the masculine singular article.
There are some that appear to be masculine and plural
but are still masculine singular.
i.e.
el lavaplatos (the plate washer)
el sacapuntos (the point getter, pencil sharpener)
el sacacorchos (the cork remover, corkscrew)
el abrelatas (the can opener)
Hope I have been helpful. If you would like I can
take a look at the clues when I get a chance.
Please don't take any of the suggestions too hard as
they are just that. I think it's great that you chose
to do this!!!
Jim
__________________________________________________
Do you Yahoo!?
Yahoo! Tax Center - forms, calculators, tips, more
http://taxes.yahoo.com/
help. I would like to first apologize if I sound too
critical. My usually charming demeanor doesn't always
transfer through e-mail.
These are all just random comments on what the word
should be and the grammar to be used.
-The word for mailbox is "buzon"
-To convert it into a verb would be "buzonear" (I
belive that as of a certain year all new verbs in
Spanish are -ar verbs as decided by the royal academy
of language in Spain)
-words or ideas taht come from other languages often
maintain the same name or get changed slightly.
-Likely translations for "to letterbox" once explained
would be "hacer letterbox" or "letterboxear"
-good guess on cajacartas vs. cartacajas. one would
probably imply putting letters in boxes the other
woudl imply labeling boxes (probably)
-Letterboxing as a term would shift depending on
whether or not it was being used as a noun or a verb.
Nouns usually are infinitives or have different
suffixes.
When used as a part of a verb in the a progressive
tense it would take the suffix -ando but would tend to
refer to the action itself as it was in progress.
-I enjoy letterboxing (the activity)
could be:
me gusta cajacartar, me gusta cartacajamiento, me
gusta letterboxear, me gusta hacer letterbox, me gusta
buzonear, me gusta buzoneamiento.
-I was letterboxing (past progressive tense to
describe what you were doing) could be:
yo estaba cartacajando, yo estaba letterboxeando, yo
estaba haciendo letterbox, yo estaba buzoneando.
In my opinion, I would suggest using "hacer letterbox"
or "letterboxear" as they seem less contrived. I
think it would still be appropriate to refer to the
"caja" once it was established that one was talking
about letterboxing.
On a side note, buzonear sounds pretty bad, cajar also
runs the risk of being confused with the verb "cagar"
or "cagarse" which would be a vulgar way of describing
the act of defecation.
compound words are generally formed by a noun and a
verb. WHile they appear to be feminine and plural.
They always take the masculine singular article.
There are some that appear to be masculine and plural
but are still masculine singular.
i.e.
el lavaplatos (the plate washer)
el sacapuntos (the point getter, pencil sharpener)
el sacacorchos (the cork remover, corkscrew)
el abrelatas (the can opener)
Hope I have been helpful. If you would like I can
take a look at the clues when I get a chance.
Please don't take any of the suggestions too hard as
they are just that. I think it's great that you chose
to do this!!!
Jim
__________________________________________________
Do you Yahoo!?
Yahoo! Tax Center - forms, calculators, tips, more
http://taxes.yahoo.com/
Re: [LbNA] CA: New letterbox and a question of Spanish
From: Fudrick (fudrick@attbi.com) |
Date: 2003-03-09 16:36:24 UTC-08:00
Reminds me of an old joke that is appropriate for this great hobby:
The first English-Chinese translator was finally finished. To give it one
final test, the phrase "Out Of Sight, Out Of Mind" was entered, translated,
then translated back into English. It came back "Invisible, Insane"
Which is how we want our boxes to be, and what we all probably are :-)
Fudrick
The first English-Chinese translator was finally finished. To give it one
final test, the phrase "Out Of Sight, Out Of Mind" was entered, translated,
then translated back into English. It came back "Invisible, Insane"
Which is how we want our boxes to be, and what we all probably are :-)
Fudrick
Re: [LbNA] CA: New letterbox and a question of Spanish
From: dvn2rckr (dvn2rckr@yahoo.com) |
Date: 2003-03-10 01:37:30 UTC
It came back "Invisible, Insane"
>
> Which is how we want our boxes to be, and what we all probably
are :-)
>
> Fudrick
That description certainly fits me to a 'T'...
Do I need therapy? ;) I'm sure if you asked my children, they'd
definitely agree...
dvn2r ckr
>
> Which is how we want our boxes to be, and what we all probably
are :-)
>
> Fudrick
That description certainly fits me to a 'T'...
