GideonVD Posted June 12, 2013 Report Share Posted June 12, 2013 Awe... thank you Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fish Posted June 12, 2013 Report Share Posted June 12, 2013 (edited) There are indeed many ways to skin a cat...Perhaps I am just lazy and prefer a short sentence straight to the point describing the event in as few words as possible.If I could speak Khoesan, I would simply go "!" or "click" and everyone around the campfire would understand that "The cat was chasing a mouse that passed under the table while it was trying to create a diversion so that his female and babies could attempt to escape in the other direction beneath a few thorny bushes next to the water's edge of the orange river that has been in flood for the last few days due to the unusual torrential rains experienced by the region attributable to the global warming effect of green house gasses produced by the burning of fossil fuels in electricity plants and internal combustion engines built and used by city dwellers so that they can increase their productivity and manufacturing in order to cater for the demands of international trade in textiles that was the core of the industrial revolution that originated in Europe in the..... , and therefore the cat passed under the table"I realised at the end of reading that that I was holding my breath for some reason...maybe to concentrate enough brain cells into one spot to read it...it actually got quite dangerous for a moment there near the end. Edited June 12, 2013 by Fish Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fish Posted June 12, 2013 Report Share Posted June 12, 2013 (edited) Fish, That is probably the closest one will ever get. I will certainly use that. You are definitely not obtuse.However, to me, in my limited Afrikaans-English vocabulary, passes means "verby" or "loop verby" or "hardloop verby"It does not seem as descriptive as the original Afrikaans version, to indicate to me that the cat was specifically running at the time.passes would mean walk or run past...but "passed under" specifically means the cat went under the table and out the other side...as you say it doesn't indicate the speed it did this....could be crawling or running...As Andrea said something like: The cat hurriedly passed under the table...or in the vernacular:...the cat shot under the table like a blue ass fly and out the other side.or...the cat piss bolted under the table and shot out the other side. Edited June 12, 2013 by Fish 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jacques Voogt Posted June 12, 2013 Report Share Posted June 12, 2013 Click!Loosely translated: Strange how we got from a brilliant post about missing Afrikaans to a global discussion on implied speed of a cat moving from point A to point B, incidentally with a table in between.Point is, one will always be more comfortable communicating in the language you have grown up with and the vocabulary you have learned in a specific region. I struggle to understand Cape Town Afrikaans. And sometimes I'll end up switching to English to say something to my Afrikaans wife, simply because, for what I want to say, English will work better for me.And sometimes the word "Eish" is the only word that will fit my response. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Antonett Posted June 12, 2013 Report Share Posted June 12, 2013 The cat is keeping you guys very busy! Lol 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fish Posted June 12, 2013 Report Share Posted June 12, 2013 The cat is keeping you guys very busy! Loldon't think we haven't groaned inwardly at our own personalities already while discussing it...cause we have so back off Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AndreaL Posted June 12, 2013 Report Share Posted June 12, 2013 The cat is keeping you guys very busy! LolYes! But I am a crazy cat lady anyway!Actually the cats chased one another across the table and knocked my hand-painted dragon fly plate off....shattering it into thousands of pieces last night, so I doubt I will ever get the phrase out of my head........naughty boys Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CherylC Posted June 13, 2013 Report Share Posted June 13, 2013 Then I can add the word "mos": Jy weet mos! Or Jy kan dit mos self doen! The word sort of includes the person you are talking to as if in agreement. I can't think of something similar in English.I find myself (as a bad habit) even using "mos" in English sentences: You can "mos" see there is something wrong!Living in Australia really creates an awareness of how you speak and how you are understood by others. Quite exciting! :-) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jacques Voogt Posted June 13, 2013 Report Share Posted June 13, 2013 Kattemaai 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jpokennedy Posted July 14, 2013 Report Share Posted July 14, 2013 Just dont get a cat, problem solved. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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