My Ethnographic Apologies.

FenrisWolf · 20th March 2007, 05:07 PM

Unfortunately for the thin-skinned, modern colloquial English reflects its melting pot heritage moreso than any other language. To quote an author whose name for the moment escapes me, "English doesn't just borrow from other languages, it follows them down dark alleys, knocks them over the head, and goes though their pockts for loose bits of grammar."

Fortunately for us (and any foreigners with a sense of humor) for every example where we've inadvertently embarassed or insulted someone by a linguistic faux pas, there are a dozen more where we've done it ot ourselves. When GM/Chevrolet was getting set to introduce a sporty, midsize car to the Central and South American markets, they spent tens of millions on ad campaigns and studies without anyone realizing the simple truth that in the most prevalent language of the region the car's name translated from 'Nova' to 'Doesn't Go".

ariel · 20th March 2007, 10:45 PM

On the other hand, citing one of my friends ( who, unquestionably, cited someone else), broken English is the international language of science.
You should have witnessed a discussion between a Japanese presenter and a French attendee at one of the meetings I attended. Neither spoke English beyond a kindergarten level and the accents were thick, to put it mildly. Did not stop them, and eventually they came to some semblance of agreement. Everybody took it very well and gave them time to sort out their problem about some graph.
They continued to argue even outside the meeting room and both seemed to be very happy.
I think we should be very, very tolerant to linguistic and cultural faux pas: the globalization is upon us and some lingua franca is absolutely required. Hundred years ago such problems were non-existent: everybody sat in his village and discussed local problems in his own dialect. No misunderstanding ever happened

Welcome to the 21st century!

FenrisWolf · 21st March 2007, 03:07 AM

H. Beam Piper once wrote "Modern colloquial English is the end result of Norman men-at-arms trying to make dates with Saxon barmaids", and it's been promoting cross-cultural understanding ever since. It's a nightmare to learn, as it seems for every hard-and-fast grammatical rule there are at least a dozen exceptions, but it's also great for getting an explanation across when rules would get in the way. Then again, what other language takes slang acronyms for military profanity and codifies them as new words (snafu, fubar)?

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20th March 2007, 05:07 PM	#1
FenrisWolf Member Join Date: Jan 2007 Posts: 181	Unfortunately for the thin-skinned, modern colloquial English reflects its melting pot heritage moreso than any other language. To quote an author whose name for the moment escapes me, "English doesn't just borrow from other languages, it follows them down dark alleys, knocks them over the head, and goes though their pockts for loose bits of grammar." Fortunately for us (and any foreigners with a sense of humor) for every example where we've inadvertently embarassed or insulted someone by a linguistic faux pas, there are a dozen more where we've done it ot ourselves. When GM/Chevrolet was getting set to introduce a sporty, midsize car to the Central and South American markets, they spent tens of millions on ad campaigns and studies without anyone realizing the simple truth that in the most prevalent language of the region the car's name translated from 'Nova' to 'Doesn't Go".

20th March 2007, 10:45 PM	#2
ariel Member Join Date: Dec 2004 Location: Ann Arbor, MI Posts: 5,503	On the other hand, citing one of my friends ( who, unquestionably, cited someone else), broken English is the international language of science. You should have witnessed a discussion between a Japanese presenter and a French attendee at one of the meetings I attended. Neither spoke English beyond a kindergarten level and the accents were thick, to put it mildly. Did not stop them, and eventually they came to some semblance of agreement. Everybody took it very well and gave them time to sort out their problem about some graph. They continued to argue even outside the meeting room and both seemed to be very happy. I think we should be very, very tolerant to linguistic and cultural faux pas: the globalization is upon us and some lingua franca is absolutely required. Hundred years ago such problems were non-existent: everybody sat in his village and discussed local problems in his own dialect. No misunderstanding ever happened Welcome to the 21st century!

21st March 2007, 03:07 AM	#3
FenrisWolf Member Join Date: Jan 2007 Posts: 181	H. Beam Piper once wrote "Modern colloquial English is the end result of Norman men-at-arms trying to make dates with Saxon barmaids", and it's been promoting cross-cultural understanding ever since. It's a nightmare to learn, as it seems for every hard-and-fast grammatical rule there are at least a dozen exceptions, but it's also great for getting an explanation across when rules would get in the way. Then again, what other language takes slang acronyms for military profanity and codifies them as new words (snafu, fubar)?