It's So Fluffy! What Does "Fluffy" Mean If You Don't Speak English?

The other day I came across something sort of weird... the word "fluffy" isn't very universal. Sure, a lot of languages have similar words, but none are exactly the same. I currently live in Spain, and I've found that my Spanish-speaking friends who speak English understand it, while those who don't can't find a useful translation that really encompasses everything the English word means.

So what does it mean? If you look "fluffy" up in a dictionary, the first definition you might get is: "of, resembling, or covered with fluff".

You must admit, that's pretty useless if you don't know what "fluff" is.

Apparently, "fluff" is "soft fibres from fabrics such as wool or cotton which accumulate in small light clumps".

In English, clouds can be fluffy, clothing can be fluffy, and above all, soft toys can be fluffy. If you've ever seen the film Despicable Me (in English), you'll have seen, without a doubt, the best example of "fluffy" in use.

In the film, a young girl named Agnes sees a plush unicorn toy at a funfair and exclaims "It's so fluffy I'm gonna die!", a perfectly natural reaction to such an incredible and "fluffy" prize. Take a look at the following clip:

As you can see, you can check out this scene out in a multitude of languages. If you go straight to European Spanish, which started the whole debate, you'll see she uses the adjective blandito (soft), while the Mexican Spanish version uses hermoso (beautiful). Here's the European Spanish version for your viewing pleasure:

I'm not criticising the dubbing here, but just pointing out that maybe "fluffy" doesn't really exist or work well in Spanish. However, let's have a look at how they dealt with it in France...

The French version says C'est trop génial!, which is more or less "It's brilliant!", which completely ignores the plush and fluffy nature of the soft toy. However, it doesn't make the scene any less cute!

These aren't the only two examples. The Italian version uses morbido (soft) and the Portuguese version uses fofo (cute).

However, I don't think it's just a Romance language issue! For Danish, they chose to use nuttet (cute).

From the versions available, I reckon German comes the closest with the term flauschig, which apparently means "fleecy" (though I'm not a German expert). To me, that seems quite adequate when it comes to describing the unicorn, don't you think?

Finally, there's the Swedish version, for which I have no idea. I'd love to hear your thoughts on it. Here it is:

Apparently the word is fluffsi, or something like that. Is this accurate or a loanword?

When it comes to the word "fluffy", is it uniquely English or just a lacuna between English and Romance languages? Do you have a better translation in your own language? Tell us your thoughts in the comments below, especially Swedish speakers, since your dubbing has me bamboozled!

Localizing the Aisle: The Power of "Foreign Branding"

Whenever I go to a massive 24-hour supermarket, I'm confronted by tonnes and tonnes of different choices across plenty of different products from all over the world. I'm not here to get into a debate about giant supermarket chains killing local family-owned stores or price wars, but rather how language plays a part in everything we do.

Despite being a huge fan of pizza (of all shapes and sizes), I still find it difficult when I purchase Dr Oetker brand pizzas due to the fact that the German name doesn't sound as authentic in my head as any Italian-sounding brands.

Mmm... pizza.

My conviction isn't strong enough to stop me buying the brand since I enjoy their pizzas, after all. However, some people would not buy the late August Oetker's pizzas, regardless of whether or not he had a PhD. Marketers are fully aware of this process, so you'll find that products with names that don't match their origin or perceived origin appear to be in the minority in your supermarket.

Berghaus

The outdoor clothing company was founded in Newcastle-upon-Tyne in the '60s and chose the name from a very liberal German translation of "LD Mountain Centre", where they were first based, for the name of their company. I speak from experience when I say that the brand name was rarely pronounced correctly in Newcastle by locals wearing the full-length draa-string borg-hoos jackets, as they were called locally.

Dolmio

If you've ever seen the "when'sa your Dolmio day?" adverts, you'll get that this brand really wants you to believe that their range of pasta sauces are far more Italian that Dr. Oetker's pizzas. However, the Dolmio brand is actually Australian and owned by the American company Mars, Inc.

We're sorry if these photos made you hungry.

Häagen-Dazs

Häagen-Dazs is probably one of the oldest examples of this kind of thing. Originally, the name was a tribute to Denmark by founders Reuben and Rose Mattus to a country they felt had treated the Jews fantastically during World War II. However, the name itself is little more than nonsense made up by Reuben to sound Danish. Danish speakers will be fully aware of this as there are no umlauts in Danish nor "z" and "s" appearing together as they do here.

