• Seagoon_@aussie.zoneOP
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          4 months ago

          I think it’s a modern problem. Bao have traditionally been eaten in soup/stew but a restaurant in Shanghai started calling steamed buns dumplings.

          Bao means bag , it’s a reference to filling, but dumpling is a reference to how it’s cooked.

            • StudSpud The Starchy@aussie.zone
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              4 months ago

              I’d say bao bao and blow their minds

              Edit: saying “bao bun” is equivalent to saying “naan bread” or “chai tea”; it’s basically saying “bread bread” or “tea tea”.

              Bao means bun in Cantonese, and bao is a Cantonese food.

      • Thornburywitch@aussie.zone
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        4 months ago

        Yes. The stuff of dinner table conversation in the family. My mum did her masters degree on Old English and Old Norse. Dad spoke fluent cockney, english and lowland scots depending on context. Tell me about it.

        • StudSpud The Starchy@aussie.zone
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          4 months ago

          Between 1400 and 1700, English went through a major vowel shift that changed the way words were pronounced. The pronunciation of Middle English long vowels changed into how we pronounce them today/has affected English worldwide, and well as consotant changes (silent letters come from this, knife used have the k pronounced, and this can actually still be heard in German as well. Kneipe (German for pub/bar), for eg, is pronounced with the k).

          Example, in Middle English the word “house” was pronounced hu:s “hoos”. With the Great Vowel Shift it changed to haʊs “howse”.

          • Catfish@aussie.zone
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            4 months ago

            I love Middle English. It can look like gibberish at first, but pretend to be drunk & Scottish 98% of it works. The other words are probably Danish.

            • StudSpud The Starchy@aussie.zone
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              4 months ago

              My favourite pic displaying the evolution. Middle English is still almost parsable, but old english is basically old German haha

              Also the change of implication. In middle English, God sets one down in the pasture, King James says God makes one lie in pastures, but Modern has God allows one to lay in the pasture.

              And the change of feohland to pasture. I love this stuff so fucking much.

              • Catfish@aussie.zone
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                4 months ago

                I love side by side versions like those! (I did send you that book link?) it makes the changes and similarities so obvious 😺 language is fun.

                • StudSpud The Starchy@aussie.zone
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                  4 months ago

                  You did send it to me iirc, I haven’t had time to source it but will so after this thread has me on several linguistic rabbit holes haha!

                  I just checked and it’s saved on my wishlist lol

                  Definitely check out Language Jones on YT, he’s a linguist and it’s so refreshing to watch someone with such a vast amount of knowledge!

    • Seagoon_@aussie.zoneOP
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      4 months ago

      That’s a very American argument. Americans, who use Simplified English, used dictionaries as a political tool in the war of independence and still do

      They developed a descriptive dictionary so they can say their usage is just as valid 🙄

      but the rest of the world, who use Traditional English, use prescriptive dictionaries so we can have agreed upon meanings and usage.

      • StudSpud The Starchy@aussie.zone
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        4 months ago

        I can promise you that words changing meaning over time is not an “American Argument”. Nothing to say what you mean by “American” (us, Canada, Argentina?) .

        Language has changed all the time, via slang from the poorest, or the slang of the royals and powerful people throughout history.

        We don’t say *dyeu anymore, to refer to the sun-god of proto-indo-european times; we say “Zeus”, “deity”, “deva” or “Jupiter” (all come from *dyeu).

        So I don’t think the Americans had any say in that. Language and the evolution of language has happened endless times throughout history.

        Example from Language Jones

        https://youtu.be/BFgg-Gy0E2g?si=g4rNnyX7eu1DJx60