English has quietly borrowed from everywhere — a Chinese greeting from a kids' show, a Spanish farewell from an action movie, a Sanskrit greeting from yoga class, a Japanese word for singing badly into a microphone. Which loanword do you think earned its spot in everyday English the most?
Similar to hewsay's "The most-used foreign words and phrases in English — which one crossed over best?"
Why are foreign phrases used in English (like déjà vu)? For example, "déjà vu" (French for "already seen") describes a specific psychological phenomenon that doesn't have a direct English counterpart. This is particularly true for terms from languages that have rich vocabulari...
Why are foreign phrases, for example "raison d'être", used rather than their English translations? Why some phrases like raison d'être continue to be used in their original French form (rather than in an anglicized form or as a translation) can be traced to their typical users...
Difficult?
Similar to hewsay's "Guy and gal says sorry"
What does it mean when a guy says "And I'm sorry if I lead you on. Did I? I don't know because I'm still figuring things out too."?
We've been texting for quite a bit but she seems to say “sorry” a lot in her messages; like sorry for taking so long to text back, sorry for not ...Read more