Re: conbooze and condrugs (was: Re: Topic/focus in Sayat)

[Padraic Brown <agricola@WAM.UMD.EDU>]

Ant'idus duo Ogronio anno auc mmcccmli Gerontio xiii Pendracco Rege
Konstantino xii Dragase Palaiologo Imperadore anno domino mcmxciix;
Mattewos Personis (Matt Pearson de sewa lengua) do list conlang
descripsuit sic:

(blimey, I need a drink after all that work!)

> Na Kentsi Suoltse (Kenji Schwarz) siespe ia:
>
> >I've been meaning to enquire of the list -- what are your conlang's (or
> >langs') terminology for beer, wine, booze, liquor, and other spiritous
> >beverages?

So far Kernu has only kereweisa (beer) and vins (wine).  Not too
inverntive, perhaps, but it is a Romance lang. after all.

But on a related topic: if you have just told someone something
unbelievable, and he replies "llompi l'altoer, sa-es caseyns" (knock the
other (leg), it's wood) meaning "you're bloody lying!"; you can reply "si!
e dos yn ndraiys di cascun pub le castre (si mentiam)!" (it's true!; and a
long cool draught from every pub in town for you (if I lied)!"  It's a
neat way of affirming the truth, along the lines of "may lightning strike
me down..." but with more serious consequences.  Since even small towns
may have 3 or four pubs, and with the (scandalous) price of drink these
days, you could easily be out ten pounds or more.  Plus you'd be sloshed
since the "traiys" is a rather large quantity, somewhere between a pint
and a quart.  Of course, in a big city with pubs on every corner, you
could be out staggering about at six the next morning paying for your fib!

["traiys" is the dictionary form of the word, while "yn ndraiys" simply
has one of many mutations.  Technically, "cascun" should mutate "pub" in a
similar way (*cascun mbub), but since this violates a particular esthetic
convention, "mbub" is mutated further (or back, depending on how you look
at it) to "pub".  "castre" when following "le" is usually mutated (to "le
ngastre"), but in this particular genitive construction, the word is
"amutate"; that is, it is not mutated and it is not unmutated, it is
simply unaffected.]  Even with these simple example sentences, I find
myself rereading them about 20 times _just to make sure_.  Ah, well,
Andrew never said mutations would be easy!  ;^)

>
>         anmuntifa aitsipe tasli
>         "be as drunk as a wet wasp"
>
> The origin of this last expression is obscure.

Probably some non sequitur ejected by a drunk youth!  I agree, though;
that's a scream!  Any more interesting (though not necessarily waspish)
expressions?

>
> Matt.
>
Padraic.