Sunday, May 15, 2011

Vampires and Square Heads

One of my English students told me an anecdote that involved driving her car when it was "not light but not dark," so I suggested the word "twilight." She looked at me with her mouth in an "O" of dawning comprehension.

She thought a minute, then said, "But there weren't any vampires there."

Of course! She's heard the English title of the popular book series mentioned countless times, but never stopped to wonder what the word means. There are many English words like this, ones people hear repeatedly through popular culture, but may or may not know the actual meaning of.

Another example that springs to mind: Many Germans know the meaning of the word "sponge" only because the cartoon character SpongeBob SquarePants goes by an odd but useful half-translation here – SpongeBob SchwammKopf, which literally means "Sponge Bob Sponge Head."

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