Are any words the same in all languages?

Post by poizan42 » Thu, Sep 07, 2023, 10:50 PM UTC

Dr_Birdbrain wrote: post #71

jcrash wrote: post #70

Surprised bread wasn't mentioned, seems like there are more than a few languages where the word for bread is 'pan'

Are they all Latin-derived languages? Because that’s the Latin root :)

Post by mminer237 » Thu, Sep 07, 2023, 10:51 PM UTC

self_awareness wrote: post #36

xnx wrote: post #10

"OK is frequently used as a loanword in other languages. It has been described as the most frequently spoken or written word on the planet." https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/OK

Isn't it simply an English "word" which is very popular?

Post by jagrsw » Thu, Sep 07, 2023, 10:52 PM UTC

uoaei wrote: post #65

kepler471 wrote: post #12

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Even within Europe there are many different words used for water, very cool! This is not a comprehensive list: Germanic - wasser/water/voda/woda French - eau Italian/Spanish - aqua/agua Greek - nero (νερό) Danish - vand Romanian - apă Latvian - udens Turkish - su Welsh - dwr

It is strange to see Slavic lumped in with Germanic. Is this common practice?

Post by WalterBright » Thu, Sep 07, 2023, 10:56 PM UTC

matsemann wrote: post #57

Slightly related. But I've seen documentaries from other remote countries, where children use the same sounds when mocking people. Not the same words, but kinda the same melody. Is it kinda universal, or was it just chance? I feel like if I heard children speak in a foreign language, I wouldn't be able to understand if they made fun of someone in a way that need no cultural context, somehow.

Post by nonfamous » Thu, Sep 07, 2023, 10:59 PM UTC

lopis wrote: post #66

nonfamous wrote: post #48

"Taxi" is universally understood, in my experience. (TFI calls it a "runner up" candidate.) "Kaput" is another.

How is kaput universal? That's just a German word that some people might know, but most won't.