The company actually fought another ice cream brand in the '80s for trying a similar marketing strategy. Frusen Glädjé was an American company that used an alteration of the Swedish for "frozen delight" as their name (the "é" should be without the diacritic).

Matsui

The name may sound Japanese, but when UK electrical retailer Currys launched the brand with the slogan "Japanese Technology Made Perfect" and a logo reminiscent of a traditional Japanese "rising sun", they ended up in trouble for misleading customers. They were forced to get rid of the tagline.

Despite a fine, they were allowed to keep the name, which upset a number of British veterans of World War II who remembered the Japanese general Iwane Matsui, the man responsible for the Nanking Massacre in 1937, which resulted in the deaths of between 40,000 and 300,000 people (depending on who you ask).

Trader Joe's

The American chain of grocery stores sells a number of its own brands. Rather than slapping a label that says "Trader Joe's" on all of their products, they sell products under various names.

Mexican food is labelled as "Trader Jose's", Chinese food goes by "Trader Ming's", the Italian range is "Trader Giotto's", and then "Trader Jacques'" is the name of the French stuff. While it may seem overly simple and incapable of fooling anyone, they wouldn't do it if it didn't work!

When Actors Dub Themselves

Around Christmas I always seem to watch a lot of films. To be honest, I'm not much of a film fan. My friends and family are lucky if they can convince me to go to the cinema twice in a year since I used to work in one and generally detest the experience. However, I don't mind staying in and watching a film.

One of the films I decided to watch this holiday season was Guardians of the Galaxy, the Marvel comedy released this summer that featured a rag-tag bunch of space villains who through a series of (un)fortunate events end up being far more important to the safety of the galaxy than they would like to be. While I won't say the film is a cinematic masterpiece, I certainly enjoyed it and had a good giggle while doing so. As usual, after the film I researched the actors, directors, and additional information about the film online and came across the following clip, which I knew I had to watch.

Aside from the seemingly odd "je s'appelle Groot" that the French dub opted for, the main thing that struck me about this video was that Vin Diesel voiced the character (who says nothing more than "I am Groot" throughout the film) in a number of languages.

This reminded me of Danny DeVito in The Lorax back in 2012. While you could argue that DeVito hardly mastered the languages he provided the dubbing for, you should still commend him for having the confidence to do it.

Even though the featurette claims this is the first time an actor has provided the dubs for all the languages in which a film was released, I do know that Antonio Banderas provided the English, Spanish (Castilian and Latin American versions), Italian, and Catalan voices for the unrelentingly-adorable Puss in Boots character from the Shrek and eponymous franchises.

So what about live-action films? After a bit more research, I discovered that Christoph Waltz provided dubbing for both the French and German versions of Inglourious Basterds and Django Unchained, as well as the fact that it is common practice for actors whose first language isn't English to voice themselves in their native tongue.

While Aragorn in The Lord of the Rings is thought to be a polyglot, Viggo Mortensen, who played him in the movies, also speaks multiple languages. The Danish American actor speaks English, Danish, and Spanish and has provided voices for dubs in all three languages as well as featuring in a number of Spanish-language films.

Thanks to the language skills attained in her French-speaking prep school, Jodie Foster, a native English speaker, has lent her voice to many of her own films for the French dubbing. Helena Bonham Carter, who also speaks French fluently, has acted in French-speaking roles as well as providing her own dubbing.

Penelope Cruz went one better than the dubbers when she played the same character in both the Spanish-language film Abre los ojos as well as its American remake Vanilla Sky. I'm not sure whether or not she provided the corresponding English and Spanish dubbing for each version, though...

The "vanilla sky" in Vanilla Sky was
reminiscent of a Monet painting.

Do you know of any other actors who dub themselves into foreign languages? What do you think of those who do? Tell us your thoughts in the comments below!

The Etymology of Colours: Part 2

On Wednesday we looked at the origins of words we use for colours, focusing on the first three colours of the visible light spectrum: red, orange, and yellow. Today we'll be going through the remaining colours.

