Kotro

I'm reminded of a great monologue by comedian Lenny Bruce, which I would like to reproduce here, but I'm afraid some people might take offence (which was his point), so I blanked the lettering. It contains a lot of racial slur. Highlight if you want to read.

"Are there any niggers here tonight? Could you turn on the house lights, please, and could the waiters and waitresses just stop serving, just for a second? And turn off this spot. Now what did he say? "Are there any niggers here tonight?" I know there's one nigger, because I see him back there working. Let's see, there's two niggers. And between those two niggers sits a kyke. And there's another kyke— that's two kykes and three niggers. And there's a spic. Right? Hmm? There's another spic. Ooh, there's a wop; there's a polack; and, oh, a couple of greaseballs. And there's three lace-curtain Irish micks. And there's one, hip, thick, hunky, funky, boogie. Boogie boogie. Mm-hmm. I got three kykes here, do I hear five kykes? I got five kykes, do I hear six spics, I got six spics, do I hear seven niggers? I got seven niggers. Sold American. I pass with seven niggers, six spics, five micks, four kykes, three guineas, and one wop. Well, I was just trying to make a point, and that is that it's the suppression of the word that gives it the power, the violence, the viciousness. Dig: if President Kennedy would just go on television, and say, "I would like to introduce you to all the niggers in my cabinet," and if he'd just say "nigger nigger nigger nigger nigger" to every nigger he saw, "boogie boogie boogie boogie boogie," "nigger nigger nigger nigger nigger" 'til nigger didn't mean anything anymore, then you could never make some six-year-old black kid cry because somebody called him a nigger at school."

- Lenny Bruce

Good question. I guess for me it's all about the resolution. I have read a few books that, like you put it, grabbed my attention on the first page and retain it right to the end, but that didn't necessarily made them good - a good example are Dan Brown's books, real page-turners, but that I don't exactly consider great works of literature. I like a well-written book, with rich language, interesting phrasical construction, something to test me, like Hilary Mantel's Wolf Hall. I enjoy a good build-up, and if the end is unsatisfying, then the whole book disapoints me, no matter how well it began.   

Thanks for the link for this introductory Swedish course! I had been asking question regarding something of the kind at another thread, but this seems just like what I'm looking for. Cheers!

Judging from what I use daily, and when I think about what I might need in the future, I have to agree with you and say French was the most useless language I learned. I never needed it unless I was in France itself, which doesn't happen often. Even Latin I've found much more useful.

He didn't say anything. He just stood there, almost looking right through me. He seemed surprised, like he was expecting someone else to have opened the door.

"Why are bad words bad" is the most recent vlog posted in the Vsauce YouTube channel, featuring  neuropsychologist and English Literature bachelor Michael Stevens. If you don't know it yet I highly recommend you subscribe it, as I find it the best channel for anyone who considers himself curious about the world we live in.

Anyway, the video in question gives an overview of what makes a "bad word", how the concept and the words have evolved, and what that says about the human race. As always with is videos, it's great food for thought, so I think you will enjoy it as well.

Can't say it happened to me. I had good and bad language teachers (English, French, Latin and German), but any development or lack thereof in a specific language came for my own previous level of interest in it. I have, howver, had some inspiring professors at college who really wowed me with their knowledge of languages and linguistics, and inspired to take further interest in some of the nuances of the languages I already knew.

Thank you for the link, Laura. The Catcher in the Rye is one of my all-time favourite books, but I never picked up anything else by Salinger. Will try to find the time to read these stories.

Do you remember any of the links you used, rossonomous? Swedish is one of the languages I'm seriously considering picking up more for professional reasons (as is Danish). The trouble is where to start with a language with which one has never had any contact at all.

That's funny. It seems everyone has the same things to say about a foreign land -- the people speak too fast, it smells funny, and the native speakers are rude. I don't believe this to be a stereotype exclusive to English speakers. My friend almost had the exact gripes with his time in India.

Exactly, that pretty much described Spain to me. 

English was my second language, and it came quite easy and naturally to me, seeing as I was surrounded by it almost as much as my native language - in my early years, apart from person to person interaction, I consumed media mostly in English via musica and image. I also had some relatives in Canada, so I occasionally got to speak English with them at a very early stage.

"The quiet (or the calm) before the storm", meaning a peaceful time before what is expected to be a time of trouble.

