keith@thememorybank.co.uk on Tue, 28 Aug 2007 01:35:38 +0200 (CEST) |
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Re: <nettime> language virus |
>At 9:49 AM -0400 8/26/07, keith@thememorybank.co.uk wrote: >>Fortunately, Christophe Bruno has given me a search engine that would >>allow me to pursue the matter historically, if I cared that much. A >>related question for me concerns how or whether the increased numbers >>of those who speak or write English as a second language on the >>internet is changing common usage. I doubt if that is the case here, >>but my query had those sort of issues in mind. >now this definitely is symptomatic of the thought virus IBF (i blame >foreigners) which is known to lead to and/or help justify >intellectual laziness, bigotry, dogmatism, xenophobia, fundamentalism >and other such disturbing positions. similar to other viral >infections, there are no known treatments for IBF once the virus >invades the organism; however the symptoms can be temporarily >relieved by looking into your own house, doing your homework and >thinking before venting. IBF symptoms may diminish and it may remain >inactive for many years but it will never entirely leave the host's >body once it enters, so combating it has to be a life-long commitment. > >get well. > >gita I thought an unqualified reference to ESL might to be taken as politically incorrect. Did it ever occur to you that I might be in favour of the English language escaping from the clutches of its imperial begetters? The following mild exchange took place off list. From: benjamin benjamin@cultura3.net Date: Sun, 26 Aug 2007 20:49:29 +0100 To: keith@thememorybank.co.uk Subject: Re: <nettime> language virus developments in ESL are too isolated to spread. but i often find my self wondering about the same issue. i feel english should be allowed to evolve in reflection of the changes it undergoes in these phases of globalization - after all english is a constantly shifting language as much as the face of those who are "english" is constantly evolving and growing to encompass more and more. From: keith@thememorybank.co.uk keith@thememorybank.co.uk Date: Sun, 26 Aug 2007 16:55:50 -0400 To: benjamin@cultura3.net Subject: Re: <nettime> language virus I agree. One of my niches is Scandinavia and they appreciate plain English since transparency is a political virtue there. So just as the US opened up Victorian English, so too ESL with luck. Keith ----- End forwarded message ----- # distributed via <nettime>: no commercial use without permission # <nettime> is a moderated mailing list for net criticism, # collaborative text filtering and cultural politics of the nets # more info: majordomo@kein.org and "info nettime-l" in the msg body # archive: http://www.nettime.org contact: nettime@kein.org