The official language thread

Off-topic
965

I have no idea - I like the sound of both of those :smiley:

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966

I seem to think we used to have words like that a long time ago, and they died out. I remember seeing an article about similar words and thinking, I wish we still used those! It was probably Merriam-Webster on Twitter or something :wink:

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967

Funny, because I thought that Italians were the ones always talking about food.

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968

In any case they have an entry on it, calling it archaic but also with a first known attestation from before the 11th century.

I’ll submit a correction to Memrise: Italianen praten dolgraag te pas en te onpas over eten.

(Italians adore talking about food whether appropriate or not.)

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969

Gisternacht? :thinking:
I’d use “vannacht” or “gisteren nacht”.

Then again, I’d also use “piste” instead of “plaste” :slight_smile:
And the past tense also sounds weird. We’d say:
“Ik heb vannacht in mijn bed gepist.”
Anyway all for the sake of the example given, my bladder control is fine! :smile:

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970

Same here. :slight_smile: I also wondered why there is no word for “the day after tomorrow”. In Germany we have “übermorgen” (= “overtomorrow”).

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971

And “vorgestern”, for “the day before yesterday”.

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972

Yes, Belgians use gisterennacht; in the Netherlands gisternacht is more common.

Pissen is cruder than plassen. The sensitive English even shortered piss to p. :wink:

Overmorrow (overmorgen) is the same word in Dutch.

Eergister(en). Works in English too: ereyester(day). The German foreyester(day) works in English as well, of course.

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973

Oh cool, turns out my memory is more reliable than I thought it was!

I like the idea of words for the day after tomorrow and the day before yesterday. I guess any further than that and it’d get complicated :face_with_raised_eyebrow:

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974

In Germany you can say “überübermorgen” for the day after the day after tomorrow. But we don’t have a “überüberübermorgen”. :slight_smile:

/edit: And we have “vorvorgestern” for the day before the day before yesterday.

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975

We do use “over-overmorgen” too in spoken language, or eer-eergisteren. But it is rather when you start saying the word and realise you’re off by a day, so you just add one more.

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976

If it’s like Dutch then like @Sushi you can but in writing or more careful speech you’d probably say something like in three days/three days ago instead.

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977

Really? I did not know that… but it makes sense.
Also, they’d rather say “I wet my bed last night” , as if the source of said wetness could equally have been leaving the window open during a rain or something.

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978

Indeed :laughing:

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979

You can use “überübermorgen” in writings but that’s not common. But it’s a “normal” word and in the Duden.

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980

We Germans say something similar … :wink:

981

Talking about euphemisms and peeing, we also say “washing my hands” while we mean “going to the toilet (to pee)”.
If you have a rich imagination… that’s not how you’re supposed to wash your hands! :face_with_raised_eyebrow: :grin:

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982

Wow. :exploding_head:

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983

Incidentally, I hadn’t heard that one before I moved to Belgium.

At our elementary school there were these signs in and/or around the toilets (bathroom/restroom…) that said “handen wassen na het plassen.” Of course that was turned around at first sight. :wink:

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984

Yeah, it’s a typical Flemish expression.