Comments on: Loosing my patience

By: Tom Joad

Tom Joad — Mon, 31 Aug 2009 06:27:33 +0000

Oops – I appear to have hit a nerve! I’m just so hip, trendy and down with the kids that I use this to reply to more than one person. It could be seen as “this comment is directed at”, or maybe I’m just a lazy sod =)

By: Daphne Wayne-Bough

Daphne Wayne-Bough — Wed, 26 Aug 2009 08:23:44 +0000

Well while we’re on the subject, what’s with this bizarre use of @ ? It stands for “at”, not “to”, so why is it used to indicate the recipient of a message? Or is that a totally different rant?

By: Tom Joad

Tom Joad — Thu, 20 Aug 2009 07:00:14 +0000

@Tony: What did the Romans ever do for us?

@Autolycus: I will put my hand up to Buddha/Bhudda – it’s one I get wrong a lot, and I’m constantly second-guessing myself. Sigh. “Venereal” was a slip of the fingers. Honest guv.

I’m going to stand by ‘chillax’. I like the fact that it keeps the rhythm of ‘relax’. I think, in general, that if people need a guide to what’s hip, they won’t be frequenting these pages!

A final note. I’ve always spelled it ‘yoghurt’, but have seen other spellings bandied about. I had a look in the big Oxford, and found there are some 12 different ways of spelling it. Some kind of record, surely?

By: Autolycus

Autolycus — Wed, 19 Aug 2009 15:13:03 +0000

I’m not at all keen on “chillax”: it sounds like a marketing man’s name for a mint-flavoured version of one of those yoghourts they advertise so euphemistically on TV. Semantically, it suggests someone who isn’t relaxed enough not to care that “chill” is no longer cool.

“Buddha”, BTW. And “venereal”. See? Pedantry’s easy if you choose the right targets….

By: Tony Mallett

Tony Mallett — Wed, 19 Aug 2009 10:24:18 +0000

What about poor old Latin?
It was a good language and, as good languages go, it went…

By: Tom Joad

Tom Joad — Wed, 19 Aug 2009 09:03:29 +0000

Hello Brian, and welcome to Word du Jour.

I live in Brussels, and can safely say that English is the uncontested lingua franca. I don’t have anything against Esperanto per se, and would agree that any communication tool could only be a good thing. I think the problem with Esperanto as a universal language is lack of exposure, coupled with lack of practical application.

I have not researched this, but would suspect people learn a second language for work or holidays or because they were brought up bilingual. Very few (comparatively) learn a new language just for fun. Without a need to drive them, why would people learn a language that has no immediate use?

I’m happy to leave your links up for people to take a look at though – as I have said, I have nothing against Esperanto. Thanks for reading Word du Jour. =)

By: Brian Barker

Brian Barker — Tue, 18 Aug 2009 17:43:45 +0000

Hi Tom

Please do not overestimate the position of English, as a lingua franca !

I live in London and if anyone says to me “everyone speaks English” my answer is “Listen and look around you”. If people in London do not speak English then the whole question of a global language is completely open.

The promulgation of English as the world’s “lingua franca” is impractical and linguistically undemocratic. I say this as a native English speaker!

Impractical because communication should be for all and not only for an educational or political elite. That is how English is used internationally at the moment.

Undemocratic because minority languages are under attack worldwide due to the encroachment of majority ethnic languages. Even Mandarin Chinese is attempting to dominate as well. The long-term solution must be found and a non-national language, which places all ethnic languages on an equal footing is essential. As a native English speaker, my vote is for Esperanto

Your readers may be interested in seeing http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=_YHALnLV9XU Professor Piron was a former translator with the United Nations

A glimpse of the language,Esperanto, can be seen at http://www.lernu.net

By: Tony Mallett

Tony Mallett — Tue, 18 Aug 2009 12:32:34 +0000

I suppose a doctor in charge of a nuthouse, for instance, could be accused of ‘loosing his patients’ if he chose to leave the padded-cell doors unlocked.

And I guess the 9/11 bombers could be accused of ‘loosing their religion’. But anyway…

Impact as a verb; Almost as bad as, yes, ‘I could care less’ and ‘authored’ and, the worst for me: ‘They were protesting the Poll Tax’. Weren’t they in fact protesting AGAINST the Poll Tax?

They can stick ‘educators’ up the school chimney too, and leave the teachers to get on with it.

I must admit though, as newish words go, ‘skyscraper’ takes some beating. ‘OK’ is ok too, if only for the endless arguments about where it came from.