Profanity in Russian speech WAS Re: HP in translation

[dumbledore11214]

> --- In HPFGU-OTChatter at yahoogroups.com, "justcarol67" 
> <justcarol67@> wrote:
> 
> <snip>
> 
> > maybe Russian speakers or Spanish speakers or whatever
> > should think about how their native-language equivalents sound to
> > their own ears before using the English ones
> 
> 
> zanooda:
> 
> I actually laughed when I read this, Carol :-). I hope you don't 
> think that we non-English speakers just walk around cursing people 
> right and left in English :-)? I for one am a very well-mannered 
> middle-aged lady. Alla is a young woman, I guess, but I doubt she 
has 
> the *f* word on the ready when she comes to her law office. We 
don't 
> swear, I swear :-)! 
> 
> The difference between not swearing in English and not swearing in 
> Russian is, for me personally, that I don't swear in English 
because 
> I *know* these words are offensive, but in Russian I just 
physically 
> can't bring myself to pronounce them.
> 
> I was interested in this strange phenomenon from purely linguistic 
> point of view, that's why I commented on Alla's post. I don't 
agree 
> with Steve that it is about how passionate the language or people 
are 
> (and I don't really understand how a language can be passionate or 
> impassive). I mean, it can be true, but it's not my feeling. 
> 
> It seems to me that this is more about how deep different 
languages 
> are rooted inside us, you know. Your native language is something 
> that belongs to you and surrounds you from the moment you were 
born. 
> That's why in your native language you *feel* the words, in other 
> languages you just "know" them. Maybe it's not very scientific, 
but 
> that's how I understand it.
> 


Alla:

LOL, Zanooda. No, of course I am going around and swearing at 
everybody. That's what lawyers do after all, tee hee.

Seriously - am agreeing with everything you wrote, every word.