Language

This lunchtime I was browsing in a supermarket and my eye alighted on a display of 'Gressingham Half Crispy Duck'. Now I'm sorry but I'm not sure what constitutes 'Half Crispy', presumably slightly less than 'Full Crispy'. Surely the packaging must've gone through some sort of approvals process and someone with sign-off should have noticed that it the packaging should read 'Crispy Half Duck', or at the very least 'Half a Crispy Duck'?

Reminds me of the military ironmonger in the village where my mother was brought up in South Wales. He was known to all as General Bevan. People were in awe of him. Perhaps he'd been in Crimea or the Boer War. The sign above the shop window proudly said:

General BEVAN Ironmonger

Cymro

CRISP please, please please. NOT CRISPY !

( and yes. I'm shouting !)

What's wrong with crispy?
I've just checked Mrs SDA's 400 page Chinese cookery book and it lists Crispy Bean Curds, Crispy Fried Shrimp Balls and Crispy Lever Rolls.

steamdrivenandy wrote:What's wrong with crispy?
I've just checked Mrs SDA's 400 page Chinese cookery book and it lists Crispy Bean Curds, Crispy Fried Shrimp Balls and Crispy Lever Rolls.

Why do you need the word " crispy " ?  What is wrong with "crisp" ? The addition of the y to crisp is fairly modern food usage and not necessary aand irritates me.  Would you use the adjectives " coldy" or " wetty" to describe -say -snow ?  Conventionally in English you'd add a "y " to make an adjective from a noun ( eg word /wordy, brain/brainy, foam /foamy) but both crisp and crispy are adjectives so why add the " y" ?

What's wrong with Crisp Bean curds, Crisp Fried Shrimp balls etc ? I bet they are not direct translations !

Hmmmm 'Crisp Half Duck' or 'Crispy Half Duck'. How about 'Crisp Halfy Ducky???

I'm keeping clear of this one, as I'm a peasant and I don't let things like that bother me. Well, not much anyway.

However, I don't think "Steamdrivenand" has quite the same ring to it, somehow!!    

Twenty years or so ago the 'Ducky' comment would no doubt have resulted in several humorous responses. Not in these PC days though . . .

Quilter: I suspect that I'm not alone in relishing Lynne Truss's Eats Shoots and Leaves and John Humphrys' books (esp. Beyond Words)!



Cymro

Crispy pheasant Dave? I thought we were talking about ducks.
Oh, peasant!
I've got my glasses on now...
Al.

And I have been referred to as 'Steamy' on occasion.

Remind of the complaint in the Chinese restaurant..

"Waiter, this chicken is rubbery"
"Fank you very much, Sir"

Now I am in trouble with the PC police....

Cymro wrote:Quilter: I suspect that I'm not alone in relishing Lynne Truss's Eats Shoots and Leaves and John Humphrys' books (esp. Beyond Words)!



Cymro

Exactly. I'm not trying to be pedantic but it simply sounds wrong when people say crispy rather than crisp.

Like I mean, I was like, "Amazing?" 

It's almost becoming a foreign language isn't it!! 

Now that, I do find annoying. 

So, it has to be said, that both crisp and crispy appear with si.ilar definitions in our '83 edition of the Concise Oxford Dictionary.

steamdrivenandy wrote:So, it has to be said, that both crisp and crispy appear with si.ilar definitions in our '83 edition of the Concise Oxford Dictionary.

I had an inspirational English teacher at school and have always been interested in the mechanics and evolution of languages, especially English.  It’s fascinating to watch new words become assimilated and new uses for old words too. That doesn’t mean to say I have to like all of them or use most of them.  Language is a means of communication however and, if “crispy” communicates the mouth-feel of fried noodles better than “ crisp” then so be it.

Gromit wrote:Like I mean, I was like, "Amazing?" 

It's almost becoming a foreign language isn't it!! 

Now that, I do find annoying. 

Surely you mean innit!

Quilter wrote:Language is a means of communication however . . .

Spot on, but phrases like "From the get-go" and "I was like" don't convey meaning to me.

What is a get-go anyway?? 

Then there's 'my bad', whenever I hear it I want to shout 'your bad what?'.

My real pet hate is the Californian rising inflexion at the end of every phrase or sentence. Sometimes I have to switch the radio off it annoys me so much. Horrible !

Quilter wrote:My real pet hate is the Californian rising inflexion at the end of every phrase or sentence. Sometimes I have to switch the radio off it annoys me so much. Horrible !

I thought the blame for that lay with our antipodean cousins 

Die Deutschen beklagen sich über zu viel Englisch in ihrer Sprache.
The Germans complain about too much English in their language.
But their 'Denglish' does not always have the English meanings you might expect. Here are my favourites
Ein Handy -a mobile phone
Ein Beamer – an LCD projector
Ein Oldtimer - a classic car
Ein smoking –a dinner jacket
Ein Pullunder- a sleeveless pullover

More at - https://www.thoughtco.com/denglisch-when-languages-collide-1444802
and - https://www.dw.com/en/13-words-germans-think-are-english/g-17619951

One language shift that always makes me laugh is the label on the life jacket containers on French ferries : BRASSIERES.

What we call brassieres the French moved on to call “soutien-gorge” or breast supports.

Also known as "over shoulder boulder holder" I believe.

Invented by the famous German hosier, Herr Otto Titzling.

Getting me coat!!