Giro d'Italia 2021 Giro d'Italia Stage 3: Biella - Canale 190 KM

[Armchair cyclist]

Love his disarming, totally non media trained, swearing filled interviews

I am often surprised at how freely non-native English speakers swear in these semi-formal interviews: is what is deemed acceptable in other languages much more liberal, or is the nature of these words not explained in teaching English in Europe?

And who teaches them that 'super' is the emphatic prefix of choice in English?

 

[Sciatic]

I am often surprised at how freely non-native English speakers swear in these semi-formal interviews: is what is deemed acceptable in other languages much more liberal, or is the nature of these words not explained in teaching English in Europe?

And who teaches them that 'super' is the emphatic prefix of choice in English?

It’s very big with some French speakers I know: zu-PAIR

 

[Leinster]

And who teaches them that 'super' is the emphatic prefix of choice in English?

My wife uses Super, and she'd never look at a bike race if I didn't turn it on.

Besides which, I think Super is just an international word that existed in Latin, so exists in lots of modern languages. So people who learn English as a second language, just carry over words that they know from their own language.

A bit like how English speakers just learning French will use words like bicyclette, or phrases like "je viens" or "c'est d'accord" instead of velo, or j'arrive, or because they're teacher told them "d'accord" is French for "ok."


As for the swearing, I can only guess/had always assumed it's because so many of them learn English from Tarantino movies, rap/rock music, etc. I never heard the word putain until I actually went to France on exchange and hung out with French teenagers.

 

[davidsonduke]

Then I won't force you to imagine life with the genetic polymorphism that makes it taste like soap

Are you confusing coriander with cilantro?

 

[Logic-is-your-friend]

I am often surprised at how freely non-native English speakers swear in these semi-formal interviews: is what is deemed acceptable in other languages much more liberal, or is the nature of these words not explained in teaching English in Europe?

And who teaches them that 'super' is the emphatic prefix of choice in English?

You think super is an English word/prefix? We all know what "fck" or whatever you're talking about, means. English swearwords have somehow gotten adopted in many other languages, such as Dutch(/Flemish variant). Undoubtedly as a result of pop culture like TV shows, movies, pop music (rap, rock, etc). I use "what the fck" on a daily basis, while i've noticed a younger generation using "oh my god" a lot. Jeezes (Jesus, pronounced in English, not Dutch), bullsht, (mother)fcking..., are perfect additions to my diverse swearing vocabulary, which consists of (but not exclusively) of such words and descriptions as, achterlijke kip, kak, onnozelen deb, sukkel, godver, domme kloot... and then there are combinations of whatever i can think of (like, say i hit my toe against the door) motherfuckingkakbalzakkutzooiruftenboer. Or something along those lines.

To answer your question, swearing -at least where i come from- is part of our daily vocabulary. In school we don't get taught about what "fck" means, or "sht", but i don't think anyone doesn't know what it means. On live TV in Flanders (and i believe the Netherlands as well), swearwords don't get beeped. That doesn't mean everybody starts hurling swearwords at eachother on tv, but the context is very important for what is deemed acceptable. Like when a sportsman or -woman would say in an interview after a victory it's "fcking geweldig", that would be completely acceptable. As long as the context is there, stuff like that is indeed used much more liberally. Politicians can say "we zitten in de sht" and nobody would bat an eye.

 

[jmdirt]

You think super is an English word/prefix? We all know what "fck" or whatever you're talking about, means. English swearwords have somehow gotten adopted in many other languages, such as Dutch(/Flemish variant). Undoubtedly as a result of pop culture like TV shows, movies, pop music (rap, rock, etc). I use "what the fck" on a daily basis, while i've noticed a younger generation using "oh my god" a lot. Jeezes (Jesus, pronounced in English, not Dutch), bullsht, (mother)fcking..., are perfect additions to my diverse swearing vocabulary, which consists of (but not exclusively) of such words and descriptions as, achterlijke kip, kak, onnozelen deb, sukkel, godver, domme kloot... and then there are combinations of whatever i can think of (like, say i hit my toe against the door) motherfuckingkakbalzakkutzooiruftenboer. Or something along those lines.

To answer your question, swearing -at least where i come from- is part of our daily vocabulary. In school we don't get taught about what "fck" means, or "sht", but i don't think anyone doesn't know what it means. On live TV in Flanders (and i believe the Netherlands as well), swearwords don't get beeped. That doesn't mean everybody starts hurling swearwords at eachother on tv, but the context is very important for what is deemed acceptable. Like when a sportsman or -woman would say in an interview after a victory it's "fcking geweldig", that would be completely acceptable. As long as the context is there, stuff like that is indeed used much more liberally. Politicians can say "we zitten in de sht" and nobody would bat an eye.

