There are billions of people and a version of normal to go along with each one of them. No two versions are exactly the same. There will be hundreds of thousands of little things that make up your version of normal. With any luck you can find people that have close to the same idea of what normal is that you do. These are your friends. Anyone else you try to tolerate as best you can.
....
The exact definition of normal depends on who's running the asylum.
Wednesday, March 02, 2022
5440 - Language
Here's a short interesting article about how there will never be a universal language.
The English language has changed quite radically since I was in elementary school. I'm all for the same language, only if it's going to NOT be English. But I'm not for the same language at all. I just wish I was fluent in other languages.
“Looky here, Jim; does a cat talk like we do?”
ReplyDelete“No, a cat don’t.”
“Well, does a cow?”
“No, a cow don’t, nuther.”
“Does a cat talk like a cow, or a cow talk like a cat?”
“No, dey don’t.”
“It’s natural and right for ‘em to talk different from each other, ain’t it?”
“Course.”
“And ain’t it natural and right for a cat and a cow to talk different from US?”
“Why, mos’ sholy it is.”
“Well, then, why ain’t it natural and right for a FRENCHMAN to talk different from us? You answer me that.”
“Is a cat a man, Huck?”
“No.”
“Well, den, dey ain’t no sense in a cat talkin’ like a man. Is a cow a man? – er is a cow a cat?”
“No, she ain’t either of them.”
“Well, den, she ain’t got no business to talk like either one er the yuther of ‘em. Is a Frenchman a man?”
“Yes.”
“WELL, den! Dad blame it, why doan’ he TALK like a man? You answer me DAT!”
--The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn by Mark Twain
Kirk - Did you have to type all that out?
ReplyDeleteMike, if I did I'd STILL be typing. The entire text is online.
ReplyDeleteIt's what immediately came to mind when I read that article.
There is no I in "weed" but there is a "we" so pass that joint over here. I love the English language. Cheers!
ReplyDeleteWe need to have lots of different languages to give us a range of possible curse words to use.
ReplyDeleteBilbo's comment is going to be my takeaway from all of this :-)
ReplyDeleteIsn't music the international language?
ReplyDeleteSimmons - The existing English language goes up in smoke a little bit every day.
ReplyDeleteBill - A topic for a post. A really long post!
Kathy - Look some up and try them out today.
Deb - HmmmmMMMMMmmmmmm.
Interesting article, Mike. As a recovering linguist, I'm always interested in reading about language and culture. Thanks for sending me the link.
ReplyDeleteThe English language has changed quite radically since I was in elementary school. I'm all for the same language, only if it's going to NOT be English. But I'm not for the same language at all. I just wish I was fluent in other languages.
ReplyDeleteCLM - You're welcome.
ReplyDeleteRobyn - I barely passed Spanish in high school.
Languages may be different, but money is always understood.
ReplyDeleteI did an article on language usage recently.
ReplyDeleteRead it here :-
http://www.savory.de/blog_feb_22.htm#20220221
River - You just have to know the exchange rate for the day.
ReplyDeleteStu - Yep, I was there. And so were a lot of other people. You got a lot of action on that post.