Yep, it would seem that the latest buzzword to come out of Coronavirus coverage across news media outlets, is the word, "amid." What about amidst? What'd amidst ever do to anyone? In all seriousness, everyone stay safe, and wash those hands!
language
Via Ford Quarterman
In case you ever wondered what it'd sound like if a southerner spoke some Spanish, this video will fulfill that curiosity. His vocabulary is apparently on point, but his accent on the other hand, is all over the place.
Someone on AskReddit asked for women to share the most ridiculous things that they've had men try to explain to them. You know, things like dad explaining to his daughter how mortgages work, while she's in fact a real estate agent. Some people are just blind to their own ignorance. Maybe they'll figure it out at some point, or maybe they won't.
Tumblr users apparently have a lot of time on their hands, and they use it for amusingly specific and labor intensive thoughts like the relationship between elves eyes and the curvature of middle earth, or discussing the full versions of classic sayings. We're glad people get so into stuff, like this Tumblr thread that makes history fun.
This guy made a grave mistake. And that mistake was one of him trying to tell a lady asking for money that he didn't speak English, while he very well did the whole time. It's tough to pull off the whole "I don't speak your language" thing when you're literally speaking their language right back to them.
Somewhere along the way, classic idioms and sayings with two parts got shortened to the first one, and everyone's just been using them wrong for a while. Tumblr gets itself into spirals of informative weirdness, like this Tumblr thread that actually makes history fun.
In this wide world, we see a lot of hilarious translations and translation fails. Languages are complex and hard to understand completely. These frustratingly interesting observations on language and silly literal translations are a good example of that. This can come to a head when overzealous tourists try to get a tattoo in not only a language they don't understand, but in characters that are also completely foreign to them. Case in point, you don't want to misstep and end up as the "goldfish man"
We know that languages are all weird, and the one we use can be particularly confusing, but that can make it a more fun and nuanced thing to explore. We're all for seeing some creative uses and misuses of the English language. If you just wanna see people totally suck at English, then here are people who failed at using the English language.
Learning the words for things in other languages can be particularly eye opening. From overly literal German translations like "hand shoes" to more poetic euphemisms you'd never think you'd hear, every culture has come up with it's own particular brand of funny words for things. For more, here are non-native English speakers sharing common phrases they wish we had.
Sometimes the language barrier can hurt you more than others. In this case, the guy thought that "gasoleo" would get the job done for him, when he went to fill up his Petrol car. Unfortunately, that actually translated to Diesel, and he found himself in quite the bind, and in need of a mechanic. Fortunately he was able to resolve the issue, and move forward. But you gotta love the fail!
