XPost: alt.usage.english   
   From: kehoea@parhasard.net   
      
    Ar an chéad lá is fiche de mí Iúil, scríobh Aidan Kehoe:   
      
    >  Ar an chéad lá is fiche de mí Iúil, scríobh Ruud Harmsen:   
    >   
    >  > Sun, 21 Jul 2024 09:29:23 +0200: Bertel Lund Hansen   
    >  >  scribeva:   
    >  >   
    >  > >Peter Moylan wrote:   
    >  > >   
    >  > >> Another comment of his that still sticks with me: Have you noticed   
    >  > >> that Irish people never answer a question with "yes" or "no"? A   
    >  > >> typical exchange:   
      
   (“Never” overstates it, we do speak English and make full use of its   
   idioms.)   
      
    >  > >>      Are you still living in Limerick?   
    >  > >>      I am.   
      
    >  > >> This is because the Irish language has no words for "yes" and "no",   
   and   
    >  > >> somehow this has affected Irish English.   
    >  > >   
    >  > >Amazing. Do they nod and shake their heads for yes and no?   
    >  >   
    >  > They do.   
    >   
    > Well answered, Ruud!   
      
   Classical Greek and Latin also did not have words for “yes” and “no”;   
   you see   
   an echo of this in the marriage ceremony. In English, translated without regard   
   for idiom, it is: “Q: Do you take [this woman] to be your lawfully wedded   
   [wife], [...] A: I do.” German has something like:   
      
     »Q: N., ich frage Sie: Sind Sie hierher gekommen, um nach reiflicher   
     Überlegung und aus freiem Entschluss mit Ihrer Braut (Name) / mit Ihrem   
     Bräutigam (Name) / den Bund der Ehe zu schließen? A: Ja«   
      
   which is a more idiomatic translation.   
      
   --   
   ‘As I sat looking up at the Guinness ad, I could never figure out /   
   How your man stayed up on the surfboard after fourteen pints of stout’   
   (C. Moore)   
      
   --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05   
    * Origin: you cannot sedate... all the things you hate (1:229/2)