Re: english words absorbed into Asian languages during WW2

benlizross wrote:
> Peter T. Daniels wrote:
> >
> > Seán O'Leathlóbhair wrote:
> >
> > > The common meaning of "bundok" is hill or mountain but it is also
used
> > > when I would say: "The middle of nowhere". The Filipinos that I
have
> > > asked do not regard the American usage as conflicting with their
usage,
> > > just more restricted. If you heard an English speaker say: "He
is from
> > > the hills", would you not interpret as being similar to: "from
the
> > > middle of nowhere / boondocks".
> >
> > No. I'd think it referred literally to that rolling higher ground
over
> > there, or else to a cultural group of "hillbillies."
> > --
> > Peter T. Daniels grammatim@xxxxxxx
>
> I think "middle of nowhere" is a somewhat misleading gloss. Better
> "rough country; jungle; an isolated or wild region" (OED), or "remote
> places, rural regions" (Chapman). Relative to where most people live,
> the mountains are uncultivated, unpopulated, uncivilized and
difficult
> of access. It is no accident that "hillbillies" live there. Of
course,
> to a big-city person such as yourself, such places are "nowhere", or
> "I-don't-know-where". And of course the meaning is quite capable of
> broadening: if the words of the 1965 pop song "Down in the boondocks"
> reflect actual usage, it could just refer to the wrong side of town.
>
> Ross Clark

I did not intend to suggest that "middle of nowhere" was an exact
translation but only that the phrases are liable to be used in similar
circumstances. When a Filipino is likely to say: "We are in the
boondocks", I would probably say: "We are in the middle of nowhere".
In both cases, we just mean that we are far from what we regard as
civilisation. If your home is Manila then most of the rest of country
may be the boondocks.

--
Seán O'Leathlóbhair

.

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