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Comment by VMG | Hacker News Reader

You're right, but what does it say about Germans when they have to borrow the word "small talk"?

Much the same thing that it says about English-speakers when they have to borrow the word "entrepreneur".

There is a slight difference, though, in that the English speaking world has taken a huge amount of its vocabulary from French. It may be less remarkable when Americans borrow a word then when Germans do this. That said, "Entrepreneur", from what I read on wikipedia, was a 19th century import, not a William the Conquerer import, so you do make a pretty good point - it does seem more of a "borrowed word" than a core part of the language.

You'd have me convinced, except that I have it on the assurances of a fine former US president that the French, in fact, have no word for entrepreneur.

English has a huge vocabulary from German. Even the royal family was mostly imported from Germany.

Oh yeah, English vocabulary may be even more German than French... what I remember is that while overall English vocabulary is heavily French, it leans more German when you consider the most frequently used, conversational words.

The little words tend to be Germanic the big words tend to be French. The names of farm animals tend to be Germanic the names of meats tend to be French. Swearing is Germanic.

It's a class thing.

Considering that we're neighbors (and, well, wars), it's not surprising that Germany has quite a few words borrowed from French, too. Actually, some words that are considered very normal by Germans were inventions by a few linguists to counter that (and Latin). And not even for nationalistic reasons, just to make it easier for the common man... Especially considering the Latin roots and constant cross-pollination, European languages can't be considered very isolated from each other.

Never mind that there are quite a few words for small talk, too. As if that's the only word in English for it... It's just that it got quite popular due to its poignancy. Just like "Zeitgeist" the other way 'round.

Or "Zeitgeist" and "Schadenfreude" for that matter.

Or even kindergarten.

And for anyone who knows how entrepreneur-friendly France is, the fact that it's borrowed from there of all places is particularly ironic.

Well, they didn't mind lending it out, since they weren't using it anyway.

geebee: http://www.snopes.com/quotes/bush.asp

Oh, shoot. I hate it when people say Al Gore claimed to have invented the internet. Leaving the post up so that people know what you're talking about.

Oh strange, when I originally posted my comment, it wouldn't let me reply to yours.

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