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#2 (permalink) Sat Jun 03, 2006 8:06 am Using subtle diplome? |
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Hi Torsten
Have you been listening to music again? :lol:
I myself have never used the word "diplome" in English, but in the context I also might understand it basically as "diplomacy".
Without further context, I'll also venture a second possible interpretation: "subtle diplome" could mean "deviously persuasive tactics" :lol:
Amy _________________ "Nearly all men can stand adversity, but if you want to test a man's character, give him power." ~ Abraham Lincoln |
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Yankee I'm a Communicator ;-)

Joined: 16 Apr 2006 Posts: 8316 Location: USA
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#3 (permalink) Sat Jun 03, 2006 8:22 am God's got a sick sense of humour |
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Yes songs exactly, Amy. Some of the songs I listen to for the music, some for the lyrics and some for both -- the music as well as the lyrics. I've just taken a look at the lyrics of Blasphemous Rumours by Depeche Mode and although I might have heard that song a hundred times before it wasn't until I looked at the lyrics that I was able to make out the line god's got a sick sense of humour. By the way, I read that when that song came out the Pope strongly condemned it because of its message...
TOEIC short conversations: Personal assistant updates her boss on his current agenda. |
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Torsten Learning Coach

Joined: 25 Sep 2003 Posts: 14492 Location: EU
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#4 (permalink) Sat Jun 03, 2006 9:03 am Using subtle diplome? |
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Hi Torsten
I can well imagine that the Pope might not be terribly impressed with that particular line. :shock:
Speaking of misheard lyrics, I remember being out for a drive one day with my Dad (years and years and years ago - practically the Stone Age :lol:) and a song by Van McCoy was on the radio. When the chorus came, my Dad suddenly burst into song and sang along: "Do the hot dog!"
I laughed myself silly when he did that. As a young person, I was much better acquainted with the then "new" teenage dances and I knew that it was "the hustle" that was being sung about --- and not "hot dogs". :lol:
Amy _________________ "Nearly all men can stand adversity, but if you want to test a man's character, give him power." ~ Abraham Lincoln |
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Yankee I'm a Communicator ;-)

Joined: 16 Apr 2006 Posts: 8316 Location: USA
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#5 (permalink) Sat Jun 03, 2006 9:14 am Hustle vs. hot dog |
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Hi Amy,
Could you please explain what exactly your father had mixed up? Hustle with hot dog?
Speaking of lyrics, does anyone know why U2 start their song Vertico by counting Unos, dos, tres, catorce? I mean, catorce means, fourteen, doesn't it? So, in their song they skip quite some numbers and count to fourteen instead of four. Is there any particular meaning attached to this? Maybe, Conchita has any idea?
TOEIC short conversations: A business man phones to say he will be late for a presentation. |
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Torsten Learning Coach

Joined: 25 Sep 2003 Posts: 14492 Location: EU
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#6 (permalink) Sat Jun 03, 2006 9:28 am Using subtle diplome? |
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Yes, Torsten, exactly. My Dad thought they were singing the word "hotdog", but in the actual lyrics it's "hustle". :lol:
"Hustle" was quite easy for a young person to understand correctly, but more difficult for an "old" guy like my Dad. He wasn't really all that old at the time, just too far past his teenage years to "hear" lyrics properly. :lol:
Amy _________________ "Nearly all men can stand adversity, but if you want to test a man's character, give him power." ~ Abraham Lincoln |
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Yankee I'm a Communicator ;-)

Joined: 16 Apr 2006 Posts: 8316 Location: USA
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#7 (permalink) Sat Jun 03, 2006 20:03 pm U dos |
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| Torsten wrote: |
| Speaking of lyrics, does anyone know why U2 start their song Vertico by counting Unos, dos, tres, catorce? I mean, catorce means, fourteen, doesn't it? So, in their song they skip quite some numbers and count to fourteen instead of four. Is there any particular meaning attached to this? Maybe, Conchita has any idea? |
The first idea was that this is characteristic of small children learning to count and that it should be 'uno'!
There is an explanation to these 'irregularities', though, according to the following quote:
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UNOS, dos, tres, CATORCE! <unos refers to the band as a plural noun, catorce (14) refers to the band's current album; it's their 14th(actually he was trying to count in Spanish and got it wrong. He admitted it on a documentary saying there was probably some alcohol involved)> |
U2 said in Spanish becomes 'ooh dos', by the way. |
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Conchita Language Coach

Joined: 26 Dec 2005 Posts: 2826 Location: Madrid, Spain
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#8 (permalink) Sat Jun 03, 2006 23:49 pm Using subtle diplome? |
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Amy, in the disco era one day I was driving a customized van from the outfitter in Detroit to a dealer in Madison, Wisconsin, and in the 12 hours on the interstate highway on that hot summer day, with the windows wide open, I heard that song Do the Hustle about 50 million times. I also thought they were saying, "Do the hotdog!", or more accurately, "Do da hotdog!" And I had perfect adolescent hearing!
(Boy, that was a horrible time for music!)
Torsten, I don't think that song was saying "subtle diplome", since the word "diplome" doesn't seem to exist in English. More likely, they were saying subtle aplomb. |
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Jamie (K) I'm a Communicator ;-)
Joined: 24 Feb 2006 Posts: 6552 Location: Detroit, Michigan, USA
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#9 (permalink) Sun Jun 04, 2006 0:33 am From 'Using subtle diplome' to 'A girl's entitled to flaunt' |
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| Jamie (K) wrote: |
| Torsten, I don't think that song was saying "subtle diplome", since the word "diplome" doesn't seem to exist in English. More likely, they were saying subtle aplomb. |
If it's Sugababes' Red Dress song, one version of the lyrics says something quite different!
A girl's entitled to flaunt To get what she wants
But Torsten's lines can also be found on Google :? !
Have we all lost our adolescent hearing or what :) (I often have trouble making out the lyrics to songs, even if I know the language well)? |
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Conchita Language Coach

Joined: 26 Dec 2005 Posts: 2826 Location: Madrid, Spain
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#10 (permalink) Sun Jun 04, 2006 8:35 am Using subtle diplome? |
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Hi Conchita
You're right! Google finds lyrics to the same song in two completely different versions! :shock:
I can't imagine "A girl's entitled to flaunt " being misheard as "using subtle diplome". Can you?
Or do the Sugababes have serious speech impediments? :lol:
Amy _________________ "Nearly all men can stand adversity, but if you want to test a man's character, give him power." ~ Abraham Lincoln |
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Yankee I'm a Communicator ;-)

Joined: 16 Apr 2006 Posts: 8316 Location: USA
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#11 (permalink) Fri Jun 16, 2006 21:22 pm Using subtle diplome? |
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| an explaination of the sugababes lyrics...the original lyrics were written with the part 'a girls entitled to flaunt', and that's how the song was published by the publishing company....but somewhere between the time of the publishing and the disc being released, keisha of the 'babes recorded the 'using subtle diplome' bit...funny though the disc booklet has the lyrics printed with the flaunt bit, and once the song was released as a single and re-recorded with new member amelle's vocals, it used the diplome line, but now a new remix of the song has been released and that version actually uses the original lyrics...weird and useless info. i know |
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Crazieynsf New Member
Joined: 16 Jun 2006 Posts: 1
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| Expression: To do what you say | 'in the front' vs. 'in front' vs. 'at the front' |