Date: Wed, 29 Oct 2003 11:18:22 +0000 From: Johannes H Andersen <johsnopsamfitter.com> Subject: Re: winter tyres with rims
Malcolm wrote: > > On 25 Oct 2003 13:14:05 GMT, Dave Hinz <davehinznopsamcop.net> wrote: > > >On Sat, 25 Oct 2003 02:20:34 -0400, Malcolm <mwm1XXXnopsamedu> wrote: > >> > >> Like it or not the reality is that English has displace the only other > >> language which had any claim to being a lingua franca i.e. French. > > > >Based on the content of the post, he should have used Spamish. > > Just another small commentregarding the universality of English. > > I have actually observed, in Switzerland, three Swiss in a "heated > discussion" , each of whom spoke a different mother tongue, conducting > their "discussion" in English in which all three were very fluent. > > Later I asked of one of them, a more personal friend, why the > discussion did not take place in French, German, Italian, or > Romanche(sp?) ? > > My collegue informed me that it happens all the time. That there is a > "type" who will not give the other guy the satisfaction of using that > guys language. The universal language, English, is used . That way no > one is given advantage (or satifaction). Strange since French, German or Italian are imported languages anyway. > > One does have to admit that, at least in the literary sense, English > has the richest vocabulary. Very doubtful though. I always smile when someone on the street says that you dropped something on the 'floor'. In Danish we distinguish clearly between inside and outside floors. Just but a small example, I've also heard that there is a possibility that Spanish will be the main North American language; there are already bi-lingual signs in most places. Perhaps and perhaps not. In spite of pressures from English on a small country (Film, TV, Computers), academics have shown that the root structure of Danish language has not changed one bit. No chance that English will take over as a universal language. Here around London, words are added every day to the language from the Indian/Chinese cuisine since there are now more Indian restaurants here than English. > Yet, it was not that long ago, just a little prior to my university > years, that, at least in North America, if you intended to major or > specialize in chemistry one presumed a need for a reasonable fluency > in German. True. English has taken over as the international language for scientific books and papers.
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