Is now the time? by kaneman

REAL WORLD EVENT DISCUSSIONS

Is now the time?

POSTED BY: KANEMAN
UPDATED: Monday, March 12, 2007 03:18
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VIEWED: 4289
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Monday, February 26, 2007 3:36 AM

Should English be named the world's only language? I mean the others just sound ridiculous or just plain gay, and it would help in international commerce. Who has the time to translate Chinese or Japanese? I won't even get into the UN translation debacle.

Love always kaneman

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Monday, February 26, 2007 4:03 AM

SIMONWHO

But that would mean you'd have to learn English yourself and I'm not sure your mind could take it.

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Monday, February 26, 2007 4:06 AM

REDLAVA

Quote:
Originally posted by SimonWho:
But that would mean you'd have to learn English yourself and I'm not sure your mind could take it.

BWAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!!

No.

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Monday, February 26, 2007 4:06 AM

YINYANG

You were busy trying to get yourself lit on fire. It happens.

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Monday, February 26, 2007 4:27 AM

GOTTHAMMER

Ouch.

Still, the 'one language' idea has been around for a bit.
Various Empires, from Qin to Rome to Britain, implemented it.
Then again, it has its downsides: Babel (would a unified language once again lead to hubris and a bitch slapping from on high?), and perhaps the loss or diluting of cultural identity. Also, I think the implementation of such a policy would necessitate a global condition wherein each nation/country can educate its people in the language (english). Otherwise, it would only increase the gap between those who 'can' and 'can't' (for a while at least...).
And who would implement it? An empire? The Americans?
Of course, there will probably be opposition.
The Chinese, for instance, may ask: why not use Chinese (Mandarin)? That's a language spoken by more than 1/6 of the world's population, and it's written form is used in nations surrounding China (and China is quite big). They can claim that it is richer, having been made at least a thousand years prior to English, well, being English. It has also been used in commerce for quite a while (duh).
And to call any other language 'gay'? Why? Because you lack the mental faculties to comprehend why a language is spoken/written the way it is?
What's next, discriminating another person for his religion or colour because being different is 'gay'? So wouldn't it boil down to either being a racist or being a xenophobe?

Me, I'm all for a cyberpunk-ish future where people speak english and japanese/korean/chinese, read/write chinese/japanese/korean, and write weird crypto-stuff in greek, aramaic and latin.
And don't forget the flying cars, cyberdecks and skillsofts.

Just my two cents, of course.

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Monday, February 26, 2007 4:53 AM

DESKTOPHIPPIE

Banners, avatars and other fun stuff at www.desktophippie.com

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Monday, February 26, 2007 7:38 AM

FREDGIBLET

Time for a unified world language? Maybe, and I would support it.

Time for English to be that language? Fuck no. English is a horrendous language to learn and speak. My vote would be Japanese, both because I like Japanese and because it has very few weird rules (i before e except after c etc.)

Oh, and I'm a native speaker of American English so I'm not just bad-mouthing someone elses language.

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Monday, February 26, 2007 8:49 AM

AURAPTOR

America loves a winner!

Quote:
I mean the others just sound ridiculous or just plain gay, and it would help in international commerce.

Now that's just funny. I don't care who ya are!

People love a happy ending. So every episode, I will explain once again that I don't like people. And then Mal will shoot someone. Someone we like. And their puppy. - Joss

" They don't like it when you shoot at 'em. I worked that out myself. "

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Monday, February 26, 2007 9:28 AM

MALBADINLATIN

1,120,000,000 People speak Mandarin/Chinese, and 332,000,000 people speak English. Most other countries see the writing on the wall and teach thier kids English in school. English is the language of money, just as French was in the 1800's.

Enough of the history and statistics. Learning other languages in F#!cking hard! I feel sorry for those people trying to learn English. It's the language of the derainged. All those crazy rules, contradictions and exceptions.

English will become the standard language of the world all by itself.

"You can believe your eyes...or you can believe me." -Groucho Marx

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Monday, February 26, 2007 9:40 AM

FREMDFIRMA

Already is one.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Esperanto

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Monday, February 26, 2007 9:53 AM

CITIZEN

Quote:
Originally posted by Fremdfirma:
Already is one.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Esperanto no one speaks it.