Do I need therapy? ;) I'm sure if you asked my children, they'd
definitely agree...
dvn2r ckr
Re: [LbNA] CA: New letterbox and a question of Spanish
From: rscarpen (RiskyNil@hotmail.com) |
Date: 2003-03-10 02:05:45 UTC
> -Likely translations for "to letterbox" once explained
> would be "hacer letterbox" or "letterboxear"
Gadzooks, I suppose that is a real possibility, but I cringe at the
thought! However, if a letterbox is a "cajacartas", I'm okay with
the idea of saying "to letterbox" as "hacer cajacartas". But I
cringe that the thought of not Spanish-izing the word because it
seems wrong not to make an effort to have it look and sound Spanish.
> -The word for mailbox is "buzon"
> -To convert it into a verb would be "buzonear"
I guess you have a point there as well, but that just doesn't *sound*
right to me. Does that make any sense? The kind of thing an online
translator would spit out because it was translating too literally.
> I belive that as of a certain year all new verbs in
> Spanish are -ar verbs as decided by the royal academy
> of language in Spain
Now that is REALLY fascinating. I wonder where we could learn more
about that.
> compound words are generally formed by a noun and a
> verb. WHile they appear to be feminine and plural.
> They always take the masculine singular article.
*hehe* I was wondering if somebody would catch me on that. I'd have
used a verb if I was inventing a new word from scratch (even my "can
opener" example had 'abre', a verb, as the first part of the word).
Probably like "cazacajas" (boxhunter). Although, if we do "veralize"
cajar, then cajacartas WOULD have the first half of the compound word
a verb while the last half is a noun. I never considered that idea,
but that way it really does fit the verb-noun form of the typical
Spanish compound word!
I didn't mean to imply that compounds words in Spanish actually were
feminine and plural, but rather they looked it.
Didn't know about any masculine-looking compound words, though, so
that's good to know! Although it wouldn't have made a difference in
that case.
> Hope I have been helpful. If you would like I can
> take a look at the clues when I get a chance.
No, that's alright. If you're really bored and want to, go right
ahead--I can learn a lot from someone pointing out the mistakes I
made!--but you're probably a busy person and I wouldn't want to
inconvience you to proofread my clue. While I know darned well there
are plenty of grammatical errors in the clue, I also know darned well
that anyone who knows their Spanish shouldn't have much trouble
figuring out what I meant to say! =)
-- Ryan
Trivia: Did you know the word for 'wives' and the word
for 'handcuffs' are the same in Spanish? Esposas. Coincidence?
Hmmm.... We may never know.... =)
> would be "hacer letterbox" or "letterboxear"
Gadzooks, I suppose that is a real possibility, but I cringe at the
thought! However, if a letterbox is a "cajacartas", I'm okay with
the idea of saying "to letterbox" as "hacer cajacartas". But I
cringe that the thought of not Spanish-izing the word because it
seems wrong not to make an effort to have it look and sound Spanish.
> -The word for mailbox is "buzon"
> -To convert it into a verb would be "buzonear"
I guess you have a point there as well, but that just doesn't *sound*
right to me. Does that make any sense? The kind of thing an online
translator would spit out because it was translating too literally.
> I belive that as of a certain year all new verbs in
> Spanish are -ar verbs as decided by the royal academy
> of language in Spain
Now that is REALLY fascinating. I wonder where we could learn more
about that.
> compound words are generally formed by a noun and a
> verb. WHile they appear to be feminine and plural.
> They always take the masculine singular article.
*hehe* I was wondering if somebody would catch me on that. I'd have
used a verb if I was inventing a new word from scratch (even my "can
opener" example had 'abre', a verb, as the first part of the word).
Probably like "cazacajas" (boxhunter). Although, if we do "veralize"
cajar, then cajacartas WOULD have the first half of the compound word
a verb while the last half is a noun. I never considered that idea,
but that way it really does fit the verb-noun form of the typical
Spanish compound word!
I didn't mean to imply that compounds words in Spanish actually were
feminine and plural, but rather they looked it.
Didn't know about any masculine-looking compound words, though, so
that's good to know! Although it wouldn't have made a difference in
that case.
> Hope I have been helpful. If you would like I can
> take a look at the clues when I get a chance.
