Do you also find it weird to talk about hair in your native language?

[Igor]

LHC has affected me too much :lol: When it comes to talk about hair care in Danish I find myself fumbling for words and sneaking English terms into the conversation (Of course it doesn’t help that the hair care vocabulary isn’t as advanced in Danish as in English!)
Anyone else have that problem? :silly:

[snowbear]

Sometimes I think TLHC is a language unto itself.

[Dreams_in_Pink]

I have exact the same problem...

There should be a longhair dictionary from english to other languages LOL

[jera]

Luckily for me my native language is English so it's easy. :D

[Brownie]

I write at a German hairborad too, but often I can't find German terms for something. They're only roughly the same. So it's usually a German text with some English words in it. We understand each other, so it's ok :D
But the more I write and read here at LHC, the more difficult it is to get the English out of my head and find good German words :o

[Lissa]

My sisters use english terms all the time when talking about hair. I try to translate most of it into norwegian, but english words still slip in sometimes. And yeah, sometimes I think it would be useful to have a LHC - Norwegian dictionary :P

[Masara]

English is my native langauge but I probably use more French on a day to day basis. I try not to use English terms too much but I often find myself trying to translate and explain English haircare terms.
I think the problem is less that the terms don't exist in French (they don't) than that, as snowbear said, here at LHC we've developed a very precise vocabulary for hair care. Even when I'm using English, I have to watch what I say.

[hanne jensen]

I have the same problem. How do you say APL in Danish? Talked to my DD Friday about hair, and half the conversation ended up in English.

[natt i nord]

I write at a German hairborad too, but often I can't find German terms for something. They're only roughly the same. So it's usually a German text with some English words in it. We understand each other, so it's ok :D
But the more I write and read here at LHC, the more difficult it is to get the English out of my head and find good German words :o

Same here :D

[vampodrama]

interesting question.

methinks I should try one day to talk about hair in my native language, because I don't think I've done it really before....

[Phalaenopsis]

On Dutch and Flemish hairforums, I think we can cope with it :)
But still, a lot of times English terms are used, even though we have a Dutch word for it.

[Pierre]

Last night I asked someone to take a picture of the back of my head, to show my new hairtoys, and broke off the sentence. What's "hairtoy" in Spanish? I know some words, such as trenza and moño, but I'd get lost trying to explain my washing method in detail. (I'll have the photo up in the Flexi-8 thread, probably by tomorrow.)

Spanish is my third and semi-native language. I can discuss God and nutrition and make up puns and songs. I also mix up French (my second) and Spanish often.

I agree: we need a dictionary of hair terms in various languages.

[Nera]

yes I share that problem(:

I also feel embarassed, having to explain all of the hair related word, that don't exist in dutch:P

[logica_divina]

Yes, sometimes I find it a bit difficult, but not that much any way. Probably cause I rarely talk to anyone about my views on haircare, unless someone asks of course. Also, I think I've never really talked to anyone (except my mom) about the fact that I don't use shampoo for example.. I'm perfectly aware of how they would react and I don't think I have enough patience to explain either :)

[LovingLife]

Sometimes I think TLHC is a language unto itself.

What a lovely hyphothesis!!
Anwser my thread!

[aisling]

Yes, I have this problem as well. For example, I don't know the names of many hairtoys in Swedish or Finnish, there doesn't seem to be as well defined words either, especially not in Swedish were "spänne" for example covers a huge variety of pins and clips.

[Gothic Lolita]

I've got this problem too! There's no word for "hairtoy" in German, and certain lengths don't have a regular naming like classic length. people here refer to it as "When you can sit on your hair".
I believe LHC has it's own language, which I like really much. I believe that's true for every "subculture", my friends and I also have certain words when it comes to music most wouldn't understand.

[flaming bunny]

Hey, I'm from the UK and I find it weird sometimes! When talking about hair, I find it more natural now to use American terms. For example, saying "plait" instead of "braid" sounds really strange to me now. I find myself correcting my words when talking to my friends IRL about hair :p

[Igor]

“Armhule længde”? :lol: Gosh, that sounds horrible

I have the same problem. How do you say APL in Danish? Talked to my DD Friday about hair, and half the conversation ended up in English.

