# Let’s identify these 63 languages **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [August 30, 2020, 2:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/let-s-identify-these-63-languages/919346 "2020-08-30T02:07:57Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 5
**Author:** ![Nars\_Glinley](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/nars_glinley/32/8177_2.png) [@Nars\_Glinley](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nars_Glinley)\ **Post date:** [August 31, 2020, 9:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/let-s-identify-these-63-languages/919346/84 "2020-08-31T21:40:41Z")
The combined “final” list looks something like this: | 1 | English | | --- | --- | | 2 | Spanish | | 3 | Chinese | | 4 | Vietnamese | | 5 | Korean | | 6 | Tagalog | | 7 | Russian | | 8 | Arabeseque | | 9 | Haitian Creole | | 10 | French | | 11 | Polish | | 12 | Portuguese | | 13 | Italian | | 14 | Japanese | | 15 | German | | 16 | Farsi | | 17 | Bad Hindi | | 18 | Armenian | | 19 | Gujarati | | 20 | Hmong | | 21 | Urdu | | 22 | Khmer | | 23 | Panjabi | | 24 | Bad Bengali | | 25 | Yiddish | | 26 | Samoan | | 27 | Ethiopian | | 28 | Thai | | 29 | Somali | | 30 | Pennsylvania Dutch | | 31 | Chamorro | | 32 | Greek | | 33 | Phonpeian | | 34 | Kirundi | | 35 | Cebuano | | 36 | Choctaw | | 37 | Swahili | | 38 | Cherokee | | 39 | Bahasa Indonesian | | 40 | Turkish | | 41 | Kurdish | | 42 | Also Kirundi | | 43 | Telugu | | 44 | Dinka | | 45 | Norwegian | | 46 | Catalan | | 47 | Ilocano | | 48 | Lao | | 49 | Navajo | | 50 | Albanian | | 51 | Serbo-Croatian | | 52 | Ukrainian | | 53 | Assyrian | | 54 | Igbo | | 55 | Nepalese | | 56 | Dutch | | 57 | S’gaw | | 58 | Marshallese | | 59 | Burmese | | 60 | Romanian | | 61 | Chuukese | | 62 | Hawaiian | | 63 | Tongan | ---
**Author:** ![Nars\_Glinley](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/nars_glinley/32/8177_2.png) [@Nars\_Glinley](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nars_Glinley)\ **Post date:** [August 31, 2020, 9:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/let-s-identify-these-63-languages/919346/85 "2020-08-31T21:43:05Z")
Outstanding Dopers! Outstanding! ---
**Author:** ![bordelond](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bordelond/32/150_2.png) [@bordelond](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bordelond)\ **Post date:** [August 31, 2020, 9:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/let-s-identify-these-63-languages/919346/86 "2020-08-31T21:45:08Z")
> [@bordelond](#): > > > [@Nars\_Glinley](#): > > > > AFAICT, we still don’t have a good guess for 29. > > Oops – I overlooked that one earlier . #29 is Somali (Oroomiffa). Dadgummit – I was hasty. It was Oromo, a language related to Somali. ---
**Author:** ![Nars\_Glinley](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/nars_glinley/32/8177_2.png) [@Nars\_Glinley](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nars_Glinley)\ **Post date:** [August 31, 2020, 9:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/let-s-identify-these-63-languages/919346/87 "2020-08-31T21:48:41Z")
OK. Now the “final” list looks like this: | 1 | English | | --- | --- | | 2 | Spanish | | 3 | Chinese | | 4 | Vietnamese | | 5 | Korean | | 6 | Tagalog | | 7 | Russian | | 8 | Arabeseque | | 9 | Haitian Creole | | 10 | French | | 11 | Polish | | 12 | Portuguese | | 13 | Italian | | 14 | Japanese | | 15 | German | | 16 | Farsi | | 17 | Bad Hindi | | 18 | Armenian | | 19 | Gujarati | | 20 | Hmong | | 21 | Urdu | | 22 | Khmer | | 23 | Panjabi | | 24 | Bad Bengali | | 25 | Yiddish | | 26 | Samoan | | 27 | Ethiopian | | 28 | Thai | | 29 | Oromo | | 30 | Pennsylvania Dutch | | 31 | Chamorro | | 32 | Greek | | 33 | Phonpeian | | 34 | Kirundi | | 35 | Cebuano | | 36 | Choctaw | | 37 | Swahili | | 38 | Cherokee | | 39 | Bahasa Indonesian | | 40 | Turkish | | 41 | Kurdish | | 42 | Also Kirundi | | 43 | Telugu | | 44 | Dinka | | 45 | Norwegian | | 46 | Catalan | | 47 | Ilocano | | 48 | Lao | | 49 | Navajo | | 50 | Albanian | | 51 | Serbo-Croatian | | 52 | Ukrainian | | 53 | Assyrian | | 54 | Igbo | | 55 | Nepalese | | 56 | Dutch | | 57 | S’gaw | | 58 | Marshallese | | 59 | Burmese | | 60 | Romanian | | 61 | Chuukese | | 62 | Hawaiian | | 63 | Tongan | ---
**Author:** ![HMS\_Irruncible](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hms_irruncible/32/7394_2.png) [@HMS\_Irruncible](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/HMS_Irruncible)\ **Post date:** [August 31, 2020, 10:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/let-s-identify-these-63-languages/919346/88 "2020-08-31T22:11:15Z")
I got 34/63, not counting the ones that obviously contained the answer in the sentence. Seems decent but I really don’t know jack about languages that didn’t originate in Europe, North America, or East Asia. ---
**Author:** ![Nars\_Glinley](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/nars_glinley/32/8177_2.png) [@Nars\_Glinley](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nars_Glinley)\ **Post date:** [August 31, 2020, 10:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/let-s-identify-these-63-languages/919346/89 "2020-08-31T22:33:54Z")
I’d say that’s exceptional. And I loved the “It’s all emojis” answer. ---
