2007-03-21 05:52:34 · 8 answers · asked by Anonymous in Society & Culture ➔ Languages
Here are a few (in no particular order):
German: kindergarten, delicatessen, zeitgeist, poltergeist
French: coup d'etat, aide-de-camps, lieutenant (and many other military terms) also suffle, meringue, and many culinary terms
Italian: pasta (and many other culinary tems), piano (from pianoforte = soft/loud) and scores of other music-related terms
Hindi: khaki (=dust)
Farsi: sherbet
Greek/Latin: television, telescope, telegraph, telephone, locomotive, automotive & countless other words related to science & technology
Romany: pal, dinlo (= stupid person)
Gaelic: whiskey/whisky, shindig, banshee
The list is enormous and English is said to have 'borrowed' at least one word from virtually every known language. Mind you, there can't be many langauges that haven't 'borrowed' a word or two from English as well.
2007-03-21 06:31:24 · answer #1 · answered by squeaky guinea pig 7 · 0⤊ 0⤋
alcohol : from arabic meaning "Father of the Dust". This is because of a misunderstanding between a European explorer and the Ismaili scientist known as "Al Jebber".
Kindergarten: German, meaning childrens garden..
Actually most of the English language is made up of foreign words. these include Celtic, Gaelic, German, French, Spanish, Greek, Arabic, and others that I can;'t even think of right now.
2007-03-21 13:16:40 · answer #2 · answered by Niklaus Pfirsig 6 · 0⤊ 0⤋
There are tons! The English language has been widely influenced by other cultures and other languages. Off the top, I'd add:
fiancée
sautéed onions
2007-03-21 14:01:09 · answer #3 · answered by nellierslmm 4 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Banana African -wolof
Coffee- Ethiopian from kwaa
Academic- French from academique
Rendezvous-French from rendezvous
Cocaine-Spanish from kuka
Coyote- Spanish from Coyotl
2007-03-21 13:11:52 · answer #4 · answered by joeverity 1 · 0⤊ 1⤋
There are LOADS!
Some examples:
chocolate (Aztec)
bungalow (Hindi)
naive (French)
Schadenfreude (German)
ciao (Italian)
anime (Japanese)
... plus loads of food-related words from all over the world!
2007-03-21 13:02:43 · answer #5 · answered by Saint Bee 4 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Ther are thousands. many everyday words are from foreign languages such as
Restaurant : Restorative (French)
Kindergarten : Children's garden (German)
Amen : So be it (Hebrew)
Pizza : Pie (Italian)
Bungalow : single storey house (Indian)
magic : illusory trick (Persian)
gratis : thanks (Latin)
Dormitory : sleeping place (Latin)
Malady : Illness (French)
See how easy it is?
2007-03-21 15:28:26 · answer #6 · answered by quatt47 7 · 0⤊ 0⤋
ketchup and jungle - hindi
kiosk and kebab - turkish
chalet beret duvet ballet - french
karaoke - japan
hound - german
2007-03-21 13:24:20 · answer #7 · answered by wizard bob 4 · 0⤊ 0⤋
taco: No one can't live w/o tacos!!!
2007-03-21 13:01:44 · answer #8 · answered by chiquiz08 3 · 0⤊ 0⤋