Green

In Middle English and Old English, the colour green was grene. In Proto-Germanic *gronja- was the root of green, grass, and grow, as well as the root of the word for green in a number of other related languages such as Dutch, Danish, Old Frisian, Old High German, Old Norse, and Old Saxon.

Earlier, the term in Proto-Indo European (PIE) languages is thought to have been *ghre-, which means grow, since green is the colour of most vegetation.

Blue

The story of blue is fascinating. The word comes from the Old French term blo, which generally referred to a range of colours and shades including what we would now consider blues, greys, blonds, and other pale colours. The term is thought to have evolved from the Proto Germanic term *blæwaz, which gave rise to the term in a huge number of languages.

While in PIE languages the term for blue is fairly widespread, what really makes the colour fascinating is the lacunae it has left in other world languages. While in English the colours green and blue are fairly distinct, there are plenty of languages where the two colours are referred to by one term. Several languages in Asia, including Old Chinese, Old Japanese, Thai, and Vietnamese did not distinguish between the two and refer to a concept of a blue-green range that doesn't really exist in English.

The term for blue is thought to be a latecomer to the vocabularies of many languages since the dye is so difficult to make, while autumnal shades such as reds, oranges, and yellows were easier to make and therefore required terms sooner.

Indigo

For many English speakers, designating the colour between blue and violet seems arbitrary and difficult to define. Its presence in the spectrum is thought to be a result of Sir Isaac Newton's superstition against the number six.

The colour chosen by Newton was none other than indigo, a term whose origins can be found in the Greek name for the colour dye which came from India. The Greek word indikon (ινδικόν) became indicum in Latin before inspiring indico in Spanish and endego in Portuguese, which are considered to be the root of the Dutch word indigo. The Dutch term entered the English language in the 16th century.

Violet

The last colour in the rainbow is violet. The term came from Old French by way of Latin where it was viola in reference to both the colour and the flower. It is thought to have come from a PIE language somewhere in the Mediterranean. During the 14th century, the term came to Middle English from the diminutive of the Old French viole.

After the weekend, we'll be back to look at the terms for some of the colours outside of the visible light spectrum.

Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3

Learn a Language with the Ikea Catalogue

Last week an Ikea catalogue made its way into the pile of unsolicited post that enters through our letterbox every day. As we went through the seemingly endless pages of utilitarian minimalist furniture, we started pondering what the product names meant, if anything.

I imagined that if the names of the products were in any language, it would be Swedish due to the company's origin. However, it should be noted that Ikea's headquarters are located in Leiden, Netherlands. Since my knowledge of Swedish is fairly limited, simply reading that catalogue was never going to give me the answer to my question.

A typical Ikea kitchen layout.

While it is rare that anyone would ever find the answer to anything in a catalogue, I remembered that I live in a wonderful era where almost everything is at my fingertips and a quick bit of delving into the internet would answer my question. This may seem very foolish to anyone in Sweden or anyone who speaks Swedish, but to me it was the culmination of years of infrequent pondering and terrible Swedish impressions every time I bought flat-pack furniture.

My efforts, though as minimalist as the furniture itself, yielded results. It turned out that all of Ikea's products are indeed real words, rather than foreign-sounding pseudo-language, such as Häagen-Dazs, which is supposed to sound Danish.

In addition to being actual words, all of Ikea's products follow a nomenclature, or naming convention, that is designed to ensure that products belonging to certain groups are all named after certain types of words.

Swedish, Norwegian, Finnish, and Danish place names are each allocated to three different groups of product types while the names of Scandinavian lakes, rivers, and bays are used for another group with garden furniture being named after Sweden's islands.

"That's all well and good, but I don't want a geography lesson, I want to learn Swedish!"

Don't worry! Ikea's ranges of bookcases are all the Swedish words for various occupations and the kitchen ranges are often grammatical terms, ideal if you are a prescriptivist. Chairs and desks and fabrics and curtains are men's and women's names respectively, and lighting products are all named after a wide range of terminology from music to the sciences as well as the months of the year and the seasons.

You can learn the names of precious stones and minerals from the bedding and cushions and even mathematics in Swedish from curtain accessories. While we're certainly not saying you'll become fluent in Swedish by walking around their one-way stores and eating meatballs, you should remember next time you find yourself replacing a bookcase that you can expand your Swedish vocabulary while arguing with your other half in Ikea.