 

[BlueRoads]

I was taught to never use swearwords, my mother was very strict in that regard, so it's quite tough for me to use them today. I really had to teach myself to write them down in fictional texts sometimes, they don't come easily...
English swearwords on the other hand are not a problem, because I cognitively know what they mean, but they don't feel that harsh, since in English films and songs they constantly use them and nobody has ever taught me it's not okay to use them - well, apart from my son who will look at me sternly and ask "What did you just say?"
Anecdote aside I think to a lesser extent this goes for many people - except in Flanders, apparently - you learn that there's something dirty about swearwords, you shouldn't use them. For words in foreign languages that doesn't apply so much.

We should introduce a linguistics section in the forum...

 

[Pantani_lives]

I watched a summary and it looked like a great stage. Van der Hoorn reminds me of some old school Dutchies, like Jelle Nijdam en Frans Maassen. It's always rewarding to see an outsider outsolo a big group.

 

[SafeBet]

I am often surprised at how freely non-native English speakers swear in these semi-formal interviews: is what is deemed acceptable in other languages much more liberal, or is the nature of these words not explained in teaching English in Europe?

The casual use of swear words for non native speakers is not just an English thing. It's very common for people learning languages as adults in non educational contexts. For instance, riders (and other athletes) who learn Italian in Veneto tend to use bestemmie freely even in formal or semi-formal situations, because of how often their peers use them. Nobody explains them when and how to use them though (no parental figure, no trained teacher, etc).

Of course, as others have noted, pop culture also has an influence in how kids learn English.

 

[Leinster]

Captain Jean-Luc Picard said “merde” once on an episode of TNG. And it aired on American tv. It’s not swearing if it’s a foreign language, its intellectual.

 

[Berflamand]

Today in a column that Keisse writes during the Giro for Het Nieuwsblad he says that it was a very strong victory by Van der Hoorn but that some things have helped the breakaway stay away:

• He says Sagan made a mistake himself because he stopped for a nature break just after a climb when Bora were pacing but the peloton broke in several pieces on the descent and it took Sagan (together with Oss) a long time to get back to the front. Bora had to wait a bit for Sagan and could essentially start over again.
• Also the fact that DQS didn't bring a sprinter helped the breakaway. He says that usually they always take responsibility but now the other teams were looking at each other and they didn't know who was going to start pacing or when they should start pacing.

He also says that the two seconds Remco took at the intermediate sprint the other day were more or less a coincidence and it was definitely not planned. Right before the sprint the team said that there was a tricky passage through a village so Keisse took Remco all the way to the front to be safe. Then he saw the signs for the intermediate sprint (one km, 500m, ...). He thought the sprinters would come to the front but nobody moved. It was only then he decided to go for the bonus seconds. Only when they saw DQS moving, Ineos also started their action which resulted in Ganna taking three seconds and Remco two.

 

[Bolder]

I am often surprised at how freely non-native English speakers swear in these semi-formal interviews: is what is deemed acceptable in other languages much more liberal, or is the nature of these words not explained in teaching English in Europe?

And who teaches them that 'super' is the emphatic prefix of choice in English?

I think it's a matter of degree for a lot of words. Merde ,for example, is a very minor curse in French (and even has a positive corollary verb in "démerder," to unshit something!), more like "drat," in us English. So French speakers aren't as attuned to the fact that you would never use st in public or in a business setting. As for f, I think that's an actual issue for non native English speakers. That just needs to be verboten.

Super and hyper are common intensifiers in French.

 

[Dekker_Tifosi]

I am often surprised at how freely non-native English speakers swear in these semi-formal interviews: is what is deemed acceptable in other languages much more liberal, or is the nature of these words not explained in teaching English in Europe?

And who teaches them that 'super' is the emphatic prefix of choice in English?

idk but in the netherlands it's quite 'accepted' to swear. TV shows do not censor ***, ***, etc... Just more liberal than native English countries (USA, GB etc). Dutch swear words also don't get censored.

 

[Escarabajo]

I live in the USA and have gone to many places around South America and Europe (I am yet to visit Asia). I think the worst of what I have seen are in the USA. They censored everything that is not on cable or private television. British swear a lot from what I have seen.

 

[Leinster]

We should introduce a linguistics section in the forum...

Not meaning to cross-purpose threads, but I watched an interview on YouTube not long ago where Rob Hatch explained that the reason he got into commentating was he had been studying linguistics, and Eurosport offered him a job. So that’s probably part of the reason he tries so hard to get pronunciations as close to how the locals/riders themselves say things.

 

[RedheadDane]

We should introduce a linguistics section in the forum...

There's a language thread down in the Cafe:

Language discussion thread | Cyclingnews Forum