tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9057225441101183394.post1989045642958741988..comments2024-03-22T21:02:55.051+13:00Comments on Bat, Bean, Beam: Three.Giovanni Tisohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10618534731338616708noreply@blogger.comBlogger15125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9057225441101183394.post-21508262987752206492011-09-11T12:40:53.153+12:002011-09-11T12:40:53.153+12:00Demica: An Adventure Abroad
They detained me near...<b>Demica: An Adventure Abroad</b><br /><br />They detained me nearly two hours: "You are walking more slowly than I like," I told him. "Do not keep me waiting, my good man! Do you not see I am the holder of Her Britannic Majesty's passport?"<br />"I fear that almost all of the goods are unsaleable," he informed me.<br />"I thought I should receive more Philiphttps://www.blogger.com/profile/18076353733931722397noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9057225441101183394.post-82654370818569274052011-09-10T14:58:00.920+12:002011-09-10T14:58:00.920+12:00Just want to say happy birthday blog! Thanks for w...Just want to say happy birthday blog! Thanks for what remains one of the highlights of my Monday morning.<br /><br />WV: Jawsrqt: Classic horror movie and all its ratingsTaramochttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04997006655488913070noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9057225441101183394.post-76873258401374007672011-09-07T21:41:11.493+12:002011-09-07T21:41:11.493+12:00Grazie, Francesca, grazie...
(Je fus charmé de vo...Grazie, Francesca, grazie...<br /><br /><i>(Je fus charmé de voir le télégraph prussien - I was glad to see the Prussian telegraph...)</i><br /><br />This book is amazing: <br /><br />"We are flying off! I do not wish for a conveyance more commodious, more rapid and more sociable." <br /><br />"You are right, sir; there is nothing left to be wished for. Thank the undertakers."Giovanni Tisohttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10618534731338616708noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9057225441101183394.post-315534370490901612011-09-07T14:41:14.416+12:002011-09-07T14:41:14.416+12:00"On a very concrete level this blog is a map ..."On a very concrete level this blog is a map of my interests".<br /><br />Actually, it's more than that, it's your portrait. Borges dixit (and I bet you know it).<br /><br />Un hombre se propone la tarea de dibujar el mundo. A lo largo de los años puebla un espacio con imágenes de provincias, de reinos, de montañas, de bahías, de naves, de islas, de peces, de habitaciones, de francescahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13096867858651484894noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9057225441101183394.post-72067815025254306832011-09-06T15:11:31.218+12:002011-09-06T15:11:31.218+12:00Heh. Quite. I note that the commercial Italian sec...Heh. Quite. I note that the commercial Italian section at the end of my book is all about unpaid invoices and bad debt, which makes it very current. And it closes gloriously: <br /><br />"I fear that almost all of the goods are unsaleable".Giovanni Tisohttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10618534731338616708noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9057225441101183394.post-44647912846419451812011-09-06T14:49:13.853+12:002011-09-06T14:49:13.853+12:00Congratulations on a third anniversary, by the way...Congratulations on a third anniversary, by the way. You've left all our lives richer.<br /><br /><i>Nonsense. "I thought I should receive more money for my horses" is almost the only phrase you need. <br /></i><br /><br />From the Foreign Service Institute 'Programmatic Spanish':<br /><i><br />But, isn't she married?<br />No, Nilda is single. The married one is Maria.<brGeorge Dnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9057225441101183394.post-46187630990760742972011-09-06T11:15:06.463+12:002011-09-06T11:15:06.463+12:00Happy third!
