I'm not an expert in esperanto but, I usually speaking French would say Ca fait du sense! Faras sencio ,but thinking about it I will now say A mon avis c'est logique. Which in esperanto would be En Mia opinio ĝi estas logika but, not having spoke esperanto with any one and just learning it here and on livemocha I may not be right but, until I'm sure thats how I'm going to say it. But, please if any one has a better suggestion inbox me.

Ruĝdomo:It might be that the idiom now under discussion is so much of an problem to speakers unfamiliar with English, that it adds to their difficulty to learn the language. I think we should listen attentively to criticism from Japan, China and other places which did not contribute to the original formation of Esperanto.

Fine. Personally I'm more inclined to just accept the language as it is and teach it on that basis. Words have meanings, and a beginner's job is to learn those meanings. Seems pointless to complain about it.

scorpjke:

hebda999:

scorpjke:And the option "havas sencon" makes no sense to me

Really? Then what does it mean in Russian?

имеет смысл

We don't say "имеет смысл" for "makes sense".

Of course you don't:

Что имеет смысл? - What makes sense?
Жизнь не имеет смысла. - Life makes no sense.
Каждое слово имеет смысл. - Every word makes sense.
...
and thousands more of the stuff.

hebda999:

scorpjke:

hebda999:

scorpjke:And the option "havas sencon" makes no sense to me

Really? Then what does it mean in Russian?

имеет смысл

We don't say "имеет смысл" for "makes sense".

Of course you don't:

Что имеет смысл? - What makes sense?
Жизнь не имеет смысла. - Life makes no sense.
Каждое слово имеет смысл. - Every word makes sense.
...
and thousands more of the stuff.

Okay, but that would be only one of the meanings of the phrase "to make sense". Anyway, as I avoid using synonyms in Esperanto and try to use the simplest and the clearest words, I see no point in using the word "senco". And even if I didn't, "havi sencon" still doesn't make sense. That is just pure influence of European languages. For example I can pretend I am Japanese for a second (I know Japanese) -- I would never understand what this phrase actually means. EVER.

scorpjke:I can pretend I am Japanese for a second (I know Japanese) -- I would never understand what this phrase actually means. EVER.

Unless you learnt what the word "senco" means, at which point the problem goes away.

scorpjke:Okay, but that would be only one of the meanings of the phrase "to make sense"... For example I can pretend I am Japanese for a second (I know Japanese) -- I would never understand what this phrase actually means. EVER.

What other meanings does this phrase (make sense) have then? And I think that you underestimate the Japanese. They are smart and very good esperantists.

Esperanto is a foreign language that you have to learn to use it. Your nationality has nothing to do with that. There are dictionaries and many experienced esperantists which you can consult in case of any doubt.

In skorpjke's defence, when I first saw 'Tio havas sencon', i.e. in this thread, I thought it meant something like, 'That has a meaning' (which would be the first definition from ReVo), and wondered if 'makes sense' had some different meaning in US English. So it didn't make sense to me at that time, but after I looked it up, it now makes sense. It's a little annoying for 'senco' to have two meanings, but Robert Plant prepared me for that eventuality long ago. Anyway, basically these other fellas are right, 'Tio havas sencon' means (in its second definition) 'That is logical and understandable' (i.e. it 'adds up to' or 'makes' a reasonable, sensible statement or conclusion). If you want to use a different way of expressing that same meaning, such as one of those mentioned in this thread, you can do that.

J_Marc:In skorpjke's defence, when I first saw 'Tio havas sencon', i.e. in this thread, I thought it meant something like, 'That has a meaning'.

Actually "meaning" and "sense" are close to each other.

PIV:

"senc/o
1 Maniero, kiel vorto aŭ frazo estas komprenota: tiun vorton mi uzas ordinare en la senco de […]Z; la senco de ambaŭ vortoj estas malsamaZ; sen la akuzativo la senco ofte estas neklaraZ; kelkaj verboj havas duoblan senconZ; la senco diras al ni, ke la sufikso estas necesaZ; la senco ne montras al ni, kian prepozicion uziZ; la akuzativo dependas nur de la sencoZ; mi ne povas kapti en ĝi la senconZ; propra, figura (aŭ metafora) senco; uzi vorton en la strikta, la larĝa, en la jura, en la religia senco; (f) la tuta vivo perdis en miaj okuloj ĉian sencon k valoronZ. ➞ semantiko, signifo. ➞ sencoturno."

hebda999:

J_Marc:In skorpjke's defence, when I first saw 'Tio havas sencon', i.e. in this thread, I thought it meant something like, 'That has a meaning'.

Actually "meaning" and "sense" are close to each other.

Yes, I agree they are close, but the two senses are discrete enough to have caused me a little confusion initially.

hebda999:

J_Marc:In skorpjke's defence, when I first saw 'Tio havas sencon', i.e. in this thread, I thought it meant something like, 'That has a meaning'.

Actually "meaning" and "sense" are close to each other.

PIV:

"senc/o
1 Maniero, kiel vorto aŭ frazo estas komprenota: tiun vorton mi uzas ordinare en la senco de […]Z; la senco de ambaŭ vortoj estas malsamaZ; sen la akuzativo la senco ofte estas neklaraZ; kelkaj verboj havas duoblan senconZ; la senco diras al ni, ke la sufikso estas necesaZ; la senco ne montras al ni, kian prepozicion uziZ; la akuzativo dependas nur de la sencoZ; mi ne povas kapti en ĝi la senconZ; propra, figura (aŭ metafora) senco; uzi vorton en la strikta, la larĝa, en la jura, en la religia senco; (f) la tuta vivo perdis en miaj okuloj ĉian sencon k valoronZ. ➞ semantiko, signifo. ➞ sencoturno."

This meaning is exactly the same to me as that of "signifo".

J_Marc:In skorpjke's defence, when I first saw 'Tio havas sencon', i.e. in this thread, I thought it meant something like, 'That has a meaning'.

Same here. It's not worth confusion, because Esperanto is supposed to be easy. One should try to avoid misunderstanding as much as possible. European Esperantists get "fluent" in Esperanto so fast only because they are influenced by their first languages which have a lot in common, but do not always make sense. Because of this, people whose first language is not European, have to remember a lot of things that don't make sense which makes Esperanto much harder to learn for them. I would be okay with that if Esperanto was a language for Europeans. But it is not! Think about the whole world, don't be egoists and speak easier!