I Am A Little Teapot of Borg

[nemorathwald]

When I get all steamed-up, resistance is futile. You will hear me shout. You will be tipped over and poured into Borg. By Bill Putt's request, for the amusement of him, delosd, dawnwolf, and cosette_valjean, here is "I'm A Little Teapot" translated into Lojban and back into English.

mi'e cmalu tcatipax (MEEheh SHMAloo CHAteepach*)
noi tordu je plana (noi TORdu zheh PLAHnah)
ti po'emi veljai (tee POhemee VELzh-eye)
ti po'emi tubnu (tee POhemee TOOBnoo)
fau jaurgapci tirna lo siclu (fow zhowrGAHPshee TEERnah loe SEEshloo)
ko carna je rinci mi (koe SHARnah zheh REENshee mee)

*(X is pronounced as in the Scottish "loCH" or Spanish "meXico.")

Self-introductory vocative: the speaker is a small (in unspecified properties or dimensions as compared with a standard or norm) pot, kettle, urn, tub, sink or deep container to contain a quantity of beverage brewed from leaves,

which is incidentally short in the longest dimension or direction by an unspecified measurement standard, and plump, fat, obese, excessively thick, bulbous, or swollen by an unspecified standard.

Immediate demonstrative it is the speaker's inalienably-possessed locus that is gripped, held, clutched, seized or hugged.

Immediate demonstrative it is the speaker's inalienably-possessed length of tubing, pipe or hollow cylinder of unspecified material.

In the event of water vapor, audibly hear a whistle, note, tone or melody.

Imperative-you turn or rotate the speaker in an unspecified direction around an axis that is flat, level, or horizontal in an unspecified gravity or frame of reference, and drain, strain or flush liquid or fluid from the speaker through the typical orifice by force of gravity.

Comments

[twoofdtm.livejournal.com]

*blink*

[bluehamster98.livejournal.com]

/me makes a note to wake up more, and read this entry again once she's a bit more awake

Yeah. Blinking seconded here. :)

-Karen

[delosd.livejournal.com]

Is does kind of lose a little of the charm in the translation, doesn't it? :)

But it's still fascinating, in an only vaguely comprehended kind of way.

[cathyr19355.livejournal.com]

Translation's a bitch, ain't it?

Mark Twain did the same thing with a story about a jumping frog called, I think, "The Jumping Frog of Calverdos County". The difference is that he translated the story into French and then back into English. However, the same sort of hilarity ensued.

[matt-arnold.livejournal.com]

He titled it The "Jumping Frog." In English. Then in French. Then Clawed Back into a Civilized Language Once More by Patient, Unremunerated Toil, by Mark Twain. Here is a link to that.

[cathyr19355.livejournal.com]

Your memory's better than mine. Thank you.

I only wanted to make sure you knew of the Twain story, in case you didn't.
:-)

Rolling on the Floor Laughing

[cosette-valjean.livejournal.com]

I can't wait to hear you sing it. Hee-hee.

A variation...

[phecda.livejournal.com]

Now if you could work in Sarah's variation on the Teapot song:

"I'm a little teapot, short and stout,
here is my handle, here is my ...

Phooey, I'm a sugar bowl."

(OK, maybe it has to be seen to be appreciated... ;-)

Re: A variation...

[matt-arnold.livejournal.com]

.ue za'a mi'e
Interjection of surprise! I observe that I am a:

patxu: x1 is a pot/kettle/urn/tub/sink, a deep container for contents x2, of material/properties x3
botpi: x1 is a bottle/jar/urn/flask/closable container for x2, made of material x3 with lid x4
baktu: x1 is a bucket/pail/can/deep, solid, wide-topped container of contents x2, made of material x3
palta: x1 is a plate/dish/platter/saucer [flat/mildly concave food service bed] made of material x2
kabri: x1 is a cup/glass/tumbler/mug/vessel [bowl] containing contents x2, and of material x3 [a kabri is normally eaten from by lifting it; a palta is not]
palne: x1 is a tray/platter/flat container [pan/sheet/griddle] of contents x2, and made of material x3 [also pallet, when used for carrying rather than support on the ground; a tray is flat-bottomed and shallow or without a rim, and is generally portable]