German Unity Day: The Languages Of Germany, Part 2

On Wednesday, we were looking at the events that led up to the reunification of Germany. Though we didn't get onto the languages of Germany, we did enjoy looking at the rich and interesting landscape of contemporary German history. Today we're straight back into languages as we look at the languages of this fascinating nation.

Of course, German is the principal and official language of Germany with over 95% of the population speaking German as their first language. Statistics for Northern Low Saxon are also included as part of Standard German, though Northern Low Saxon is considered a recognised regional language in Germany.

Recognised Minority Languages

Romani

The Romani languages consist of seven distinct varieties: Balkan Romani, Baltic Romani, Carpathian Romani, Finnish Kalo, Sinte Romani, Vlax Romani, and Welsh Romani. In total, Romani languages have around three million speakers.

Sinte Romani is the variety found in Germany, and is spoken by around 80,000 people. There are estimated to be around 320,000 total speakers spread across Germany, France, Austria, and Italy. Interestingly, Sinte Romani is heavily influenced by the German language and is not mutually intelligible with the other varieties of Romani.

Sorbian

The Sorbian languages are spoken by a group of 50,000 Slavic people known as the Sorbs. The two varieties, known as Upper Sorbian and Lower Sorbian, are spoken in Saxony and Brandenburg respectively. 40,000 of the speakers reside in Saxony and speak Upper Sorbian, whereas the remaining 10,000 are speakers of Lower Sorbian in Brandenburg.

Sand dunes on the island of Sylt, one of the North Frisian
Islands in Germany's state of Schleswig-Holstein. 

Danish

The Danish language can be heard in the northern region of Schleswig-Holstein, the German region that unsurprisingly borders with Denmark. Only 0.1% of the population of Germany are speakers of Danish. However, this amounts to around 50,000 people.

North Frisian

The Western Germanic language of North Frisian is spoken by around 10,000 people in Germany, principally in the Schleswig-Holstein region where we encountered Danish. Naturally, North Frisian is related to West Frisian, which is spoken mainly in the Netherlands.

Other Regional Languages

There are several other languages that are native to particular regions in Germany. Languages such as Limburgish, Luxembourgish, Alemannic German, Bavarian, and Low German. Many of these are considered to be dialects of either German or Dutch, or precursors to the modern variant of German spoken in the country today.

Immigrant Languages

Due to immigrant populations, Germany has sizeable populations for whom German is not the main language. This includes speakers of Turkish, Kurdish, Russian, Arabic, Greek, Dutch, Igbo, Italian, Polish, Serbo-Croatian, and Spanish.

Part 1 | Part 2

Top Language Universities: Europe

Since we've already looked at the best language universities in the US, the UK, Canada and Australia, we're now turning our eye to Europe as a whole. You don't need to study languages from within an English-speaking country... in fact, you may be better off elsewhere! We've got the best options from Europe, and if you're an EU citizen, consider these options without a visa requirement.

A graduation at Leiden University, circa 1650.

Leiden University, Netherlands

Obviously, the courses at Leiden University are in Dutch, so make sure you brush up. Leiden University is the only Dutch institution that makes our list so if you're in the Netherlands, make sure this is the place you're going.

Georg-August-Universität Göttingen, Germany

The first German entrant on our list offers a vast range of languages and linguistics courses for all you linguaphiles out there. Arabic, English, French, German, Italian, Portuguese and Latin are some of the many languages offered.

École Normale Supérieure, Paris, France

The first of two French universities to feature, the École Normale Supérieure (ENS) in Paris has an outstanding reputation and is in Paris, after all. If you need a reason to move to one the world's greatest cities (though some Parisians like to say otherwise), the ENS may be the right choice.

Aarhus University, Denmark

Throughout the years, Denmark has been no stranger to intellectual superiority. It is the birthplace of Lego after all. Though not in Billund, Lego's hometown, Aarhus University, unsurprisingly in Aarhus, would be a fantastic place to study languages. It should be noted that the cost of living in Denmark is rather high but most universities on this list are in cities where the cost of living can hardly be considered cheap.

University of Vienna, Austria

It's very difficult to say anything bad about Vienna, and it's even more difficult to say anything bad about the quality of the language education provided by the University of Vienna. It's also the oldest university in the German-speaking world.

