English has invaded the German language. "Take it easy" is a legit German phrase. So is the word "easy". And "recycle". It is so weird as an English speaker to hear these words. When I shut off my mind (like when I am in the street car), my mind stops processing German but continues to process English. So I hear "blah blah blah blah, murmer, blah recycle, blah blah, sorry, blah easy". It's really strange.
But, that is not the point of this message. The point is we should take some German words. German has taken some English words, so we should return the favor.
The word I would like to introduce to the English language is "egal". There is no single word in English that means "egal". "Egal" is an absolutely wonderful word! Let me give you some examples.
"Das ist mir egal" = "that doesn't matter to me". Translating more literally "that is to me egal"
"Es ist voellig egal, ob du mich toetest" = "It doesn't matter a bit if you kill me".
This word "egal" is so simple and says so much. I must admit that I have become addicted to this word (which is alright, because the Germans are also addicted).
So, now if someone asks you if you want Coke or Sprite, and you don't care, reply by saying "egal" (that one word is the full answer). If someone is driving you home, and you have no curfew, and they ask you when you want to get home, say "that is egal". If someone goes crazy and buys a Daewoo car, ask him "Is it egal to you if you drive a decent car?"
And so forth and so on.
But if you don't use the word, ah, it's all totally egal.
Archived comments:
crewchild2000:
i will use that word, but i need to know how is it pronounced? is it phonetic or not? until you tell me, i might be saying something totally different...who knows. oh well, i'll have the correct thing in my mind. well i'm sure everyone here won't know the difference, so it's egal
mikepn:
Ok, the first sound is the letter "e". The second sound is something like "gahl". Think perhaps of the word "Golgotha" except more of an "ahhh" instead of "ooooo". Maybe that is a bad example. It's not "gal" as in "Oh, I went down south for to see my Sal. Singing Polly-Wolly-Doodle all day. My lovely Sal, she is a spunky gal. Singing Polly-Wolly-Doodle all day." So, it's not e-spunky-gal. I think I am going to list a few dozen other words that it is not like. The problem is that most of the words I can think of have an "o" but are often, but not always, said with an "a" sound. For example, "doll". Some people say this by saying an "o" and sticking out their lips (like kissing). Some people say this with an "a" (I think it is easier to say that way), by pulling the lips back (like smiling). So, egal is not a kissing word. It is not egal if someone fails to kiss you when they should. It may be egal, however, if fails to smile at you.
Now that I have confused everyone, have a great day.
Paula:
"Egal" HAS entered the English language, just not as its own word. It needs the ending, to make "egalitarian". It seems like "egal" basically means equal.
I can think of plenty of words that "egal" is not like. How about potato, chip, and dip? Or how about amethyst or juniper, excellence and incorrigible?
Dromedary, corollary,
Lima, Terrence, universe,
How about derivative and
Minor, coddle, loony, terse?
Actuary, llama, corn,
Middle, center, inner, mourn,
Capillary, underpaid,
Overdrawn, align, evade,
Ether, oven, everybody,
Euthanasia, millipede,
Parapet, away, enamel,
Loafing, other, disagreed,
Efficacious, origami,
Jury, berry, bore, salami,
There's a list of words that sound
Nothing like "egal".
mikepn:
For those of you reading Paula's message, I should point out that it is not just a list of words. The list of words is in poetic verse. The rhyming sturcture seems to be quite advanced. It would appear that my forum has become the center of artistic development for the 21 century (does that say something about the Paula's poem? Or just something about the century we're living in).
Per an agreement between us, I now owe Paula a trophy and a certificate that says "You're so smart and creative".
Note, if anyone is still reading me this, and you have requests for stuff you want from Germany, be sure to ask me! I plan on bring some stuff back, but it would be nice to have some direction as what to buy.
Later.
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