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Eh, devils advocate: when a word becomes more of a loan word than just a usage of its proper origin, doesn’t it make sense to follow the new languages patterns?
by schrodinger 3y ago
Eh, devils advocate: when a word becomes more of a loan word than just a usage of its proper origin, doesn’t it make sense to follow the new languages patterns?
Different grammatical situation of course but similar in spirit is “latte.” It just means milk in Italian and so in Italy you’d always say cafe latte. But in the states everyone knows it as the coffee drink (Starbucks probably to blame).
Same with salsa—just means sauce in Spanish—but it’s become an English word in the states at this point and taken a different meaning.
Entree being another more egregious example…
- Lio 3y agoEntree really is a particularly egregious example because it's meaning is different in different English speaking countries.
- FabHK 3y agoI've seen (older) German texts where "Jesus" is declined as in Latin, eg "the apostles Jesu" (=of Jesus, genitive) or "We saw Jesum" (=accusative). Somewhat jarring. As you say - when do you stop?