It especially annoys me that there is no Danish word for leave in-conditioner. It’s one of the 3 cornerstones in my hair care routine and I always have problems explaining this to people when they want to know about my hair care. Usually leave in-conditioner is sold under the name “treatment” or something similar, which doesn’t explain what it is or what its real purpose is!

[Farina]

that's interesting... never thought about that. i only talk to my mom and roommate about my hair care and we all only speak english ! lol

[Das Siechtum]

Same here :D

Same here.. *g*

[zift]

This has never happened to me. Maybe it's because people asked me all kinds of things about my hair everyday and it was a casual thing to do the conversation or maybe I'm not spending as much time as you guys on reading boards. I'd be scared if that happened to me though *lol*

[Elbereth]

Oh yes. I use Finnish translations of things when I talk about hair stuff to DH, but to me, many Finnish terms sound weird, maybe because no one uses them IRL anyway, and because I have first learned the meaning of those words in English. Hair fork? SMT treatment? Dust trim? Classic length?

I also prefer measuring my hair and hairtoys in inches, though in every other thing I use metric system.:o

[enfys]

I never thought I could post here, since English is my first language, then I read what Elbereth wrote, all those terms and I realised the only people I can really speak to are on this board! Real life people don't use these terms so you aren't disadvantaged and you have the bonus of becoming so much better at your second language.
I'm so amazed at the quality of English here from international people!

[longhairedfairy]

It's not too much of a problem for me, since English (or some variation of it) is my native language. When I read "no 'poo," however, I think of "the constipation sensation that's sweeping the nation." If you've read Harry Potter you'll know what I mean.

[longhairedfairy]

I write at a German hairborad too, but often I can't find German terms for something. They're only roughly the same. So it's usually a German text with some English words in it. We understand each other, so it's ok :D
But the more I write and read here at LHC, the more difficult it is to get the English out of my head and find good German words :o

Can you please tell me the URL of the German hairboard?:) I'd like to check it out.

[Rhea]

Same here.. *g*
Same here :)

[Alun]

I never thought I could post here, since English is my first language, then I read what Elbereth wrote, all those terms and I realised the only people I can really speak to are on this board! Real life people don't use these terms so you aren't disadvantaged and you have the bonus of becoming so much better at your second language.
I'm so amazed at the quality of English here from international people!

I think that's true. On top of that we have words that mean different things in British and American English, like 'pigtail' for example. There's a whole thread on how that gets confused.

[EdG]

Sometimes I think TLHC is a language unto itself.That's so true.

As with all technical communities, this board does have a fair amount of jargon.

And then there are acronyms.

And then there are emoticons like :thudpile: and :cheese:.

I love it. :crush:
Ed

[enfys]

I think that's true. On top of that we have words that mean different things in British and American English, like 'pigtail' for example. There's a whole thread on how that gets confused.

Pigtail is different? Flipping heck. I'll have to find that thread.

I can imagine acronyms would make it hard indeed for people in their second languages. I've been posting in hair boards for 6 years or so, and still some things won't stick.

[Phalaenopsis]

“Armhule længde”? :lol: Gosh, that sounds horrible


It especially annoys me that there is no Danish word for leave in-conditioner. It’s one of the 3 cornerstones in my hair care routine and I always have problems explaining this to people when they want to know about my hair care. Usually leave in-conditioner is sold under the name “treatment” or something similar, which doesn’t explain what it is or what its real purpose is!

That's strange, here in Belgium, it has the same name as in English :) On the battle it says: leave-in and on the back it explains that it is a conditioner that you don't rinse out.

[spidermom]

Nope - English is my only language.

[Hypnotica]

I had a moment like this today. I had just done a scalp wash, and tried to explain to BF what had done - "svåltvätt" was the word out of my month.

Svåltvätt
Skalptvätt
Hårbottentvätt

There is several different ways of saying it in Swedish.

The hardest thing to explain is "build-up", there isn't a word for that in Swedish really....

[Silverlox]

It definitely feels kind of weird, mainly because I rarely ever speak about hair care outside of these boards.

