Wednesday, November 4, 2009

Bilan


Another little gem in French which makes you wonder how other languages can manage without an equivalent.

Literally, bilan translates as "balance" or "balance sheet" or "end of year statement" or just "result".
It derives from the Latin for balance or scales.

But it is in very common use, and invaluable, as meaning "the end result, having weighed up all the positives & negatives".
Such a fundamental & frequent concept…

English needs a single word for that.

Parting thot: "Language shapes the way we think, and determines what we can think about." - Benjamin Lee Whorf

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