**Author:** ![Gyrate](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gyrate/32/3588_2.png) [@Gyrate](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gyrate)\ **Post date:** [September 1, 2020, 12:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/let-s-identify-these-63-languages/919346/90 "2020-09-01T00:25:01Z")
Surprised not to see Finnish or Hungarian on the list. My DVDs are forever trying to get me to select “Suomi” as a language option. ---
**Author:** ![gdave](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gdave/32/3683_2.png) [@gdave](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gdave)\ **Post date:** [September 1, 2020, 1:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/let-s-identify-these-63-languages/919346/91 "2020-09-01T01:00:26Z")
Yes, but how many monolingual Suomi or Magyar speakers are there in the U.S.? From what I understand, this is a list from a U.S. based provider of languages for which there are medical interpreters available. That’s going to depend on both supply and demand. For supply, there have to be sufficient speakers who have high fluency in both English and the target language, and are willing and able to work as medical interpreters. For demand, there have to be sufficient speakers who live in the U.S., are native speakers of the target language, and don’t have enough command of English to carry on a conversation with a medical professional. I imagine the number of native Suomi or Magyar speakers in the U.S. who might need to call the number but don’t have high levels of English proficiency would be vanishingly small. ---
**Author:** ![gdave](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gdave/32/3683_2.png) [@gdave](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gdave)\ **Post date:** [September 1, 2020, 1:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/let-s-identify-these-63-languages/919346/92 "2020-09-01T01:03:05Z")
I might amend the list to say, 8 C I B A R A 16 I S R A F 41 H S I D R U K 😉 ---
**Author:** ![Peter\_Morris](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/peter_morris/32/359_2.png) [@Peter\_Morris](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Peter_Morris)\ **Post date:** [September 1, 2020, 1:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/let-s-identify-these-63-languages/919346/93 "2020-09-01T01:07:59Z")
and 14 K of G in a FPD ---
**Author:** ![Gyrate](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gyrate/32/3588_2.png) [@Gyrate](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gyrate)\ **Post date:** [September 1, 2020, 1:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/let-s-identify-these-63-languages/919346/94 "2020-09-01T01:22:34Z")
> [@gdave](#): > > I imagine the number of native Suomi or Magyar speakers in the U.S. who might need to call the number but don’t have high levels of English proficiency would be vanishingly small. I’m not sure why there would be Romanians in that category but not Hungarians, but the ethnic makeup of America always surprises me. ---
**Author:** ![gdave](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gdave/32/3683_2.png) [@gdave](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gdave)\ **Post date:** [September 1, 2020, 1:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/let-s-identify-these-63-languages/919346/95 "2020-09-01T01:59:10Z")
It could be down to something as simple and random as the interpreter service putting out a general call for interested interpreters in a large number of languages and just happening to get a disproportionately large response from interested Romanian-speakers and a disproportionately small response from interested Hungarian-speakers, and not enough of the latter to offer it as a service. I suspect, though, that it’s something more structural than that. Romania was more culturally and economically isolated, more Eastern-facing, more rural, less educated, and less economically developed than Hungary for decades. Even today, Romania is a middle-income country and Hungary is a high-income country. I’d bet that English-language proficiency is _much_ higher on average in Hungary than it is in Romania. I’d also bet that Romanian immigrants to the U.S. are more likely to than Hungarian immigrants to be lower-skilled, less educated workers, who are immigrating more or less on spec, and more likely to settle in ethnic enclaves. On the other hand, I’d bet that Hungarian immigrants to the U.S. are more likely than Romanian immigrants to be higher-skilled, more educated, and generally more globalized individuals, with the language skills that go with that, who are immigrating for specific job opportunities, and are more likely to settle in more globalized and diverse tech and business hubs. ---
