BBC Sherlock Fan Forum - Serving Sherlockians since February 2012 » German thread

Mattlocked · July 9, 2012 7:09 pm

Davina wrote:
The 'power complex' thing is a joke from Sherlock m'dear!

He was talking about Mycroft, right?

Dramagod · July 9, 2012 7:09 pm

Davina wrote:
The 'power complex' thing is a joke from Sherlock m'dear!

I never get the Sherlock jokes around here. Why am I even here?

Mattlocked · July 9, 2012 7:12 pm

Because you are a lonesome cowboy and enjoy the presence of a lot of nice women.... so you said.
And you are Finnish (sorry, almost forgot to mention.)

Davina · July 9, 2012 7:12 pm

Yeah, having a go at Mycroft, as usual. It is. Play on words eh!

Dramagod · July 9, 2012 7:26 pm

Mattlocked wrote:
Because you are a lonesome cowboy and enjoy the presence of a lot of nice women.... so you said.

That must be it, because I never lie. Nice Lucky Luke reference by the way. I am like him in many ways except that I'm not faster than my shadow. Nor do I ride a horse. Or wear a cowboy hat. Come to think of it, I've nothing in common with Mr. Luke except for the lonesome bit.

To Carrot and others, it might seem I try to steal the thunder around here, but that's not true. I wasn't trying to turn this thread to be about Finnish language. I apologize.

Last edited by Dramagod (July 9, 2012 7:27 pm)

carrot · July 10, 2012 10:05 am

Wow, so many answers and such an...interesting discussion about Finish whatever .

Well, I agree with you, a German thread would exclude the non-German speaking members...
It was just an idea but I can see now why it wouldn't make so much sense. And the improvment of my English knowledge is in fact a nice side effect (yesterday I bought "The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes" in English - at least I could follow the story line without any bigger problems )!

kazza474 · August 2, 2012 12:08 pm

You know, I have changed my mind on this. I think the Admin should address this with the site owners & if they approve then fine, have a German thread, BUT on the proviso that all other threads have no foreign language at all.
It is starting to be rather irritating when a forum conversation is going on & foreign phrases, sentences or whole posts are posted. Consider standing around chatting in real life & someone interjects with a phrase that a few giggle at or reply to in the same tongue. It totally disregards others & would be considered quite rude in fact.
So please, go forth & investigate the possibility because at the moment I see what is considered across the internets as bad manners happening. Not deliberately but it is happening.

Mattlocked · August 2, 2012 12:54 pm

kazza474 wrote:
You know, I have changed my mind on this. I think the Admin should address this with the site owners & if they approve then fine, have a German thread, BUT on the proviso that all other threads have no foreign language at all.
It is starting to be rather irritating when a forum conversation is going on & foreign phrases, sentences or whole posts are posted. Consider standing around chatting in real life & someone interjects with a phrase that a few giggle at or reply to in the same tongue. It totally disregards others & would be considered quite rude in fact.
So please, go forth & investigate the possibility because at the moment I see what is considered across the internets as bad manners happening. Not deliberately but it is happening.

I just think of my own post, writing on German to Ivy once. Or tell German new members "Herzlich Willkommen".
Is this something which is annoying you? This is how I understand your post....

Ivy · August 2, 2012 2:13 pm

I think I wouldn't use a German thread that much, because this is officially a international forum. And the risk is that we might talk about everything here and not the usual threads and I wouldn't want to exclude the non-Germans.

But I would speak German in the private messages

Although it's weird to know that there are a lot Germans here and you talking English with them all the time.

But is Herzlich Willkommen a problem? I would say ¡Bienvenido! to a new Spanish member. Just to give it a individual touch.

hypergreenfrog · August 2, 2012 2:18 pm

Mattlocked wrote:
kazza474 wrote:
You know, I have changed my mind on this. I think the Admin should address this with the site owners & if they approve then fine, have a German thread, BUT on the proviso that all other threads have no foreign language at all.
It is starting to be rather irritating when a forum conversation is going on & foreign phrases, sentences or whole posts are posted. Consider standing around chatting in real life & someone interjects with a phrase that a few giggle at or reply to in the same tongue. It totally disregards others & would be considered quite rude in fact.
So please, go forth & investigate the possibility because at the moment I see what is considered across the internets as bad manners happening. Not deliberately but it is happening.

I just think of my own post, writing on German to Ivy once. Or tell German new members "Herzlich Willkommen".
Is this something which is annoying you? This is how I understand your post....

Don't worry Mattlocked, it definitely wasn't just you.

I will freely admit to posting in German and even attempting to post in Russian (the cyrillic didn't work, so nothing came of that), and I don't see any harm in it. Yes, I am aware that not everybody understands the German posts, but apart from the "Languages" thread and frequent personal introductions, we have mostly tried to either provide our own translations, or ask others to help us when we don't feel capable of translating ourselves. Someone even found a translation for Irene's poem. I really don't see why we should not welcome new users in their own language to make them feel welcome, or post short phrases or verse that have no literal translation when we feel they fit the occasion. If someone does not understand but wants to know, they can always ask and maybe learn something that way. I for one have already learned a phrase in Welsh from ImaSherlockGirl that way - Thanks, by the way!

