Re: About linguistic (in)tolerance

   Date:         Fri, 26 Mar 1999 12:04:41 -0500
   From: Brian Betty <bbetty@...>

   On 3/26/99, Lars wrote: "let me get this straight: You get upset when
   people use 'erroneous' forms in an attempt to speak in a pretentious way.
   Does that mean that pretentious language does not upset you as long as only
   'correct' forms are used?"

   Ew no.

I take that as 'Ew no, I don't like that either.'

          It's the dragging-language-in-the-mud-of-primate-chestbeating that
   drives me up the wall. It's taking language, a joy, and making it a dreary
   tool of a person's dreary drive for societal power. It's taking fun play
   and making it the tool of the Man.

I think I see what you are getting at. When people use grand language
to dupe the masses (or the boss), it's a misuse --- unlike if they do
it for fun or for art's sake. I can't say that I disagree, even though
I don't feel as strongly about it as you do.

And where the spurious made-up forms come in, is as direct evidence
that this is a conscious attempt from the speaker to sound impressive
--- because there is no other reason to make that sort of mistake in
that context. Whereas people who actually do master the register, may
just be using it because it seems to be expected, and not because they
think they stand to gain anything from it.

   "(Personally, I get irritated when Danes pepper their speech with English
   terms and translation loans, when perfectly acceptable Danish words and
   collocations exist. I see it as a form of intellectual bankruptcy when they
   don't even try to remember what language they're speaking)."

   Whereas I love to borrow words from other languages into English - here's
   another example of how motive and history drive our prejudices!

Borrowing from any other language than English is just fine with me as
well, and I'll do it on occasion. But Danish is clearly the underdog
to English in the current situation, so it needs a little support.

In fact, the influx of English terms in Danish is so large, especially
in a new technical field like IT, that I can play the game in reverse
by using Danish words and phrases in contexts where the people around
me have started using something from English.

Most of them do have the good grace to look a bit sheepish if they
notice what I'm doing.

Lars Mathiesen (U of Copenhagen CS Dep) <thorinn@...> (Humour NOT marked)