No, that's alright. If you're really bored and want to, go right
ahead--I can learn a lot from someone pointing out the mistakes I
made!--but you're probably a busy person and I wouldn't want to
inconvience you to proofread my clue. While I know darned well there
are plenty of grammatical errors in the clue, I also know darned well
that anyone who knows their Spanish shouldn't have much trouble
figuring out what I meant to say! =)
-- Ryan
Trivia: Did you know the word for 'wives' and the word
for 'handcuffs' are the same in Spanish? Esposas. Coincidence?
Hmmm.... We may never know.... =)
Re: [LbNA] CA: New letterbox and a question of Spanish
From: letterboxing mobots (themobots@yahoo.com) |
Date: 2003-03-09 18:51:52 UTC-08:00
yeah, buzonear sounds pretty hideous. Usually though
words that deal with ideas, activities and concepts
from other countries don't change too much, especially
newer concepts and vocabulary that deals with new
technology. The pronunciation changes when said with
a spanish accent, and on some occasions the spelling
changes.
I guess some examples are:
surfear
hacer snowboard
karate
sushi
canguru (kangaroo)
hacer windsurf
pasaporte
skateboard
boxeo (boxing) also pugilismo (pugilism)
genres of music, jazz, blues, punk, metal, rock
I guess I'm probably just thinking about this too
much. because I'm a Spanish teacher and I'm wrapping
up a Master's degree in linguistics and intercultural
communication. In the grand scheme of things, it's
really not a big deal anyway. So long as you change
it to letterboxear :) Just kidding.
Jim
--- rscarpen wrote:
> > -Likely translations for "to letterbox" once
> explained
> > would be "hacer letterbox" or "letterboxear"
>
> Gadzooks, I suppose that is a real possibility, but
> I cringe at the
> thought! However, if a letterbox is a "cajacartas",
> I'm okay with
> the idea of saying "to letterbox" as "hacer
> cajacartas". But I
> cringe that the thought of not Spanish-izing the
> word because it
> seems wrong not to make an effort to have it look
> and sound Spanish.
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words that deal with ideas, activities and concepts
from other countries don't change too much, especially
newer concepts and vocabulary that deals with new
technology. The pronunciation changes when said with
a spanish accent, and on some occasions the spelling
changes.
I guess some examples are:
surfear
hacer snowboard
karate
sushi
canguru (kangaroo)
hacer windsurf
pasaporte
skateboard
boxeo (boxing) also pugilismo (pugilism)
genres of music, jazz, blues, punk, metal, rock
I guess I'm probably just thinking about this too
much. because I'm a Spanish teacher and I'm wrapping
up a Master's degree in linguistics and intercultural
communication. In the grand scheme of things, it's
really not a big deal anyway. So long as you change
it to letterboxear :) Just kidding.
Jim
--- rscarpen
> > -Likely translations for "to letterbox" once
> explained
> > would be "hacer letterbox" or "letterboxear"
>
> Gadzooks, I suppose that is a real possibility, but
> I cringe at the
> thought! However, if a letterbox is a "cajacartas",
> I'm okay with
> the idea of saying "to letterbox" as "hacer
> cajacartas". But I
> cringe that the thought of not Spanish-izing the
> word because it
> seems wrong not to make an effort to have it look
> and sound Spanish.
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Re: [LbNA] CA: New letterbox and a question of Spanish
From: paul paul (the_explorer_03060@yahoo.com) |
Date: 2003-03-10 08:50:42 UTC-08:00
Yo tengo esposas por mi esposa !!
--- rscarpen wrote:
> > -Likely translations for "to letterbox" once
> explained
> > would be "hacer letterbox" or "letterboxear"
>
> Gadzooks, I suppose that is a real possibility, but
> I cringe at the
> thought! However, if a letterbox is a "cajacartas",
> I'm okay with
> the idea of saying "to letterbox" as "hacer
> cajacartas". But I
> cringe that the thought of not Spanish-izing the
> word because it
> seems wrong not to make an effort to have it look
> and sound Spanish.
>
> > -The word for mailbox is "buzon"
> > -To convert it into a verb would be "buzonear"
>
> I guess you have a point there as well, but that
> just doesn't *sound*
> right to me. Does that make any sense? The kind of
> thing an online
> translator would spit out because it was translating
> too literally.
>
> > I belive that as of a certain year all new verbs
> in
> > Spanish are -ar verbs as decided by the royal
> academy
> > of language in Spain
>
> Now that is REALLY fascinating. I wonder where we
> could learn more
> about that.