More insane ramblings by the people who brought you beeeer milkshakes!
No one can see their reflection in running water. It is only in still water that we can see.

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Monday, February 26, 2007 11:56 AM

MALBADINLATIN

Quote:
Originally posted by Fremdfirma:
Already is one.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Esperanto

Hey! Did anyone else see those cheesy horror/devil black and white movies made in the late 60's that were scripted in Esperanto? It is Hi-larious, in fact William Shatner stars in one of them, I just can't remember the names......To the bat cave!

"You can believe your eyes...or you can believe me." -Groucho Marx

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Monday, February 26, 2007 1:04 PM

OLDENGLANDDRY

Since God is English it stands to reason that he would want the whole world to speak it. Case closed.

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Monday, February 26, 2007 5:42 PM

FINN MAC CUMHAL

The Roman Empire never actually implemented a single all-inclusive official language. Even for official administrative and diplomatic purposes of the Roman government, there were always two languages that operated as the lingua franca in the two halves of the Empire. And on a local level, any number of different languages would have been spoken.

As for English, it has been the lingua franca of the Western World since World War I, and its influence continues to grow outside of the Western World. English is the official language of many diplomatic and commercial bodies that serve people divided by multiple languages, such as various European commissions, even where those bodies serve no native English speaking peoples. It is the most widely taught second language in the world and the official maritime and airborne language. It is one of six official languages of the UN, and in truth one of only two actual working languages. If there can be said to be a global lingua franca, English is it.

The prolificacy of English is largely due to its history, having been globally introduced by the British Empire and later encouraged by American global commercialism. But the nature of English is also a factor in the speed with which it replaced French (something the French have never quite forgiven us for.) English is a relatively simple language to learn. It has no complex noun declensions or inflections and no complicated verb structures or ambiguous pronunciation tones. Essentially, an English word maintains a similar shape throughout usage, while in most languages words vary remarkably and sometimes unintuitively depending on how they are used. Furthermore, English is highly versatile and has one of the largest vocabularies of any language in the world. English readily adopts new words and with very modest and regular agglutination, almost any English word can be formed into any part of speech, making it not only easy to learn but extremely expressive with minimal grammar.

Most other languages have a very rigid grammatical structure, requiring a heavy initial commitment before any real meaningful communication can take place. Some languages like Chinese, which actually has a very simple grammar, but also has a very ambiguous tonal pronunciation, which must be mastered initially, also Chinese has a relatively small vocabulary with many words having multiple meanings that must be understood through context. For most people, Chinese is a very difficult language to learn, which is why the vast majority of people who speak Chinese are native speakers. On the other hand, the majority of people who speak English are nonnative speakers. To say nothing of the Chinese form of writing which is horribly cumbersome.

So I actually believe that English would make an excellent global official language, if I believed such a thing were in any way desirable. The truth is that it would be nearly impossible to implement, much less enforce. And even if it could be, such a thing would likely be viewed as a threat to the national or cultural sovereignty of many non-English speaking countries. Already many countries, particularly those with unique languages like Iceland, have large national and conservative movements to protect their language from the pervasiveness of English. And in some cases, such as Ireland, the native language has been all but replaced by English (although that occurred many years before US international prominence.) There is a certain beauty in the richness of the many forms of language and no single language can capture all the subtleties and nuances of human thought, no matter how expressive or large their vocabularies may be. Furthermore, I don’t think such a thing is necessary. The necessity of communication will and always does breed a common language, which is why English is so common as a diplomatic and commercial language. I don’t know if it can be said to be a true global lingua franca, but if it is not, I think it probably will be soon, however it shouldn’t be imposed, but rather allowed to happen organically.

Nihil est incertius vulgo, nihil obscurius voluntate hominum, nihil fallacius ratione tota comitiorum.

Nothing is more unpredictable than the mob, nothing more obscure than public opinion, nothing more deceptive than the whole political system.

