蹩腳 -
(of a person) incompetent; amateurish; (of a task or a skill) shoddy; unrefined; inferior
说蹩脚汉语 ― shuō biéjiǎo Hànyǔ ― to speak terrible Chinese
As in, 蹩脚货 “Limping foot goods” - shoddy quality stuff.
Nat Baca
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By day, I'm a Director of Engineering at the Wikimedia Foundation. By night, I'm a host of Nerd Nite Albuquerque. I've worked for Apple, Spotify, the White House, and more. I like to read, write, and code.
Posts tagged linguistics
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TIL: ironic diminutives!
-ón, Spanish: usually embiggens, but in a few cases, indicates small size of or a lack of something (such as an ironic augmentative)
pelo + -ón → pelón (“with little or no hair”)
rabo + -ón → rabón (“with little or no tail”)
rata (“rat”) + -ón → ratón (“mouse”)
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Can we bring back the diminutive “-ga” suffix?
-ga, Old English-
Diminutive suffix, used especially in familiar names for pets.
docga ― dog
frocga ― frog
*picga ― pig
*snecga ― snail
stacga ― stag
wicga ― insect
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如虎添翼 - Literally: “like a tiger that has grown wings”. Further strengthening; with redoubled power
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Dragonfly in Welsh: gwas y neidr -
From gwas (“servant”) + y (“(of) the”) + neidr(“snake”).
Do the Welsh know something we don’t?
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Shitgibbon - A type of compound word used as an insult, consisting of a single-syllable expletive, followed by an absurd or innocuous two-syllable noun that usually forms a trochee.
Category:English shitgibbons - Wiktionary, the free dictionary
is another goldmine
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Related: Bahuvrihi - a type of compound word that denotes a referent by specifying a certain characteristic or quality the referent possesses…from Sanskrit: बहुव्रीहि, ‘having much rice’, originally referring to fertile land but later denoting the quality of being wealthy or rich. See English “lowlife”
Cantamañanas - one who “sings tomorrows” = bullshitter.
“Someone who lacks integrity and never keeps their promises is the type of person who claims they will sing tomorrow, even though we know they won’t.”
Orígenes de expresiones curiosas. Cantamañanas.
Orígenes de expresiones curiosas. Cantamañanas. Hay una serie de palabras y expresiones que usamos con soltura pero que son ciertamente curiosas y…
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A schlemiel is somebody who often spills his soup, and a schlimazel is the person it lands on.
“A schlemiel, a schlimazel and a schmendrik are irredeemably what they are. A schmuck can be enlightened. He can acquire, through a painful process of self-examination, the moral and social understanding that he has been missing. He can become, to revert to Wex’s dichotomy, a mentsh.”
Etiquette for Schmucks, Schlemiels, Schlimazels and Schmendriks
Last week’s column, a reply to a reader’s query about the Yiddish word mentsh, invoked Michael Wex’s 2009 book, “How To Be a Mentsh (& not a Shmuck).
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Chinese proverb of the day — from the 11th century (!!):
三日不讀書，面目可憎
Literally: If you don’t read for three days, you will become unattractive.
If you are not diligent in your studies, you will remain ignorant, and nobody will be attracted to you.
The full original:
「士大夫三日不讀書，則義理不交於胸中，對鏡便覺面目可憎，向人亦言語乏味。」
If a scholar does not read for three days, righteous principles do not reside in his heart; he will find his own reflection detestable in the mirror and his speech tasteless when speaking to others.