It would be rude if people used their language to talk ABOUT another member, or complain about the forum. But this has not happend to my knowledge, quite the contrary. The moderators should be proud to see this as a sign that we feel so comfortable here, that we have no fear of posting whatever comes to our minds. There is a great sense of community around here, and I think we should continue to encourage members to post their opinions, rather than sanctioning them for using the odd phrase in their native language.

Mattlocked · August 2, 2012 2:25 pm

Actually I don't remember so many posts in "foreign" languages in here (e.g. German, Spanish, Finnish or whatever), that's why I'm asking Kazza what she's referring to.
I for myself don't need or want a special thread for anybody, because we would "fall apart" and miss a lot, too. It's perfect that all of us can do with English.
But I also I don't care if anyone likes to post one or the other sentence in their own language. I think this is fun and underlines the international membership.
I don't want to displease anybody around here in this lovely forum, so I can stop posting any German word - or at least post it in English the same time, no problem.

Ivy, you don't write PN's to other German members in English???

Last edited by Mattlocked (August 2, 2012 2:27 pm)

Davina · August 2, 2012 5:37 pm

I think it is nice, whenever possible to welcome new members in their own language.

We have had postings with various languages included at one time or another but the problems of understanding even apply to those posted in English, especially when using colloquialisms which Americans and British do not understand, even though we are in theory speaking the same language. (e.g. The use of boffin). If someone doesn't understand a word or phrase they can always ask either directly on the topic or via PM.

Personally I find language and languages a wonderful thing, to be rejoiced in, explored and can led to greater mutual understanding between people of different countries and cultures. I loved Irene's posting of her favourite Spanish poem, which I was speedily able to provide a translation for thanks to the power of the Internet (certainly not due to my command of Spanish, which is pretty much confined to ordering food and drink!)

I am sure no-one has intended to exclude anyone (I know I haven't intended this). It is unfortunate if that has happened.

I also agree that a totally separate German thread could soon lead to a mass of German topics and the disintegration of the forum as we know it. I don't think however that an occasional in-joke in whatever language is a serious affront or problem. As I have mentioned even in-jokes in English have to be interpreted from time-to-time to other English speakers from other countries. I haven't felt upset by some of the discussions in American English that I frankly haven't had a clue about. I've either said I don't understand or have gone and done a bit of research or just let it sail on by.
We don't really want to throw the baby out with the bath water here do we?

Mattlocked · August 2, 2012 6:11 pm

What I don't like is when people in blogs/comments use too many people using too many abbreviation (right word? ), because then I really get problems to understand. A few I know, though.
Everything else I can look up - or ask.
Nice video, I remember that. Couldn't get enough from Fred Astaire "when I was younger" and still like to see him. But hubby (is this a common nickname, btw.?) goes mad when I watch those movies.

Davina · August 2, 2012 6:19 pm

Hubby is perfectly correct. Abbreviations can certainly be a big problem.

tobeornot221b · August 2, 2012 6:22 pm

Davina wrote:
Abbreviations can certainly be a big problem.

Like I.O.U.?

Mattlocked · August 2, 2012 7:10 pm

tobeornot221b wrote:
Davina wrote:
Abbreviations can certainly be a big problem.
Like I.O.U.?

Especially those can lead to several sleepless nights!!

hepzibah · August 3, 2012 5:57 pm

I used to work with a German woman who has lived in Australia for 20 years. When her sister would pop into our workplace they would chat in a mix of German and English without even realising it or meaning to be rude. I would just roll my eyes and laugh at them. Same happened many years ago with an Italian girl.

I sometimes see posts here in foreign languages and wonder if the poster even realised that they have done it. And sometimes it is more than just the welcome. I just mentally roll my eyes and think "Bloody foreigners!" (not really). If someone does post in a language other than English, maybe they could put a translation in brackets beside it.

Finally, isn't it funny that we use the expression 'lingua franca' to describe the default language, in this case, English, when it is an Italian expression, I believe.

Sherlock Holmes · August 7, 2012 5:24 pm

I haven't actually noticed any posts in foreign languages except in the introductions and the language thread. Don't think it's really a problem to have the odd word or phrase in another language as long as someone maybe explains the meaning of it (if it's more than just a hello or welcome).

On the other hand it could be a personal thing. I have three Italian friend's and when we hang out they still sometimes talk Italiam to each other and i have no idea what they're talking about but it doesn't really bother me as I know they're not being bitchy or anything, most of the time it's just wanting to express something that you can't quite find the English for.

Mattlocked · August 9, 2012 12:02 pm

With regard to language.... and accents.... Quite funny one (well, the parts I understand. )

...doesn't work, does it?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sAz_UvnUeuU&feature=player_embedded#

Edit* not sure but have replaced this with one that does work. Try not to use videos that are marked 'embedded" . I often copy the name of the video & place it in the search bar at the top & get the un-embedded one & it usually works fine.

Last edited by kazza474 (August 9, 2012 12:12 pm)

Davina · August 9, 2012 2:02 pm

It's blocked to my country for copyright reasons.