>
> > compound words are generally formed by a noun and
> a
> > verb. WHile they appear to be feminine and
> plural.
> > They always take the masculine singular article.
>
> *hehe* I was wondering if somebody would catch me
> on that. I'd have
> used a verb if I was inventing a new word from
> scratch (even my "can
> opener" example had 'abre', a verb, as the first
> part of the word).
> Probably like "cazacajas" (boxhunter). Although, if
> we do "veralize"
> cajar, then cajacartas WOULD have the first half of
> the compound word
> a verb while the last half is a noun. I never
> considered that idea,
> but that way it really does fit the verb-noun form
> of the typical
> Spanish compound word!
>
> I didn't mean to imply that compounds words in
> Spanish actually were
> feminine and plural, but rather they looked it.
>
> Didn't know about any masculine-looking compound
> words, though, so
> that's good to know! Although it wouldn't have made
> a difference in
> that case.
>
> > Hope I have been helpful. If you would like I can
> > take a look at the clues when I get a chance.
>
> No, that's alright. If you're really bored and want
> to, go right
> ahead--I can learn a lot from someone pointing out
> the mistakes I
> made!--but you're probably a busy person and I
> wouldn't want to
> inconvience you to proofread my clue. While I know
> darned well there
> are plenty of grammatical errors in the clue, I also
> know darned well
> that anyone who knows their Spanish shouldn't have
> much trouble
> figuring out what I meant to say! =)
>
> -- Ryan
>
> Trivia: Did you know the word for 'wives' and the
> word
> for 'handcuffs' are the same in Spanish? Esposas.
> Coincidence?
> Hmmm.... We may never know.... =)
>
>
>
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--- rscarpen
> > -Likely translations for "to letterbox" once
> explained
> > would be "hacer letterbox" or "letterboxear"
>
> Gadzooks, I suppose that is a real possibility, but
> I cringe at the
> thought! However, if a letterbox is a "cajacartas",
> I'm okay with
> the idea of saying "to letterbox" as "hacer
> cajacartas". But I
> cringe that the thought of not Spanish-izing the
> word because it
> seems wrong not to make an effort to have it look
> and sound Spanish.
>
> > -The word for mailbox is "buzon"
> > -To convert it into a verb would be "buzonear"
>
> I guess you have a point there as well, but that
> just doesn't *sound*
> right to me. Does that make any sense? The kind of
> thing an online
> translator would spit out because it was translating
> too literally.
>
> > I belive that as of a certain year all new verbs
> in
> > Spanish are -ar verbs as decided by the royal
> academy
> > of language in Spain
>
> Now that is REALLY fascinating. I wonder where we
> could learn more
> about that.
>
> > compound words are generally formed by a noun and
> a
> > verb. WHile they appear to be feminine and
> plural.
> > They always take the masculine singular article.
>
> *hehe* I was wondering if somebody would catch me
> on that. I'd have
> used a verb if I was inventing a new word from
> scratch (even my "can
> opener" example had 'abre', a verb, as the first
> part of the word).
> Probably like "cazacajas" (boxhunter). Although, if
> we do "veralize"
> cajar, then cajacartas WOULD have the first half of
> the compound word
> a verb while the last half is a noun. I never
> considered that idea,
> but that way it really does fit the verb-noun form
> of the typical
> Spanish compound word!
>
> I didn't mean to imply that compounds words in
> Spanish actually were
> feminine and plural, but rather they looked it.
>
> Didn't know about any masculine-looking compound
> words, though, so
> that's good to know! Although it wouldn't have made
> a difference in
> that case.
>
> > Hope I have been helpful. If you would like I can
> > take a look at the clues when I get a chance.
>
> No, that's alright. If you're really bored and want
> to, go right
> ahead--I can learn a lot from someone pointing out
> the mistakes I
> made!--but you're probably a busy person and I
> wouldn't want to
> inconvience you to proofread my clue. While I know
> darned well there
> are plenty of grammatical errors in the clue, I also
> know darned well
> that anyone who knows their Spanish shouldn't have
> much trouble
> figuring out what I meant to say! =)
>
> -- Ryan
>
> Trivia: Did you know the word for 'wives' and the
> word
> for 'handcuffs' are the same in Spanish? Esposas.
> Coincidence?
> Hmmm.... We may never know.... =)
>
>
>
__________________________________________________
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Yahoo! Tax Center - forms, calculators, tips, more
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