Medical technology

On May 5, 4:41 pm, Brian McDonald <Brian_knowspam.McDon... DeleteThis @shaw.ca>
wrote:

> more seriously though english is so well entrenched around the world
> now i don't think any other language is going to have much of a shot
> at displacing it.

I agree with that, except over the passage of a great amount of time,
with a change in the dominance of various nations.

But just because I don't think any other language is better suited
than English to become the world language doesn't mean that I think
that English will necessarily become the world language. Instead, if
advances in science allow a more prosperous future with a larger world
population, perhaps due to space colonization, it could well be that
while English would remain pre-eminent, it would also be easier for
most speakers of many other languages to do as English speakers often
do, and handle their affairs entirely in their own language, not
troubling with any foreign language, including English.

John Savard
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On Thu, 1 May 2008 18:42:35 -0700 (PDT), Quadibloc <jsavard.RemoveThis@ecn.ab.ca>
wrote:

>On May 1, 7:16 pm, Brian McDonald <Brian_knowspam.McDon....RemoveThis@shaw.ca>
>wrote:
>
>> i'd guess english is pretty much going to be unstoppable as the world
>> language to be.
>
>That might be, but in a world that is more advanced and prosperous,
>people might not feel compelled to become immigrants to other
>countries that are richer, or be dependent on books or movies produced
>in other countries for quality entertainment.
>
>Computers might even do the work of translating from foreign
>languages, the way pocket calculators do arithmetic for us.
>
>John Savard

i'm not going to hold my breath waiting for computers to handle
idiomatic human language.

more seriously though english is so well entrenched around the world
now i don't think any other language is going to have much of a shot
at displacing it. there's also the fact it's such a versatile
instrument to communicate with.
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On Mon, 5 May 2008 20:55:17 -0700 (PDT), Quadibloc <jsavard DeleteThis @ecn.ab.ca>
wrote:

>On May 5, 4:41 pm, Brian McDonald <Brian_knowspam.McDon... DeleteThis @shaw.ca>
>wrote:
>
>> more seriously though english is so well entrenched around the world
>> now i don't think any other language is going to have much of a shot
>> at displacing it.
>
>I agree with that, except over the passage of a great amount of time,
>with a change in the dominance of various nations.
>
>But just because I don't think any other language is better suited
>than English to become the world language doesn't mean that I think
>that English will necessarily become the world language. Instead, if
>advances in science allow a more prosperous future with a larger world
>population, perhaps due to space colonization, it could well be that
>while English would remain pre-eminent, it would also be easier for
>most speakers of many other languages to do as English speakers often
>do, and handle their affairs entirely in their own language, not
>troubling with any foreign language, including English.
>
>John Savard

i have a small business in british columbia and i do business from abu
dhabbi to australia. if i limited myself to my home area or even my
own country only i'd have gone bankrupt years ago. the world may get
richer or more technically advanced but i'd argue that is going to
drive people more toward a common world language than against it.
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"Brian McDonald" <Brian_knowspam.McDonald.TakeThisOut@shaw.ca> wrote in message
news:am322458m2grtiv0fgoij69kh0rrgtkarc@4ax.com...
> On Mon, 5 May 2008 20:55:17 -0700 (PDT), Quadibloc <jsavard.TakeThisOut@ecn.ab.ca>
> wrote:
>
>>On May 5, 4:41 pm, Brian McDonald <Brian_knowspam.McDon....TakeThisOut@shaw.ca>
>>wrote:
>>
>>> more seriously though english is so well entrenched around the world
>>> now i don't think any other language is going to have much of a shot
>>> at displacing it.
>>
>>I agree with that, except over the passage of a great amount of time,
>>with a change in the dominance of various nations.
>>
>>But just because I don't think any other language is better suited
>>than English to become the world language doesn't mean that I think
>>that English will necessarily become the world language. Instead, if
>>advances in science allow a more prosperous future with a larger world
>>population, perhaps due to space colonization, it could well be that
>>while English would remain pre-eminent, it would also be easier for
>>most speakers of many other languages to do as English speakers often
>>do, and handle their affairs entirely in their own language, not
>>troubling with any foreign language, including English.
>>
>>John Savard
>
> i have a small business in british columbia and i do business from abu
> dhabbi to australia. if i limited myself to my home area or even my
> own country only i'd have gone bankrupt years ago. the world may get
> richer or more technically advanced but i'd argue that is going to
> drive people more toward a common world language than against it.