"Any port in a storm", meaning any solution will do in a time of distress.

"Chasing rainbows", when trying to obtain the unobtainable.

"Taking a raincheck", to postpone something

Obviously a lot of the similarities stem from having a common root word, like in the case of the Latin "pater" and "mater" influencing all Romance languages, and even other non-Romance languages where Latin was introduced during the process of romanization or christianization. Other, more weird similarites are more often than not a happy coincidence.

I have made some cordial acquaintances in the Web using the English language, but nothing really remotely close to a "friend". I think the physical presence of a person, knowing that's he's "there" for you in case you need him, and not on the other side of the globe, counts a lot when forming a friendship.

I had been meaning to get The Right Stuff for a while, thank you for reminding me! I've only previously read a novel by Wolfe (The Bonfire of Vanities), but really enjoyed his style of writing.

I see where you're coming from, rodserd, but I think the mark of a great non-fiction writer is creating the interest in what he's writing, rather than target a specific reader.

One of my favourite quotes regarding the English language is the famous "if the English language made any sense, lackadaisical would have something to do with a shortage of flowers", by Doug Larson. Now the comic website Cracked has come up with five more! Although it's mostly an American perspective, it's a fun read, filled with interesting information (although it's Cracked - take it with a pinch of salt).

The article: http://www.cracked.com/article_20713_5-reasons-english-language-makes-no-freaking-sense.html/?utm_source=facebook&utm_medium=fanpage&utm_campaign=new+article&wa_ibsrc=fanpage

I don't hate any author or book. I might find that the author isn't very good, or fail to see the brilliance behind a much lauded book, but hating them is a bit too far. However, I sometimes HATE the FANS of said authors and books, mostly because they can become quite obnoxious in their love of them, and because they tend to badmouth everything else, even stuff they don't know. 

While Brazil definitly contributes to push the numbers of Portuguese up, it's not alone in speaking it - there are over 50 million native speakers of Portuguese outside Brazil. It is the most spoken language in the Southern Hemisphere, often used as lingua franca in sub-Saharan Africa, and one of the most widespread in the World, with every continent having at least one country where Portuguese is an official language. It is also an official language of over 25 international organizations.

I think my "accent" is the weakest part of my English knowledge. I don't really like having a nondecript accent, I wished my accent was closer to some regional or social variety. I tend to aim for the kind of English I hear on the BBC, but it often comes out forced and sounding unnatural. If I lived in England for a while it might help, but I don't see that happening any time soon.

One shouldn't confuse stereotypes with generalizations, which seems to be subject this topic has deviated to. A proper stereotype about English speakers would be, for instance, saying that Canadians end every sentence with "eh?".

Yes, good old Serge is always a good choice. Jacques Brel is not as tongue-in-cheek, but is also worth looking into.

Some French pop acts with easy lyrics I enjoy are Les Terribles, Dyonisos, Arno, Carla Bruni or Sébastien Tellier.

If you're feeling more confident and up for a challenge, move on to Mylène Farmer and Noir Désir.

Really wanted to share today's Dinosaur Comic (which has amazing takes on the English language and storytelling - go read it), but wasn't sure where to do so. This topic seems like the most appropriate.

http://www.qwantz.com/index.php?comic=2532

I see absolutely no problem with a single global language (which English is on the right path to achieve). I do agree that would make the field of linguistics rather dull, but the benefits for the human race as a whole would far compensate that. Bad communication of complete lack thereof has been at the heart of human conflict for ages - a single language would highly contribute to diminish it.

I'm not saying that all other languages should fall out of use and be forgotten. The heritage of languages is far too great to be completely forgotten, and it's use could perfectly co-exist with a single global language. It's all a matter of education - people should be brought up in a common world language (ah, but which one?) and the language of their specific community. That's the best way of having the cake and eating it, the way I see it. 

Yes, this happens quite often. I've been known to be completely at a loss for finding the right word in a given context, and really have to ponder on what to say or risking having someone else completing the sentence for me. What is sometimes weird is coming up with the perfectly adequate word in another language other than your own! I hate it when my friends spurt out foreign words in the middle of their discourse when I can find appropriate equivalents in our language, and so I almost go berserk when the same happens to me.

I was under the impression that most languages had words with multiple meanings - at least every one I know does. Surely dealing with words with multiple meaning in other languages shouldn't be so different from words in your own language?