I’ve recently discovered iFluent, a TikTok user who makes hilarious videos where the nations of the world speak about words, as they are said in the various countries.
Maybe you have already heard of him…
I will re-post here his videos, because there are something to learn and to laugh at, at the same time.
(P.S.: the video about the Italy talking about the pineapple is one of my favourites I will link it here another day)
Let’s start with a classic one, where Germany has the final answer: AMBULANCE
I think both German and Dutch are more to the point.
In Finnish ambulances (“ambulanssi”, where “lanssi” means a vehicle in layman’s terms) were long ago called “sairasauto” (“a sick car”) or “sairasvaunu” (“a sick wagon”).
I always wondered why call “ambulance” a vehicle conceived for people who don’t ambulate. Anyway, my grands used the very old fashioned term “autolettiga” (litter car).
This time I would like to share this video with you, focusing on the difference between UK and USA, when it comes to certain words.
It’s one of my favorite language videos!
On a personale note, I had difficulty to correctly pronunce the following english words: Though - Through - Dough - Cough - Tough
Loic Suberville, a french guy, makes funny videos on TikTok where he shows linguistic oddities, especially between French and English.
Here’s how to correctly pronounce the above words:
When I was a kid, I was taught at school the French language. Only a few years later, I was taught English, but that’s another story.
Back then, French was the most important language, because of its assonance with Italian.
If Italian language is complicated (and it is!), French is no exception.
Did you know that counting in French from 70 to 99 is bizarre? 70 = soixante-dix (60+10) 80 = quatre-vingts (4 * 20) 90 = quatre-vingt-dix ( (4 * 20) + 10 )
Here is an explaining video. Have a look!
For the record, the reason for such a counting system has hystorical roots.
During the Roman empire age, some parts of the Europe had a counting system in blocks of 20 numbers. That is, for 100 numbers, instead of dividing 10 blocks of 10, they divided 5 blocks of 20.
After Romans invaded the France, Romans imposed their system, based on tens, but a few regions maintained their counting based on blocks of 20 numbers.
The last two blocks, indeed: from 60 to 80, and from 80 to 100.
I will link it here another day)
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