-- Cicero

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Monday, February 26, 2007 5:52 PM

FUTUREMRSFILLION

French is the international language of Finance. Maybe we should go were the money is.

----
Bestower of Titles, Designer of Tshirts, Maker of Mottos, Keeper of the Pyre

I am on The List. We are The Forsaken and we aim to burn!
"We don't fear the reaper"

FORSAKEN original

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Monday, February 26, 2007 6:24 PM

RUE

I have a vote and I'm not afraid to use it!

Damn! I was thinking it was going to be about impeaching dubya. And my reply to that unasked question is - if now is not the time, then when?

But it's just some stoopid question about English being the universal langauge. As if.

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Monday, February 26, 2007 6:29 PM

FUTUREMRSFILLION

Quote:
Originally posted by rue:
Damn! I was thinking it was going to be about impeaching dubya. And my reply to that unasked question is - if now is not the time, then when?

But it's just some stoopid question about English being the universal langauge. As if.

One can only hope my friend.....

----
Bestower of Titles, Designer of Tshirts, Maker of Mottos, Keeper of the Pyre

I am on The List. We are The Forsaken and we aim to burn!
"We don't fear the reaper"

FORSAKEN original

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Monday, February 26, 2007 6:36 PM

RUE

I have a vote and I'm not afraid to use it!

Oh, and shamefacedly comes back on, only on-topic this time

If english is the universal language I suggest we use the 40 or so symbols at the bottom of the page in each dictionary rather than the current 24, and make it phonetic. My $0.02

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Wednesday, February 28, 2007 3:14 AM

KANEMAN

Quote:
Originally posted by AURaptor:
Quote:
I mean the others just sound ridiculous or just plain gay, and it would help in international commerce.

Now that's just funny. I don't care who ya are!

People love a happy ending. So every episode, I will explain once again that I don't like people. And then Mal will shoot someone. Someone we like. And their puppy. - Joss

" They don't like it when you shoot at 'em. I worked that out myself. "

I thought so...guess I'm wrong.

"And to call any other language 'gay'? Why?"

I said they sound 'gay'....just using my ears! not my brain.

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Wednesday, February 28, 2007 3:18 AM

PENGUIN

Quote:
Originally posted by oldenglanddry:
Since God is English it stands to reason that he would want the whole world to speak it. Case closed.

That's fine with me...as long as it's American English!

King of the Mythical Land that is Iowa

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Wednesday, February 28, 2007 4:57 AM

SHINYED

Even Anna Nicole Smith could speak English. It can't be that hard if a person with 1/10 the normal human brain could learn it.

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Wednesday, February 28, 2007 2:42 PM

STEGASAURUS

Quote:
Originally posted by ShinyEd:
Even Anna Nicole Smith could speak English. It can't be that hard if a person with 1/10 the normal human brain could learn it.

She couldn't undstand the word "Footage"...

but that was probably due to her attempt at resembling a Tattooine Sandperson, with her face looking like it was hit by a Mack truck.

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Wednesday, February 28, 2007 2:44 PM

FUTUREMRSFILLION

Quote:
Originally posted by Stegasaurus:
Quote:
Originally posted by ShinyEd:
Even Anna Nicole Smith could speak English. It can't be that hard if a person with 1/10 the normal human brain could learn it.

She couldn't undstand the word "Footage"...

but that was probably due to her attempt at resembling a Tattooine Sandperson, with her face looking like it was hit by a Mack truck.

excellent show of compassion there! WELL DONE!

----
Bestower of Titles, Designer of Tshirts, Maker of Mottos, Keeper of the Pyre

I am on The List. We are The Forsaken and we aim to burn!
"We don't fear the reaper"

FORSAKEN original

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Thursday, March 1, 2007 2:59 AM

SHINYED

Quote:
Originally posted by FutureMrsFIllion:
Quote:
Originally posted by Stegasaurus:
Quote:
Originally posted by ShinyEd:
Even Anna Nicole Smith could speak English. It can't be that hard if a person with 1/10 the normal human brain could learn it.

