4.0496 Words: Scheinentlehnungen; British Slang; GIGO (3/49)

Elaine Brennan & Allen Renear (EDITORS@BROWNVM.BITNET)
Mon, 17 Sep 90 21:55:06 EDT

Humanist Discussion Group, Vol. 4, No. 0496. Monday, 17 Sep 1990.


(1) Date: Fri, 14 Sep 90 12:18:42 PDT (20 lines)
From: tshannon@garnet.berkeley.edu
Subject: Re: 4.0455 Trademarks and Loanwords

(2) Date: Tue, 11 Sep 90 22:48:41 -0700 (14 lines)
From: Mary WhitlockBlundell <mwb@u.washington.edu>
Subject: booger

(3) Date: Wed, 12 Sep 90 06:49:33 CDT (15 lines)
From: "Michael S. Hart" <HART@UIUCVMD>
Subject: Re: 4.0471 More on the Necessity of Computers for Faculty

(1) --------------------------------------------------------------------
Date: Fri, 14 Sep 90 12:18:42 PDT
From: tshannon@garnet.berkeley.edu
Subject: Re: 4.0455 Trademarks and Loanwords (6/139)

I have been away from my computer for a while, so this reply may
be outdated by now, but I thought I'd offer what the Germans say
for "loan words" which aren't a part of the native vocabulary from
which they seem to come. German has for instance quite a few
"English" words which we (Americans, at least) have never heard of:
Bo(a)rdcase ('overnight case'), Dressman ('male fashion model'),
Twen ('person in their twenties'; cf. English 'teen'), etc.

I believe such words are referred to as "Scheinentlehnungen" or
"Pseudo-Entlehnungen". Would then perhaps "pseudo-loan" be an
appropriate calque in English? It strikes me as more snobbish
(which is often the case!) than "false loan" (along the lines of
'false etymology, analogy, analysis').

tom shannon
uc berkeley
(2) --------------------------------------------------------------24----
Date: Tue, 11 Sep 90 22:48:41 -0700
From: Mary WhitlockBlundell <mwb@u.washington.edu>
Subject: booger

The American "booger" must be related to British slang "bogie"
("bogey"?), of the same meaning. This makes the etymology from "bug"
look less plausible. How about deriving it from bogie meaning "phantom,
goblin, bugbear, scarecrow" (OED) :-) Or the French bougie? And what
about "bogey" the golfing term?

My favorite British/American ambiguity is the word "pavement," as in the
US road sign "Drive on the Pavement," which baffled me for some time.

Mary Whitlock Blundell
(3) --------------------------------------------------------------21----
Date: Wed, 12 Sep 90 06:49:33 CDT
From: "Michael S. Hart" <HART@UIUCVMD>
Subject: Re: 4.0471 More on the Necessity of Computers for Faculty

Everyone seems to have forgotten the original meaning of the GIGO
principle: perhaps it was my own invention and I am only upset that it
has not caught on:

GARBAGE IN --> GOSPEL OUT

Meaning: the input is a sloppy human operation, full of errors as we
know, but the output is done by a computer, so everyone assumes it is
correct.

Michael S. Hart