Reply To: Undead Orcs
Sometimes I wonder if English-speaking people like to use German words in RPGs because it sounds exotic. The same way companies in Germany adopt English terms and slogans for their products, because it sounds fancy and modern.
Yes, that´s right but all too often they overdo it with anglicisms or doing it totally wrong. Could you guess what a Back-Shop is? xD
Also many older people who didn´t learn english in school have problems with this development as they don´t understand anything.
Maybe it’s more interesting for English-speaker? Worry not, it’ll be “fixed” in the German localization. 😉
I don´t really need a german localization as I understand english quite well. Speaking and writing in english on the other hand is an other story ;)
Sometimes I wonder if English-speaking people like to use German words in RPGs because it sounds exotic. The same way companies in Germany adopt English terms and slogans for their products, because it sounds fancy and modern.
Exoticism is a major reason that english speakers use foreign words, yes. No on in their right mind would pay 10$ for grilled flat bread with melted cheese inside, but if you call it a quesadilla (I cannot spell the word) and suddenly it’s a “cultural experience”. That said, sometimes it really is a matter of the english language not having a similar word, but in this case we usually just steal it wholesale and make it an english word. English is a bastard language, after all.
Revenant, for instance, is just the french verb for returning. It’s been an english word for ages now, but it was certainly stolen (adopted would probably be a better word, given how heavily french influenced english) initially. I find the history of english words to be very interesting, honestly.
The difference between “ask”, and “demand” for instance, comes from the relationship between the Saxons and their Norman rulers. “Demand” is (with some spelling differences, perhaps?) the french word for request. Both “ask” and “demand” essentially mean the same thing, with the difference between them being mostly in the insinuated relationship between the requester and the requestee. A Saxon would “ask” another Saxon for something, while a Norman would “demand” it. Saying no to the Norman wasn’t really an option, even if he was being very polite.
Interchaning words between languages is a normal thing. Not normal is the speed at which this happens right now which is a symptom of the ongoing globalization I think.
And I found your explanation about the origin of these words quite interesting.
"I am a Paladin!"
>OMG, Malthus, there are no damn paladins in Battle Brothers...<
"OK, OK! Then I´m a wrecked down minstrel drunkard pretending to be a paladin, singing so wrong in the midst of battle that even the undead run in fear... Better?!"