The every once in a blue moon that I do it, I sometimes find myself in trouble or at a complete standstill, as I'm talking along and suddenly there's no known word (to me, at least) in the language I'm speaking for something that seems very elementary here. :brickwall It's just awful to get stuck mid-sentence like that!:justy:

My solution so far is to simply make up words by combining existing words into new combinations, or using an LHC term followed by an explanation.

Example, - a recent phone conversation with son:

Me - Yay, I've now reached classic length!
Son - Ehh.. Classic what??
Me - Hair to the bottom of my bottom.

Fortunately, my main "other" languages are Danish and Swedish and in those languages making new composite words is an ingrained part of the entire updo of the lingo. :D

But, as I said, I hardly ever speak about hair, be it lengths, hair care or other hair related stuff IRL, thus it's not a big problem. :shrug:

[Speckla]

English is my native language and people still don't understand when I talk about hair care. Cowashing, plopping, porosity, and so forth.

[Melisande]

Is there a German word for taper? rinse? plopping? CWC? If there is, I forgot ... or never knew ;-)

We do have German slang over at the German boards, though. To use the word wildsau (the female boar, how is she called in English?) as verb - "I just boared my hair" ;-) .... that's funny.

[JamieLeigh]

English is my native language...although I speak Italian when around my grandparents and the older members of their families. And people tend to look at me oddly when I go on about hair (either mine or someone else's) in either language, I've noticed. :p

[Pierre]

That's strange, here in Belgium, it has the same name as in English :) On the battle it says: leave-in and on the back it explains that it is a conditioner that you don't rinse out.
Do they use the English word in French or Dutch, or do they translate it literally?

We do have German slang over at the German boards, though. To use the word wildsau (the female boar, how is she called in English?) as verb - "I just boared my hair" ;-) .... that's funny.
Sau is sow - sounds the same (not to be confused with sähen, which is also sow but sounds like so).

[rach]

english is my native language but if can't help thinking some braids as being plaits sometimes which i don't hear/type people say on here.

and btw while i'm here can someone translate what a cone is on here?

[Beatnik Guy]

Sometimes I think TLHC is a language unto itself.
It's only possible to talk about long hair in LHCese. :cheese:

[longhairedfairy]

It's only possible to talk about long hair in LHCese. :cheese:
Woohoo! I know more languages than I thought! I'm semi-fluent in LHCese:cheese:

[enfys]

english is my native language but if can't help thinking some braids as being plaits sometimes which i don't hear/type people say on here.

and btw while i'm here can someone translate what a cone is on here?

Cone is short for silicone, pretty much all types of silicone in ingredients will be listed as ___________cone.

[Silverlox]

english is my native language but if can't help thinking some braids as being plaits sometimes which i don't hear/type people say on here.

and btw while i'm here can someone translate what a cone is on here?

Cones are LHCheese for all the different types of silicones generally used in shampoos and conditioners. In the ingredients' list they usually show up as very big, tongue twisting words ending in 'cone. :flower:

ETA As soon as I posted, I realised that enfys and I posted simultaneously. Oh, well.

[Beatnik Guy]

are LHCheese for
:cheese:
:rockerdud

[julya]

That's so true.

As with all technical communities, this board does have a fair amount of jargon.

And then there are acronyms.

And then there are emoticons like :thudpile: and :cheese:.

I love it. :crush:
Ed

I do love the hair jargon!

[eadwine]

Not at all.. but it helps that I am also a member of a hair forum in my native tongue, and that they use pretty much the same terminology as we do here ;)

[rach]

Cone is short for silicone, pretty much all types of silicone in ingredients will be listed as ___________cone.
thanks for clarifying that :)

[Bloodflower]

I rarely speak to people in RL about hair. When I do I avoid to go into detail because people wouldn't understand or care anyway. So no problem there with missing terms for me. But I think about everything hair related in English. The English terms come to me so naturally that when I read German hair forums the German terms really put me off. They sound totally wrong to me. So I don't participate there at all. :shrug:

[almudena]

Absolutely. I have the hardest time trying to translate most of the English hair terms into Spanish.