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Re: Opal
by Anneza, nsi (guest)
3/10/2015, 6:08 AM
in reply to a message by whim
I don't like jewel names in general - cold, hard and with a strange, inhuman glitter - and Opal really doesn't sound in the least attractive to me, and also very dated. Though if I had the chance, I'd fill my jewel box with genuine opals!Another problem where I live is that Opal sounds pretty close to an Afrikaans expression meaning Buddy or Mate.
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Replies

- whim   +2
3/10/2015, 10:37 AM
That's so funny. I find Opal warm and more human in it's sound. It's interesting how the perception of a name changes from person to person.What is the Afrikaans expression that is similar to Opal? Just out of curiosity!
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- Anneza, nsi (guest)   +1
3/11/2015, 2:17 AM
Ou (sounds like Oh) means Old, and is used in the same way that Old is in expressions like Old chap, Old boy etc. And the Pal bit is the English word 'pal', but with an Afrikaans/dialectal pronunciation, hard to pin down but the vowel sound in air, where etc is actually a diphthong, pretty much an e with a neutral vowel following it. OK? So you'd use that e instead of the a in Pal. Pel, or even Pyel, but most usually as a friendly diminutive: ou pellie.I wish I could use the IPA in this program ...
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- whim
3/11/2015, 4:11 AM
That's really interesting and something to think about. Thank you!
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