Piazza Maggiore, Bologna

University of Bologna, Italy

The only Italian university on our list. If Denmark, Germany, Austria and France are too cold for you, perhaps a better climate and a highly-rated Italian university may be the one for you. It's the oldest continuous university in the world, so you can expect the quality that comes from nearly 1,000 years of educating. You can study languages including Finnish, Japanese, Dutch, and Polish.

Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität München, Germany

The courses at Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität München (LMU) are taught in German, so make sure you have a good grasp of the language. The language faculty is the biggest of any of the faculties at LMU and a good range of linguistic courses are on offer.

Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin, Germany

Aside from being a great place to be, Berlin boasts two of Europe's best language-learning institutions. The first, the Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin, is just over 200 years old. That's fairly young given the heritage of some of the others universities in this list. That said, these whipper-snappers sure can teach languages!

Freie Universität Berlin, Germany

Berlin's other great university offers programmes for English, French, German, Greek, Latin, Italian and Spanish. It's also the largest research university in Berlin and even younger than the Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin, but don't let that put you off. It ranks higher than its older brother in this list.

The buildings at Paris IV are pretty nice, too.

Université Paris Sorbonne, Paris IV, France

Though heavily populated by German institutions, it's the French who have the last laugh when it comes to having the best university for languages. As one of the oldest universities in the world, dating back to the 13th century, Paris IV has had plenty of years to hone their trade, especially when it comes to language education.

If you're looking to study languages in Europe but you think you'd get sick of Oxbridge students, Paris IV is the place to be.

Have you attended any of the universities on our list? Are there any that you think should have been included? Tell us in the comments below.

Film Club: Césars 2013

We're now knee-deep into awards season and only days away from the Oscars, but before we get to the Academy Awards we have to pay a visit to France's Césars, so expect a lot of films in French!

Best Film

Versailles is nice when it's not being invaded by revolutionaries.

Farewell, My Queen (Les Adieux à la reine)

The French drama tells the tale of a young servant, Sidonie, who refuses to abandon Queen Marie Antoinette as the French Revolution reaches the Palace of Versailles.

Amour

The French-language film Amour has already won a BAFTA and is looking to add a few more awards to its trophy cabinet at both the Césars and the Oscars this weekend.

Camille Rewinds (Camille redouble)

The drama follows the story of Camille, a woman in the midst of a divorce who wakes from a drunken night to find herself a teenager in high school in the '80s once again. She attempts to change the course of her life and avoid her future husband, but things are never that easy.

In The House (Dans la maison)

Nominated for a Goya, In The House eventually lost out to Untouchable. It is based on the Spanish play The Boy in the Last Row by Juan Mayorga. Perhaps it will fare better tonight!

Rust and Bone (De rouille et d'os)

A film that has been getting lots of nominations, including both the BAFTAs and the Goyas. We really needn't say more. The protagonist moves to France with his son and falls in love with a killer whale trainer.

Holy Motors

A drama about a man who transcends multiple realities and lives is garnering a lot of positive praise and may very well be rewarded with a César this evening. There's not much more we can say about it except that you should probably watch it!

What's in a name (Le Prénom)

A comedy about the naming of a child. Yes, you're not mistaken... in France, comedies can get the nod for awards, even when they're about the naming of a child. The word prénom is French for "first name". What's more, the child in question isn't even born yet!

Best Foreign Film

We've covered the French and French-language films, so what are the opinions in France when it comes to films from around the world?

One of the rarest sentiments to ever be expressed on a sign.

Argo - United States

Ben Affleck's political thriller about the "Canadian Caper" has gained widespread approval and has been nominated for seven Oscars. It has already won the BAFTA for Best Film and a couple of Golden Globes. Could it add a couple of Césars to the trophy case as well?

Bullhead (Rundskop) - Belgium

This Dutch-language film is centred on the story of a young cattle farmer from Limburg. He's encouraged by a vet to make an unusual deal with a West-Flemish beef (and possibly horse-meat) trader. Everything goes awry following the murder of a policeman.

The film was nominated at last year's Oscars for Best Foreign Language Film but eventually lost to A Separation.

