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How can I add an emotional undertone in English? (feddit.de)

submitted 7 months ago* (last edited 7 months ago) by [email protected] to c/[email protected]

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Context: I'm missing a cutting board. So I wrote in our telegram family group: "Wo ist eigentlich unser zweites großes Schneidebrett hin?" (literally: "Where is actually our second big cuttingboard thither?").

By using the modal particle "eigentlich" I insinuate that something is oddly off and express an emotional state of curiousity and/or mild discontent.

By adding "hin", I notify that I ask because it is not where it is supposed to be and not because I don't know where it should be.

Now I ask myself, how would I express this additional information in English?

Edit: Thank you all for your answers! I learned a lot. Just our cutting board is still gone, and probably enjoying it's freedom somewhere ... I suppose.

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[–] [email protected] 1 points 7 months ago* (last edited 7 months ago) (1 children)

Depends on who you're speaking to, the tone you want, etc.

If it was casually my room-mate I'd say "Where the fuck's the cutting board gone?", family "Does anyone know where's the cutting board gone off to?, a workplace "Anyone seen the cutting board lately?" etc. If I wanted to be more angrier sounding something like "WHERE is thee cutting board?!".

But really fuck is the perfect word for describing things in English provided you're not surrounded by prudes. "Where the fuck's the cutting board", "What the fuck, who took the bloody fucking cutting board, Ill fucking cut you if you don't return it", "Fuck me, I've lost the cutting board", "Why the fuck is the cutting board not where it's supposed to be", "The cutting boards fucking gone and pissed off, anyone seen it lately?"

I am Australian though, so perceive that as you will.

[–] [email protected] 2 points 7 months ago

Great demonstration of the diversity of 'fuck'