She couldn't undstand the word "Footage"...

but that was probably due to her attempt at resembling a Tattooine Sandperson, with her face looking like it was hit by a Mack truck.

excellent show of compassion there! WELL DONE!

Compassion???...For what?.....Her vile, drug-ladened lifestyle was directly responsible for her 20 year-old son's drug death & her own. She always appeared in public high as a kite and dressed up like a cheap French whore...which is really all she was...white trash to the max...an un-educated idiot, a stripper, a filthy bar-whore, a golddigger, but most importantly...a vulgarly un-fit mother. Her death was her own fault...compassion???...no compassion!...instead she should be held up as the model for everything that is wrong & pathetic about society & people's personal weaknesses; a poster-girl for reckless & destructive behavoir, something to be mocked & shunned & to tell your kids about as part of their education.

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Thursday, March 1, 2007 3:06 AM

KANEMAN

"Compassion???...For what?.....Her vile, drug-ladened lifestyle was directly responsible for her 20 year-old son's drug death & her own. She always appeared in public high as a kite and dressed up like a cheap French whore...which is really all she was...white trash to the max...an un-educated idiot, a stripper, a filthy bar-whore, a golddigger, but most importantly...a vulgarly un-fit mother. Her death was her own fault...compassion???...no compassion!...instead she should be held up as the model for everything that is wrong & pathetic about society & people's personal weaknesses; a poster-girl for destructive behavoir, something to be mocked & shunned & to tell your kids about as part of their education."

Hello, I am Kaneman and I approve this message.

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Thursday, March 1, 2007 3:40 AM

SHINYED

Quote:
Originally posted by kaneman:
Hello, I am Kaneman and I approve this message.

I also will NEVER feel compassion for ANY of the Hollywood star-sleezebags that also live in a world of flaunting drugs, alchohol, and recklessness....and I fully expect LOTS of them to die imminently or pre-maturely just like brain-damaged Anna.

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Thursday, March 1, 2007 7:36 AM

FUTUREMRSFILLION

Quote:
Originally posted by ShinyEd:
Quote:
Originally posted by FutureMrsFIllion:
Quote:
Originally posted by Stegasaurus:
Quote:
Originally posted by ShinyEd:
Even Anna Nicole Smith could speak English. It can't be that hard if a person with 1/10 the normal human brain could learn it.

She couldn't undstand the word "Footage"...

but that was probably due to her attempt at resembling a Tattooine Sandperson, with her face looking like it was hit by a Mack truck.

excellent show of compassion there! WELL DONE!

Compassion???...For what?.....Her vile, drug-ladened lifestyle was directly responsible for her 20 year-old son's drug death & her own. She always appeared in public high as a kite and dressed up like a cheap French whore...which is really all she was...white trash to the max...an un-educated idiot, a stripper, a filthy bar-whore, a golddigger, but most importantly...a vulgarly un-fit mother. Her death was her own fault...compassion???...no compassion!...instead she should be held up as the model for everything that is wrong & pathetic about society & people's personal weaknesses; a poster-girl for reckless & destructive behavoir, something to be mocked & shunned & to tell your kids about as part of their education.

Gee it must be nice to be able to state fact about all of that. Can you tell me the winning lotto numbers too?

----
Bestower of Titles, Designer of Tshirts, Maker of Mottos, Keeper of the Pyre

I am on The List. We are The Forsaken and we aim to burn!
"We don't fear the reaper"

FORSAKEN original

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Thursday, March 1, 2007 7:37 AM

SIGNYM

I believe in solving problems, not sharing them.

Personalee, Ey think Inglish shuhd bee fonehtik.

---------------------------------
Reealitee suks. Espeshalee wehn it kahntradikts ahwr cherishd ideeuhz.

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Thursday, March 1, 2007 7:37 AM

FUTUREMRSFILLION

Quote:
Originally posted by kaneman:
"Compassion???...For what?.....Her vile, drug-ladened lifestyle was directly responsible for her 20 year-old son's drug death & her own. She always appeared in public high as a kite and dressed up like a cheap French whore...which is really all she was...white trash to the max...an un-educated idiot, a stripper, a filthy bar-whore, a golddigger, but most importantly...a vulgarly un-fit mother. Her death was her own fault...compassion???...no compassion!...instead she should be held up as the model for everything that is wrong & pathetic about society & people's personal weaknesses; a poster-girl for destructive behavoir, something to be mocked & shunned & to tell your kids about as part of their education."

