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Quote by Kató Lomb

“The beauty of a language is, generally judged by its soft or rigid, melodious or harsh, ring. Other aspects, such as the flexibility of derivation, play hardly any role in grading. Were it the case, Russian would certainly be placed on the winner’s stand. It would rank first in plasticity.”

Quote by Kató Lomb

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Kató Lomb

Kató Lomb, born on February 8, 1909, and died on June 9, 2003, was a prominent Hungarian scholar and translator. She was renowned for her translations of world literary works. more

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“It is a frequently cited fact that English has two sets of words for farm animals and their corresponding meats. The living animals are expressed with words of Germanic origin-calf (German 'Kalb'), swine (G. 'Schwein'), and ox (G. 'Ochse')-because the servants who guarded them were the conquered Anglo-Saxons. The names of the meats are of Romance origin-veal (French 'veau'), pork (F. 'porc') and beef (F. 'boeuf')-because those who enjoyed them were the conquering Norman masters.”

TwoFactsRomanceNamesAnimalMastersConquerEnjoyedServantMeatFarmsBeefGuardedPorkCorrespondingCalvesSwineAnglo Saxon
Author:Kató Lomb
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“Solely in the world of languages is the amateur of value. Well-intentioned sentences full of mistakes can still build bridges between people. Asking in broken Italian which train we are supposed to board at the Venice railway station is far from useless. Indeed, it is better to do that than to remain uncertain and silent and end up back in Budapest rather than in Milan.”

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“I had often thought that if I managed to live through the war I wouldn't expect too much of life. How could one resent disappointment in love if life itself was continuously in doubt? Since Belgorod, terror had overturned all my preconceptions, and the pace of life had been so intense one no longer knew what elements of ordinary life to abandon in order to maintain some semblance of balance. I was still unresigned to the idea of death, but I had already sworn to myself during moments of intense fear that I would exchange anything - fortune, love, even a limb - if I could simply survive.”

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Author:Guy Sajer
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“I have used the words and expressions which my experiences from Minsk to Kharkov to the Don suggested to me. But I should have reserved those words and expressions for what came later, even though they are not strong enough. It is a mistake to use intense words without carefully weighing and measuring them, or they will have already been used when one needs them later. It's a mistake, for instance, to used the word frightful to describe a few broken up companions mixed into the ground: but it's a mistake that might be forgiven.”

NeedsShouldEnoughUseMightUsedStrongMistakeExpressionBrokenShould HaveIntenseInstanceCompanionForgivenStrong EnoughReservedMeasuringWeighingBroken UpNot StrongNot Strong Enough
Book:The Forgotten Soldier
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