Diminutives
How can I make diminutives clear to English people? Why are they not used? What triggered my question: I tried to explain that a 30 year younger girl called me using a diminutive. In Dutch: 'Hallo Marcje ik kom naast je zitten'. This in German class. You cannot say 'Hello little Marc, I'll sit next to you'. This because a diminutive also expresses a sort of affection. It is not just physically little. Apart from that, I am 1.85! I am not little.

Question

Diminutives
How can I make diminutives clear to English people? Why are they not used? What triggered my question: I tried to explain that a 30 year younger girl called me using a diminutive. In Dutch: 'Hallo Marcje ik kom naast je zitten'.  This in German class. You cannot say 'Hello little Marc, I'll sit next to you'. This because a diminutive also expresses a sort of affection. It is not just physically little. Apart from that, I am 1.85! I am not little.

Answer

English  people  in Britain , Australia and America often use diminutives, they will  call John , Johnny or Jimmy. Edward becomes Ted or Teddy. Joseph becomes Joey or Joe. It does not always imply affection but  as a mark of friendship. If you don't like someone calling you  Marcje, just say so.

Answer

Ha ha. Oooh, I am now so tempted to learn about diminutives in Korean, and say it to my Korean manager. Then pretending I did not know, and explaining it is just a culture difference... :-P

Are there diminutives in Korean?

Answer

language difference and culture difference are so funny ^.^

Answers · 6

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