Indeed....and I predict that that common world language will be English. Not
because English itself is so much better a language than any other, or
because the 'elite' speak it (as was the case when Latin and French became
the preferred tongues...) but because English is a perfect thief. If we
don't have just the right word to use in English (which is a bastardized
combination of German and French in the first place...) then we'll go steal
it from somewhere else.

So...it isn't that speakers of all other languages will trade theirs for
English. It's that English will simply absorb all other languages.

Very Borg like.
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This message is not archived
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"Michelle Steiner" <michelle DeleteThis @michelle.org> wrote in message
news:michelle-F02AAD.17554631052008@news.west.cox.net...
> In article <gIl0k.179$yg6.127@trnddc01>,
> "Diana" <dianaiad DeleteThis @noyoudont.com> wrote:
>
>> English is a perfect thief. If we don't have just the right word to
>> use in English (which is a bastardized combination of German and
>> French in the first place...) then we'll go steal it from somewhere
>> else.
>
> Does anyone know who authored the following:
>
> "English has pursued other languages down alleyways to beat
> them unconscious and rifle their pockets for new vocabulary."

James D Nicoll....and this is one of my favorite quotes!!!
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This message is not archived
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"Michelle Steiner" <michelle DeleteThis @michelle.org> wrote in message
news:michelle-F02AAD.17554631052008@news.west.cox.net...
> In article <gIl0k.179$yg6.127@trnddc01>,
> "Diana" <dianaiad DeleteThis @noyoudont.com> wrote:
>
>> English is a perfect thief. If we don't have just the right word to
>> use in English (which is a bastardized combination of German and
>> French in the first place...) then we'll go steal it from somewhere
>> else.
>
> Does anyone know who authored the following:
>
> "English has pursued other languages down alleyways to beat
> them unconscious and rifle their pockets for new vocabulary."

Sounds like Oscar Wilde.

I thought German was Teutonic, while English is Anglish, Latin, Cryllic and
Arabic. Hence the difference between German and English. French and Spanish
on the other hand are derivatives of Italian-Latin, all three being called
the 'romance' languages.

Support the Troops - Give 'em powered armor.
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In article <P6SdnWPjCp75k97VnZ2dnUVZ_qDinZ2d RemoveThis @comcast.com>,
"boomerdude" <boomerdude RemoveThis @comcast.net> wrote:

> "Michelle Steiner" <michelle RemoveThis @michelle.org> wrote in message
> news:michelle-F02AAD.17554631052008@news.west.cox.net...
> > In article <gIl0k.179$yg6.127@trnddc01>,
> > "Diana" <dianaiad RemoveThis @noyoudont.com> wrote:
> >
> >> English is a perfect thief. If we don't have just the right word to
> >> use in English (which is a bastardized combination of German and
> >> French in the first place...) then we'll go steal it from somewhere
> >> else.
> >
> > Does anyone know who authored the following:
> >
> > "English has pursued other languages down alleyways to beat
> > them unconscious and rifle their pockets for new vocabulary."
>
> Sounds like Oscar Wilde.

Nope. As already pointed out by someone else, it was James D Nicoll
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/James_D._Nicoll> The full quote goes:

The problem with defending the purity of the English language is
that English is about as pure as a cribhouse whore. We don't just
borrow words; on occasion, English has pursued other languages
down alleyways to beat them unconscious and rifle their pockets
for new vocabulary.

--
Quando omni flunkus moritati
Visit the Buffy Body Count at <http://homepage.mac.com/dsample/>
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