Messages : 37
Langue: English
erinja (Voir le profil) 20 novembre 2011 23:05:07
sudanglo:Bonan apetiton! (means the food so awful here that you will need to be really hungry to enjoy it)Or else this could mean that you look anorexic and you need to gain a little weight.
"Je via sano!" surely means that you're looking poorly.
Evildela (Voir le profil) 21 novembre 2011 00:24:34
qwertz:Why not simple: No worries. Ne ĝenu. Some Australians around to clarifiy more in detail?\
I use sen ĝenoj
acdibble (Voir le profil) 21 novembre 2011 02:34:54
EldanarLambetur:I don't think the point is for something to be literally not worthy of thanks, it's more a kind of modesty. It's like the English expression "It was nothing" in response to either thanks, or wonder.Another good example would be, "Don't mention it."
sudanglo (Voir le profil) 21 novembre 2011 11:16:11
Comments on the state of the day require the nominative in Esperanto.
Bela vetero, hodiaŭ, ĉu ne?
Evildela, your suggestion of 'sen ĝenoj' is much better for 'no worries' than 'ne ĝenu' - which (tiu lasta) is likely to be interpreted as 'ne ĝenu min'.
ceigered (Voir le profil) 21 novembre 2011 11:30:16
"No problem/No probs" is probably more common here in Australia, probably reflecting our mentality.
As for Esperanto, I have no gripes with "nedankinde", it sounds very modest.
Actually, it sounds very Japanese come to think of it.
"Arigatou gozaimashita! (thank you very much for all you have done for me!)"
"Iie! (No!)" (I'm sure there's meant to be more to that, but that's all I remember being taught!)
cFlat7 (Voir le profil) 22 novembre 2011 14:37:13
EldanarLambetur:"Wow superman, thanks for catching me"For Superman, it wasn't that much at all, he had superhuman powers. But for someone else that had to do something really hard and had put himself out, the modesty can sound a little false.
"It was nothing."
Such a feat isn't nothing at all, so the expression is pointless in a literal sense, but it emphasises the modesty and honest intentions of the speaker, and the actions they took.
erinja (Voir le profil) 22 novembre 2011 14:59:41
cFlat7:For Superman, it wasn't that much at all, he had superhuman powers. But for someone else that had to do something really hard and had put himself out, the modesty can sound a little false.It doesn't sound false at all. Remember that the brain doesn't parse out the exact meaning of these expressions. When someone says "malsanulejo" to a fluent speaker of Esperanto, a picture of a hospital comes to mind. Once you are past the beginner stage, your brain isn't parsing it out as "Hm, a place with opposite of healthy people -- a hospital!"
Similarly, you say "dankon" and someone replies "ne dankinde". You aren't parsing out the exact literal meaning of the expression. All you're thinking is that the person has acknowledged your thanks.
The false expression would be something that isn't a rote phrase that everyone says. It would be something gushy and insincere.
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You can say anything you want, and if you don't like 'Ne dankinde', no one is forcing you to say it. But please don't go thinking that other Esperanto speakers are being insincere when they say it. They're being equally as sincere as an American who says "You're welcome" or an Australian who says "No worries". If you think about this too deeply, then any rote "you're welcome" response can sound false. "My pleasure" - it wasn't necessarily my pleasure to do it. "It was nothing" - it wasn't necessarily nothing. "No worries" - What, I'm not supposed to worry about thanking you?. Anything you say can be turned around and made to sound offensive in some way. Don't go looking for ways to get offended at people who are only trying to be polite.
cFlat7 (Voir le profil) 22 novembre 2011 18:48:11
I like some of the suggestions previously posted in this thread. For example, I think Nedankende is better than Nedankinde ("not required" vs "not worthy").
I also like Volonte, although I wonder if Volinte would be more appropriate in this context. And perhaps if you were really glad to have helped, maybe even, Korvolinte.
sudanglo (Voir le profil) 22 novembre 2011 20:29:14
Volonte = willingly (it is not the future participle of voli).
Would you say 'willingly' in reply to 'thanks for your help'? I think not.
However it would be the appropriate response to 'will you help me'
mihxil (Voir le profil) 22 novembre 2011 21:07:44
erinja:Dutch speakers seem to get along just fine with "niets de danken" or "geen dank", both of which translate very similarly to "ne dankinde".I use to say 'graag gedaan', which means something like 'volonte farite'.