Hello, I am Kaneman and I approve this message.

YOU would

----
Bestower of Titles, Designer of Tshirts, Maker of Mottos, Keeper of the Pyre

I am on The List. We are The Forsaken and we aim to burn!
"We don't fear the reaper"

FORSAKEN original

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Thursday, March 1, 2007 7:44 AM

SHINYED

Quote:
Originally posted by FutureMrsFIllion:
Gee it must be nice to be able to state fact about all of that. Can you tell me the winning lotto numbers too?

Lotto numbers for what state?

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Thursday, March 1, 2007 8:35 AM

STEGASAURUS

Quote:
Originally posted by FutureMrsFIllion:
excellent show of compassion there! WELL DONE!

----
Bestower of Titles, Designer of Tshirts, Maker of Mottos, Keeper of the Pyre

I am on The List. We are The Forsaken and we aim to burn!
"We don't fear the reaper"

FORSAKEN original

The only compassion I have towards ANS's situation is towards her daughter. Though I could argue that with or without her mother she would probably be in the same boat. Regardless of how much her mother loved her, ANS was (IMHO) an unfit mother at best.

Now in regards to my post, I was only attempting to add a bit of humor to the already crass statement made by ShineyEd (which I found humorous, btw). If I offeneded anyone, that was not my intent. I realize not everyone will share my sense of humor all the time.

So, in a nutshell, I'm sorry if I offended you, FutureMrsFIllion, but no, I have no compassion toward's Anna Nicole.

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Thursday, March 1, 2007 9:36 AM

RUE

I have a vote and I'm not afraid to use it!

Quote:
Originally posted by ShinyEd:
Quote:
Originally posted by FutureMrsFIllion:
Gee it must be nice to be able to state fact about all of that. Can you tell me the winning lotto numbers too?

Lotto numbers for what state?

You mean you don't know ???

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Thursday, March 1, 2007 6:39 PM

TRUEBLUE

There is no such thing as American English.

There is English and there is incorrect English.

American English is just state-endorsed misspelling.

As for world language: we are likely to get to a point where almost the entire world speaks one language with a number of regional dialects. Not any time soon mind you. Either way I think maintaining the knowledge of the languages is important, socially and culturally. Multi-lingual people, that would be the way to go.

Did you know that more people speak (Middle Earth) Elvish than the real language it is based on? That is just wrong.

I will think of a signature later. It will be so stunningly brilliant your entire life will pale into insignificance when compared to the few words that will be written here.

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Thursday, March 1, 2007 6:45 PM

FUTUREMRSFILLION

Quote:
Originally posted by TrueBlue:
There is no such thing as American English.

There is English and there is incorrect English.

American English is just state-endorsed misspelling.

As for world language: we are likely to get to a point where almost the entire world speaks one language with a number of regional dialects. Not any time soon mind you. Either way I think maintaining the knowledge of the languages is important, socially and culturally. Multi-lingual people, that would be the way to go.

Did you know that more people speak (Middle Earth) Elvish than the real language it is based on? That is just wrong.

I will think of a signature later. It will be so stunningly brilliant your entire life will pale into insignificance when compared to the few words that will be written here.

Um then what do you can that stuff that Australians speak? Cause it surely isn't English!

----
Bestower of Titles, Designer of Tshirts, Maker of Mottos, Keeper of the Pyre

I am on The List. We are The Forsaken and we aim to burn!
"We don't fear the reaper"

FORSAKEN original

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Monday, March 12, 2007 3:18 AM

CAUSAL

Well, as far as the impeaching Bush thing goes, I think...oops! Back to the topic:

snark snark snarky snark snark snark snarkety snark snark.

________________________________________________________________________
Grand High Poobah of the Mythical Land of Iowa, and Keeper of State Secrets

Captain, FFF.net Grammar Police

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