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DIR Return to: Questions about the Use of Language
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#Post#: 17773--------------------------------------------------
Village
By: Nikola Date: July 11, 2019, 3:32 am
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This word keeps coming up in various discussions and I'd like to
finally get to the bottom of the problem. I've noticed that
Europeans (including me) use it, while Americans say they
wouldn't use it, it doesn't sound right, they associate it with
a Hansel and Gretel kind of place. That's a fair point.
"American village" sounds similar to "American medieval castle".
It just doesn't really work, does it? But what if we have such
places here? I mean, that's not really a question, we do. I'm
not saying this to brag about how old things are in Europe and
how nothing in the US is old from our perspective, we can do
that in another thread :) But seriously, if we have charming
little places, smaller than towns, ones that don't have a town
hall or a shop, and have hardly changed at all in the past
centuries, ones that have an old church people go to, and are
surrounded by woods where people pick wild blueberries, hoping
the will-o'-the-wisp won't lead them into the swamp, should we
really avoid calling them a village?
#Post#: 17779--------------------------------------------------
Re: Village
By: Truman Overby Date: July 11, 2019, 5:05 am
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Your observations are accurate. In my part of the U.S. we say
'wide spot in the road' for what could be properly called a
village. If we describe someplace as a village, it's with
reluctance and a shrug of the shoulders, since we don't use the
word in common parlance. It sounds dismissive to call a place
nothing more than a wide spot in the road, I realize that. But
that's the way it is. :)
I attended school in one of these wide spots. We had the school,
a very small restaurant, a small gas/service station, church,
and a used car lot. Today, the restaurant and school are gone.
The population has held steady at roughly 30-50 people.
Villager has a negative connotation in the Georgian language. It
translates as goimi. No one wants to be a goimi.
#Post#: 17783--------------------------------------------------
Re: Village
By: Alharacas Date: July 11, 2019, 5:47 am
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Same in German: Dorf (village) is fine, while Dörfler (villager)
is not, it sounds dismissive.
As to the original question - we haven't got a lot of palm
trees* in Germany, but when talking about the Caribbean, what
else are you going to call them?
*Although they might be starting to grow here in the near
future, what with the wholly imaginary climate change.
#Post#: 17784--------------------------------------------------
Re: Village
By: SuKi Date: July 11, 2019, 5:55 am
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What problem?
If it's a village, call it a village.
#Post#: 17786--------------------------------------------------
Re: Village
By: NealC Date: July 11, 2019, 6:06 am
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We have no problem calling places in Europe or Asia "Village".
We don't use it as a descriptive here in the U.S. because I
think the word has a connotation of age that is not possible
here.
Alharacas are you using sarcasm in your post? Why does that
strike me as strange? I don't think you use it much. Perhaps
you are not as bitter as some of us :-)
#Post#: 17793--------------------------------------------------
Re: Village
By: Truman Overby Date: July 11, 2019, 6:31 am
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[quote author=Alharacas link=topic=1216.msg17783#msg17783
date=1562842062]
Same in German: Dorf (village) is fine, while Dörfler (villager)
is not, it sounds dismissive.
As to the original question - we haven't got a lot of palm
trees* in Germany, but when talking about the Caribbean, what
else are you going to call them?
*Although they might be starting to grow here in the near
future, what with the wholly imaginary climate change.
[/quote]
Hmmm, trying to hijack Nikola's thread, eh? Have you forgotten
that it's Steve's job to hijack threads with the War and Peace
size monuments to all things German?
#Post#: 17798--------------------------------------------------
Re: Village
By: SHL Date: July 11, 2019, 6:57 am
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Well, at least Neal and Jerry didn‘t come along and say I was
full of it and they say village all the time.
Like I said, no one refers to a small town in the US as a
village (not a native speaker anyway). Outside the US it‘s fine
for really old small places. So, I‘d say it‘s archaic in the US,
but not in reference to places outside the country. I think you
could even get away with calling little towns in Mexico
villages. For some reason it just sounds weird in the US if
referring to any town. Sorry for no better reason, it‘s just one
of those „sounds weird to me“ things (but only in reference to
towns in the US). As far as Jerry‘s wide spot in the road
reference, I‘ve never heard that one in my life. Must be
Indiana-speak. ??? They have a lot of weird expressions back
there.
#Post#: 17799--------------------------------------------------
Re: Village
By: Truman Overby Date: July 11, 2019, 7:08 am
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Well, Steve, what do you say in place of village for small
places in the U.S.?
#Post#: 17801--------------------------------------------------
Re: Village
By: SHL Date: July 11, 2019, 7:15 am
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[quote author=The Artist formerly known as Truman Overby
link=topic=1216.msg17799#msg17799 date=1562846894]
Well, Steve, what do you say in place of village for small
places in the U.S.?
[/quote]
Little holes in the wall. Or I might just call the place a dump,
or a hick town.
Hick town sounds more elegant actually now that I think about
it. :)
#Post#: 17807--------------------------------------------------
Re: Village
By: SuKi Date: July 11, 2019, 7:25 am
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An interesting picture is emerging here. So, in the US, the land
of the ...well... big, it seems that being small is negative. A
place that only has a handful of houses is a hole, a dump, a
hick town.
While in Europe, meanwhile, small can be traditional, quaint,
charming even.
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