Here, Here; or is it; Hear, Hear
Lexington, Oh10
76 PB
- ----- Original Message -----
From:
To:
Sent: Saturday, April 15, 2000 4:15 AM
Subject: Re: GMC: Language(was GMC Hams)(non-GMC)
> In a message dated 4/14/00 6:49:46 AM MDT,
Patrick.Flowers
>
> > Was it Churchill that said, "The Americans are one people separated by a
> > common language"?
>
> Patrick,
> Actually, he said something to the effect the "The British and the
> Americans are one people ......" etc. I've always pondered the
expression
> of a proper Brit, schooled in the Queen's (actually the BBC's) English,
> turning on a CB radio and trying to decipher something like "We thank you
> Good Buddy. Got a report of a Smokey in a Plain Brown Wrapper eastbound
at
> the 135. We had a Tijuana Taxi on our backdoor back at the 215, but he
did a
> flip-flop. You shake the trees, I'll rake the leaves. See 'ya on the
Shaky
> Side. Oh, and check out the seat covers in that white Motorhome if they
pass
> you, they're prime! We be on the side."
> If anyone needs a translation, just ask, or better yet buy yourself a
CB
> radio and learn by immersion. Of course the inverse (England) is also
> strange, with "panel beaters" repairing dents in your "wing" (fender),
and
> your luggage being stowed in the "boot", whilst you put up the "hood" to
keep
> the rain off your head. (The "motor" is concealed by a "bonnet", of
course.)
> And, one of my favorites, if a pretty "bird" (young woman) asks the
> Innkeeper to "Knock me up at 8.", it doesn't mean he's going to get lucky
in
> the morning, merely that she wants a wake-up call. ;-)
> I confess a small measure of chauvinistic pride that my milk-tongue is
> fast becoming the universal language of this "pendant orb" called Terra,
Sol
> III, 3rd Rock, or simply Earth. Several newspaper articles recently have
> pointed out something that caught my eye earlier: When the Polish Pope
> addresses a gathering of Palestinian Arabs in Israel, he doesn't use
Polish,
> Arabic, Aramaic, Latin or Hebrew. He speaks in English. When the
insurgent
> candidate in Peru addresses the media, he speaks English. You can bet
> Vladimir Putin knows some English.
> I like to think that our language's catholic vocabulary, far and away
the
> largest in the world (ever heft an Oxford Universal Dictionary?) and
growing
> by hundreds of words every week, more than compensates for our difficult
> grammar and arbitrary spelling. We don't have bureaucrats decreeing
usage,
> we have lexicographers going out and searching for the latest usage. We
> don't exclude foreign words like "le drogstore" or "nyron setockrings",
> rather we happily adopt, incorporate, and swallow whole, foreign words and
> phrases, making them part of our universal language. You bet your dupa.
> Seems to me a rather gentle and benign way to conquer the world. Once
> again, free expression and free trade win over official fiat and
xenophobia,
> which are things "...up with which I will not put." ;-)
> I only hope that I may do justice to this heritage whenever I lift pen
or
> keyboard. All the way from "Whan that April with his showres soote, the
> droughte of March hath perced to the roote,.....", through "When the IRQ
line
> is brought low, a non-maskable interrupt is generated. A BIOS routine
will
> then save the current configuration prior to servicing the interrupt...."
> with perhaps a stop at "All the rivers run into the sea, and yet the sea
is
> not full. From the place whence they came, thither they return again,
and
> there is no new thing under the sun.", and "Tomorow, and tomorow, and
> tomorow, creeps in this petty pace from day to day....", and "We hold
these
> truths to be self-evident: That all men are created equal...."
> Yeah, I love this language that now is separating and uniting the
entire
> world. Ahead warp three. Engage.
>
> Rick Staples
> '75 Eleganza
> Louisville, CO
>
>
>
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