Laurence Anyways - Canada

The Franco-Canadian film Laurence Anyways covers the story of Fred (who happens to be a woman) and Laurence (who happens to be a man who wants to be a woman). As the film is Québécois, it will be no surprise that this is film is in French.

Oslo, August 31st (Oslo, 31. august) - Norway

This Norwegian drama covers a day in the life of Anders, a recovering drug addict, as he encounters people from his past. Ironically, the events of the film take place on August 30th. The film was also on the shortlist of Norway's submissions for the Oscars.

The Angels' Share - United Kingdom

The story of a Glaswegian man on community service who attempts to turn his life around following a visit to a whisky distillery has received favourable reviews and earned director Ken Loach the Jury Prize at the Cannes Film Festival.

He may be king but his missus
is shagging another bloke.

A Royal Affair (En kongelig affære) - Denmark

The historical drama has already been nominated for a Golden Globe, where it lost to Amour, as well as being nominated for an Academy Award.

The film covers the story of Christian VII of Denmark and the romance between his Queen and the royal physician Struensee. The 1935 film The Dictator, not to be confused with the Sacha Baron Cohen film of the same name, covered the same events as A Royal Affair.

Our Children (À perdre la raison) - Belgium

The Belgian drama has already won Émilie Dequenne the Un Certain Regard Award for Best Actress at the Cannes Film Festival. Though it didn't make the shortlist for the Academy Awards, it has been nominated for Best Foreign Film at the Césars. It covers the true story of a woman who killed her five children.

As we approach the end of awards season, we can look forward to the Academy Awards on Sunday night before we have to wait another year to find out what is considered good according to the upper echelons of cinematic society.

Film Club: BAFTAs 2013

At The Lingua File we like a good film, good being the main word. We obviously love languages too, so for this year's BAFTA (British Academy Film and Television Arts) Awards, we're most interested in the Best Film not in the English Language category. Without further ado, here are the nominees:

Amour - Austria

Amour is off to a great start this awards season after winning "Best Foreign Language Film" at the Golden Globes and the coveted Palme d'Or, the top prize at the Cannes Film Festival. It tells the story two retired music teachers, an elderly couple named Anne and Georges. Anne has a stroke that paralyzes one side of her body, and the film focuses on the aftermath of this event and how it affects the couple's love for each other.

The valuable painting to be stolen in
Headhunters is by Peter Paul Rubens,
who also painted Equestrian
Portrait of the Duke of Lerma.

Headhunters (Hodejegerne) - Norway

Headhunters tells the story of Roger Brown, a successful corporate recruiter. In order to pay for his expensive lifestyle with his trophy wife, he lives a double life as an art thief. When he finds out that one of his recruits owns a valuable painting, he decides to steal it, which puts his job, his marriage, and even his life at risk.

The Hunt (Jagten) - Denmark

The Hunt is set in a Danish village at Christmas and tells the story of Lucas, a nursery school teacher who is getting over a rough divorce. Life is just starting to improve for him when a child tells a random lie that sends his life spiraling out of control. The false words lead to sexual abuse allegations and a community witch-hunt as he becomes the target of mass hysteria. Clearly this film shows just how influential language can be, whether truthful or not.

Rust and Bone (De rouille et d'os) - Belgium/France

Rust and Bone tells the story of Ali, a Belgian man who has just been put in charge of a young son who he barely knows. He moves to the south of France to live with his sister, who helps him with the child. Ali finds a job as a nightclub bouncer, where he meets Stephanie (played by lovely French actress Marion Cotillard), a killer whale trainer. She soon suffers a horrible accident at work, and the next time they meet she has changed, both physically and emotionally. The films portrays their lives as they gradually intertwine and fall in love.

Paragliding looks fun, yet also terrifying and dangerous.

Untouchable (Intouchables) - France

Untouchable is based on the true story of two very different men that form a friendship. Philippe is a quadriplegic aristocrat who was injured in a paragliding accident. He hires Driss, an ex-convict, to be his caretaker. Hijinks ensue, and they develop a great friendship based on humour and honesty.

It tends to be quite tricky for a layperson to guess which way our cinematic superiors will go when making their selections. We wouldn't like to try and guess a winner, but if we did have to put money on it, we'd go with Untouchable since we have a soft spot for France and the film seems to have had more coverage than the other nominees. We'll find out who wins tonight!