3 ms·

Funny thing, I swear more in languages other than my native tongue. I guess I don't consider swearing in foreign languages to be real, similarly to how you do

by tasuki 4y ago

Funny thing, I swear more in languages other than my native tongue. I guess I don't consider swearing in foreign languages to be real, similarly to how you do things in a video game which you wouldn't do in real life.

scbrg 4y ago
Hah! That's hilarious. I have the same feeling with foreign currencies. Prices are just a random number, and you happily hand over those funnily colored bills without thinking too much about it. Yes, trips abroad tend to be unreasonably expensive for reasons I have yet to figure out :-)
- TeMPOraL 4y ago
  Exactly right! I know perfectly well that PLN to GBP ratio is 1 : 5.5, but whenever I'm in the UK, spending £100 on something feels like spending 100 PLN, not like 550 PLN. Now this wouldn't be a problem if the actual purchasing power[0] followed the inverse of the exchange ratio (e.g. a beer costing 5.50 PLN in Poland would cost £1 in UK), but in fact things are some 2-5x more pricey in the UK (e.g. that 5.50 PLN beer is £4 in the UK), so my trips to London also end up unreasonably expensive for uncertain reasons :). -- [0] - Not sure what the correct term is for the ratio between typical price of a common thing in one country to the price of the same in another country, denominated in prior country's currency. E.g. typical price of bread in Poland, given in PLN, divided by typical price of bread in UK, given in GBP converted to PLN using current exchange ratio.
- lostlogin 4y ago
  So to take this further, is there a swearing exchange rate? Eg a German swear word is worth two English ones? I’m told (by a Russian) that Russian swearing is very intense, so that may be a concise way to go.
PhilipRoman 4y ago
This is a very real phenomenon. When a large part of your exposure to English comes from movies, video games and media personalities, it can create a warped perception of what is acceptable and what isn't. Swearing in my native language immediately gives me disgust, while English swear words do not produce any emotional response.

by tasuki 4y ago

scbrg 4y ago

Hah! That's hilarious. I have the same feeling with foreign currencies. Prices are just a random number, and you happily hand over those funnily colored bills without thinking too much about it. Yes, trips abroad tend to be unreasonably expensive for reasons I have yet to figure out :-)

TeMPOraL 4y ago
Exactly right! I know perfectly well that PLN to GBP ratio is 1 : 5.5, but whenever I'm in the UK, spending £100 on something feels like spending 100 PLN, not like 550 PLN. Now this wouldn't be a problem if the actual purchasing power[0] followed the inverse of the exchange ratio (e.g. a beer costing 5.50 PLN in Poland would cost £1 in UK), but in fact things are some 2-5x more pricey in the UK (e.g. that 5.50 PLN beer is £4 in the UK), so my trips to London also end up unreasonably expensive for uncertain reasons :). -- [0] - Not sure what the correct term is for the ratio between typical price of a common thing in one country to the price of the same in another country, denominated in prior country's currency. E.g. typical price of bread in Poland, given in PLN, divided by typical price of bread in UK, given in GBP converted to PLN using current exchange ratio.
lostlogin 4y ago
So to take this further, is there a swearing exchange rate? Eg a German swear word is worth two English ones? I’m told (by a Russian) that Russian swearing is very intense, so that may be a concise way to go.

PhilipRoman 4y ago

This is a very real phenomenon. When a large part of your exposure to English comes from movies, video games and media personalities, it can create a warped perception of what is acceptable and what isn't. Swearing in my native language immediately gives me disgust, while English swear words do not produce any emotional response.