**Author:** ![CairoCarol](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cairocarol/32/3825_2.png) [@CairoCarol](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CairoCarol)\ **Post date:** [September 1, 2020, 2:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/let-s-identify-these-63-languages/919346/96 "2020-09-01T02:28:55Z")
I don’t think the list is “for real” in any meaningful way - I think someone had fun making a long list of languages without really expecting most of them to ever generate a call. For example, Hawaiian - there really is no community of Hawaiian speakers who don’t also speak English. Likewise, while it is possible there are various Micronesians who don’t have particularly good English skills, modest English skills are universal, owing to the fact that textbooks are all in English and English is the lingua franca for the Federated States of Micronesia (which includes Chuuk and Pohnpei, though not the Marshalls). What is the insert in reference to, by the way? I’m curious as to what would be sent every month with all those languages. The only thing I can think of is a health insurance bill (mine comes with a variety of languages), but somehow it doesn’t seem serious enough for something so important. ---
**Author:** ![Nars\_Glinley](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/nars_glinley/32/8177_2.png) [@Nars\_Glinley](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nars_Glinley)\ **Post date:** [September 1, 2020, 2:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/let-s-identify-these-63-languages/919346/97 "2020-09-01T02:30:58Z")
YOU GO STRAIGHT TO HELL!! And yes Discourse, that’s a complete sentence. WTH? ---
**Author:** ![CairoCarol](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cairocarol/32/3825_2.png) [@CairoCarol](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CairoCarol)\ **Post date:** [September 1, 2020, 2:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/let-s-identify-these-63-languages/919346/98 "2020-09-01T02:36:05Z")
Can someone remind me where 14 K of G in a FPD originated? I know it’s the great unsolvable acronym puzzle of the Dope, but how would we know if someone actually solved it? After all, we can make up anything we want - 14 kilograms of gold in a four-piece diadem - for example. But there’s a “right” answer, isn’t there? ---
**Author:** ![Nars\_Glinley](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/nars_glinley/32/8177_2.png) [@Nars\_Glinley](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nars_Glinley)\ **Post date:** [September 1, 2020, 2:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/let-s-identify-these-63-languages/919346/99 "2020-09-01T02:39:15Z")
> [@14 k of g in a f p d](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/14-k-of-g-in-a-f-p-d/382249): > > What is the answer to this? It is one of those questions along the same lines of: 7 D in a W = 7 days in a week. but I can’t figure it out, any ideas? ---
**Author:** ![Nars\_Glinley](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/nars_glinley/32/8177_2.png) [@Nars\_Glinley](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nars_Glinley)\ **Post date:** [September 1, 2020, 2:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/let-s-identify-these-63-languages/919346/100 "2020-09-01T02:53:34Z")
To summarize the “14” thread, the OP kept insisting that he would ask his “friend” that originally posed the question. After a few months, there was still no answer and the thread was locked. ---
**Author:** ![CairoCarol](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cairocarol/32/3825_2.png) [@CairoCarol](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CairoCarol)\ **Post date:** [September 1, 2020, 3:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/let-s-identify-these-63-languages/919346/101 "2020-09-01T03:06:06Z")
Thanks for the link. It appears we’ll never know… ---
**Author:** ![mittu](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/ecd19e/32.png) [@mittu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mittu)\ **Post date:** [September 1, 2020, 4:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/let-s-identify-these-63-languages/919346/102 "2020-09-01T04:26:06Z")
That was a blast from the past, I am the person who posted the 14 k of g in a f p d riddle, just got an e-mail alerting me to this thread. From memory it was a quiz my friend was given at a work Christmas party or something, all the other questions were simple and solvable (e.g. 365 d in a y) so I assumed this would as well. I never did get an answer from him so it will unfortunately remain a mystery. It wasn’t a joke or troll question though, I asked it in good faith. ---
**Author:** ![CairoCarol](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cairocarol/32/3825_2.png) [@CairoCarol](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CairoCarol)\ **Post date:** [September 1, 2020, 5:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/let-s-identify-these-63-languages/919346/103 "2020-09-01T05:02:45Z")
Wow! Welcome back **@mittu** , it was nice of you to respond. Did you know your question had become part of SDMB legend? [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/let-s-identify-these-63-languages/919346.md?page=4) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/let-s-identify-these-63-languages/919346.md?page=6)