English as She Is Spoke Pedro Carolino (most motivational books TXT) đ
- Author: Pedro Carolino
Book online «English as She Is Spoke Pedro Carolino (most motivational books TXT) đ». Author Pedro Carolino
By Pedro Carolino and José da Fonseca.
Table of Contents Titlepage Imprint Introduction Authorâs Preface English as She Is Spoke Of the Man Familiar Phrases Familiar Dialogues Familiar Letters Anecdotes Idiotisms and Proverbs Colophon Uncopyright ImprintThis ebook is the product of many hours of hard work by volunteers for Standard Ebooks, and builds on the hard work of other literature lovers made possible by the public domain.
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IntroductionFrom the time of Shakespeare downwards, wits and authors innumerable have made themselves and the public more or less merry at the expense of the earlier efforts of the student of a strange tongue; but it has been reserved to our own time for a soi disant instructor to perpetrateâ âat his own expenseâ âthe monstrous joke of publishing a Guide to Conversation in a language of which it is only too evident that every word is utterly strange to him. The Teutonic sage who evolved the ideal portrait of an elephant from his âinner consciousnessâ was a commonplace, matter-of fact person compared with the daring visionary who conjures up a complete system of language from the same fertile but untrustworthy source. The piquancy of Senhor Pedro Carolinoâs New Guide of the Conversation in Portuguese and English is enhanced by the evident bona fides and careful compilation of âthe little book,â or as Pedro himself gravely expresses it, âfor the care what we wrote him, and for her typographical correction.â
In short, the New Guide of the Conversation in Portuguese and English was written with serious intent, and for the purpose of initiating Portuguese students into the mysteries of the English language. The earlier portions of the book are divided into three columns, the first giving the Portuguese; the second what, in the opinion of the author, is the English equivalent; and the third the English equivalent phonetically spelt, so that the tyro may at the same time master our barbarous phraseology and the pronunciation thereof. In the second part of the work the learner is supposed to have sufficiently mastered the pronunciation of the English language, to be left to his own devices.
A little consideration of the shaping of our authorâs English phrases leads to the conclusion that the materials used have been a Portugueseâ ââ French phrasebook and a Frenchâ ââ English dictionary. With these slight impedimenta has the daring Lusitanian ventured upon the unknown deep of a strange language, and the result, to quote again from the Preface, âMay be worth the acceptation of the studious persons, and especially of the Youth, at which we dedicate him particularly,â but will at all events contribute not a little to the Youthâs hilarity.
To begin with the vocabulary; it is perhaps hardly fair to expect a professor of languages to trouble himself with âDegrees of Kindred,â still, such titles as âGossip mistress, a relation, an relation, a guardian, an guardian, the quater-grandfather, the quater-grandmother,â require some slight elucidation, and passing over the catalogue of articles of dress which are denominated âObjects of Manâ and âWoman Objects,â one may take exception to âcrumbsâ and âgroceries,â which are inserted among plates and cruets as ordinary table garniture.
Among what are denominated âEatingsâ we find âsome wigs,â âa dainty dishes,â âa mutton shoulder,â âa little mine,â âhog-fat,â and âan ameletâ: the menu is scarcely appetising, especially when among âFishes and Shellfishesâ our Portuguese Lucullus sets down the âhedgehog,â âsnail,â and âwolf.â After this such trifles as âstarchâ arranged under the heading of âMetals and Minerals,â and âbrickâ and âwhiteleadâ under that of âCommon Stonesâ fall almost flat; but one would like to be initiated into the mysteries of âgleek,â âcarousal,â and âkeel,â which are gravely asserted to be âGames.â Among âChivalry Ordersâ one has a glimmering of what is intended by âSaint Michaelmasâ and âVery-Meritâ; but under the heading of âDegrees,â although by a slight exercise of the imagination we can picture to ourselves âa quater master,â âa general to galeries,â or even a âvessel captain,â we are entirely nonplussed by âa harbingerâ and âa parapet.â
Passing on to âFamiliar Phrases,â most of which appear to be old friends with new faces, Senhor Carolinoâs literal cribs from the French become more and more apparent, in spite of his boast in the Preface of being âclean of gallicisms and despoiled phrases.â âApply you at the study during that you are youngâ is doubtless an excellent precept, and as he remarks further on âHow do you can it to denyâ; but study may be misdirected, and in the moral, no less than in the material world, it is useful to know. âThat are the dishes whom you must be and to abstainâ; while the meaning of âThis girl have a beauty edgeâ is scarcely clear unless it relates to the preternatural acuteness of the fair sex in these days of board schools and womanâs rights.
Further on the conversationalist appears to get into rough company, and we find him remarking âHe laughs at my nose, he jest by me,â gallicĂ© âIl me rit au nez, il se moque de moiâ; âHe has me take out my hairs,â âHe does me some kicks,â âHe has scratch the face
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