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Quantum Forest logs are written by Luis A. Apiolaza in Christchurch, New Zealand.

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Armchair comparative linguistics
Published Wednesday July 26, 2006 · Permalink

I started working with a Spanish speaker Ph.D. student. One of the topics of conversation is the (always long) list of things that do not make sense in English if taken in a literal way. For example:

• To have a heart condition: everyone has a condition (good or bad).
• It is a quality product: good or bad?
• You have an accent: doh, you too.
• He has an attitude: everyone has one.
• So on and so forth, you get the idea.

Of course any language has a fair share of inconsistencies, strange turns of phrase or grammatical weirdness. Some classic Spanish cultural issues:

• One takes a decision instead of making one, as if there is a limited set of decisions available (for which I am not responsible).
• The use of reflexive as in ‘el vaso se cayó’ (the glass fell by itself). So, it is the glass’s fault not mine for dropping it.

The latter example puts the locus of control on the object not the person, so there is an issue of personal responsability (or lack of it). This used to be a big difference, but English is catching up if not through language but via the legal system. Think of ‘tort law’ and ‘frivolous lawsuits’.

Just another day in language’s terra nulla.

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