I am collecting bits and pieces about the silly stuff that happens to me in my everyday work, but somehow I always run out of time to post it.
One can always hope to be able to post more often...:)
So, a language trivia for today - why commas are sooo important.
A friend of mine - Polish philology graduate - shared this with me recently:
PL: "powiesić nie można uwolnić"
EN (literal): "hang no can release"
Depending where you put the comma, the sentence completely changes its meaning.
Version 1
PL: "powiesić, nie można uwolnić"
EN: "hang, (he/she/it) cannot be released"
Version 2
PL: "powiesić nie, można uwolnić"
EN: "don't hang, (he/she/it) can be released"
Version 3
PL: "powiesić nie można, uwolnić"
EN: "(he/she/it) cannot be hanged, release (him/her/it)"
In Polish this sentence contains an implied subject (he/she/it). Without this addition, it would not make much sense in English.
One of the best English equivalents of the same situation is as follows:
Version 1
EN: Woman, without her, man is nothing.
PL: Kobieta bez swojego mężczyzny jest niczym.
Version 2
EN: Woman: without her, man is nothing.
PL: Kobieta, bez niej mężczyzna jest niczym.
Who would have thought, such a tiny thing like a comma, so very important...:)
