Which languages used in America allow people to use double or triple meanings of words and grammar, be creative in swearwords and insults, be fluid in use of the alphabet & vowels and is more expressive in words of love more than English?
For example, the various Latino languages plus French, Indian, Chinese, etc. Like how a Latino person can argue from English to Spanish, why do they switch to Spanish?
I AM A FOREIGN POSTER FROM THE UK. APOLOGIES IF I GET SPELLINGS WRONG.
13 comments
Russian is always a creative one.
I play a lot of soccer, so I’m biased towards Spanish.
From the little I’ve read on the topic, my understanding is that English has more words that are actively used than most other languages. This is due to the unique blending of Germanic roots with a French/Latin overlay from the Norman conquest. So English has a lot of words that mean different shades of the same thing, with the German-derived word being more plain and the French-derived word being more fancy.
Many Americans will think of Spanish (by far our most prevalent foreign language) as being more expressive than English, but that’s less because of the actual language and more because of the perception of Latino culture as being more expressive – and perhaps because of the sound of the language.
As a New Yorker, I’m partial to Yiddish. Saying something is “fakakta” is a lot more colorful than saying “shoddy/poor quality.”
I think all languages are equally expressive, people will speak the language they are most comfortable with if they speak more than one.
Anecdotally growing up in Texas there are a ton of people who are perfectly fluent in Spanish in terms of day to day life activities, but their professional/scientific/technical vocabulary is much stronger in English due to being educated in English, working in the US and so on. But that’s a function of where they live and how this place works, not something inherent to either English or Spanish.
I just want to let you know that Americans know you spell words differently, that it’s fine. It’s the British who have problems with people who don’t spell words as they do.
>For example, the various Latino languages plus French, Indian, Chinese
I love when test questions give you the answers, I’ll go with these ones because those are spoken in America.
>I AM A FOREIGN POSTER FROM THE UK. APOLOGIES IF I GET SPELLINGS WRONG.
We speak English, you’ll be okay.
Well, as far as getting to be creative using swear words: I once got one over on this guy who thought I didn’t understand what he said in Spanish.
At a pay-at-the-counter cafe, I took about ten seconds too long to get my wallet out & together for this guy’s tastes, so he cuts loose with a bit of Spanish profanity, dead to my face.
So, in my best I-read-a-*phrasebook*-once accent, I repeated it back- loudly and brightly, in the key of “you too!” (as if I mistook it for “Have a nice day!” or something, smiling and waving). Got him pretty good, judging by the reaction.
I would say either Hebrew or Russian. I want to learn both.
>I AM A FOREIGN POSTER FROM THE UK. APOLOGIES IF I GET SPELLINGS WRONG.
Others have your answer handled,, but no one would care if you used British spellings. We don’t expect you do change up.
Well, from watching Mexican telenovelas I learned a LOT of ways to call someone a slut or a jerk in Spanish. But I think an expressive person can be very expressive in any language in which they are fluent. Or at least I am not familiar with any languages that specifically stifle expression through their limitations.
Spanish for sure
YIDDISH