Thank you! I know it's not a com...<i>Happy third!</i><br /><br />Thank you! I know it's not a competition, but one cannot help but feel that one's anniversary is puny compared to <a href="http://www.robyngallagher.com/2011/06/23/fifteen" rel="nofollow">yours</a>.<br /><br /><i>I like the new header image.</i><br /><br />Yes, I meant to acknowledge it more explicitly - all the cleverness belongs to Shirley Carran.Giovanni Tisohttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10618534731338616708noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9057225441101183394.post-43361265540385880552011-09-06T10:14:20.126+12:002011-09-06T10:14:20.126+12:00The practical value of phrase-books, says Cameron,...<i>The practical value of phrase-books, says Cameron, is "universally nil - either you cannot express a phrase or you express it so well that it elicits a long and effusive response in the same language, with subsequent humiliation</i><br /><br />Nonsense. "I thought I should receive more money for my horses" is almost the only phrase you need. <br /><br />(That, plus all prices Giovanni Tisohttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10618534731338616708noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9057225441101183394.post-45858857348305068052011-09-06T09:56:31.184+12:002011-09-06T09:56:31.184+12:00James Cameron (the Scots journalist, not the Avata...James Cameron (the Scots journalist, not the <i>Avatar</i>-monger) has some delightful comments on phrase books as cultural indicators. In <i>An Indian Summer</i> he mentions a "Traveller's Hindustani" from the days of the Raj, noting "how firmly and masterfully it avoids all forms of expression except barks of command, peremptory complaint, and abuse". In the section on Philiphttps://www.blogger.com/profile/18076353733931722397noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9057225441101183394.post-35253847795542535612011-09-06T09:42:23.342+12:002011-09-06T09:42:23.342+12:00(I enjoy reading these. The dialogue is generally ...<i><br />(I enjoy reading these. The dialogue is generally excellent, if a little Pinteresque. For instance I think you could construct a decent one act play around the lines "They detained me nearly two hours" and "You are walking more slowly than I like".)<br /></i><br /><br />You could make quite a project. They present a reflection of the views of the authors of which George Dnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9057225441101183394.post-18831691393118694182011-09-06T09:40:43.493+12:002011-09-06T09:40:43.493+12:00This post reminds me of one of my favourite things...This post reminds me of one of my favourite things - going into a second-hand bookshop and browsing through the New Zealand travel section.<br /><br />Happy third! I like the new header image.Robynhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16278675946018423652noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9057225441101183394.post-51528738082907593232011-09-06T09:22:37.694+12:002011-09-06T09:22:37.694+12:00That Italian Conversation Simplified looks a bit p...<i>That Italian Conversation Simplified looks a bit padded - doesn't it work any more if you just shout a lot and wave your arms about?</i><br /><br />The book originally came with a '12-inch double sided disc', which sadly wasn't preserved. No gesticulation there either however I presume. Perhaps Italian conversation books should come with puppets. <br /><br />(I enjoy reading Giovanni Tisohttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10618534731338616708noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9057225441101183394.post-58335181038991682232011-09-06T09:08:07.574+12:002011-09-06T09:08:07.574+12:00The trend towards the 'retro' or even '...The trend towards the 'retro' or even 'the past' is a profoundly destructive one in so many cases. By doing so, we distance ourselves from the similarities with the past, and make it much harder to tease out those differences. A wholesale embrace that seeks to pull out something gone is a dangerous one. <br /><br /><i><br />I persist in finding the old kind so much more George Dnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9057225441101183394.post-25538371709591223092011-09-06T07:29:45.411+12:002011-09-06T07:29:45.411+12:00And I thank you.
wv, comical, I kid you not.And I thank you.<br /><br />wv, comical, I kid you not.Anonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04424066726955708314noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9057225441101183394.post-79002916170482848702011-09-06T06:04:34.479+12:002011-09-06T06:04:34.479+12:00That Italian Conversation Simplified looks a bit p...That <i>Italian Conversation Simplified</i> looks a bit padded - doesn't it work any more if you just shout a lot and wave your arms about?<br /><br />Reminds me of the various foreign-language books scattered through my childhood homes. One was a <i>Teach Yourself Italian</i> with helpful phonetic renderings: <i>scusi</i> was rendered <i>skoo-zee</i>, which was of course utterly hilarious. Philiphttps://www.blogger.com/profile/18076353733931722397noreply@blogger.com