On language: it occurs to me, yet again, with all the insane freakouts

[niyad]

about the half-time show not being in English, that this is a perfect example of how ignorant, clueless, provincial and reverse snobbish so many americans are. In other countries, it is common for a person to speak several languages with some degree of fluency (our own DFW is in a class almost by himself!). Growing up in the military, one is accustomed to hearing any number of languages on any given day. I used to joke that our neighborhoods sounded like the UN. Working in the Nevada casinos was the same.

And yet, we have these poor, frightened, paranoid, delicate little snowflakes who lose their two (and I am being generous here) remaining brain cells because some people speak different languages. Our own Foreign Services Department apparently had to drop their foreign language requirement. What, in the name of sanity, is WRONG with these people???

One of my major irritations with these people is their ignorance. If one is going to insist that EVERY person must speak English, then they should speak it properly themselves. I am certain many here still remember "Get a brain, morans", and my personal favourite, "English is ARE language".

menjjtek a pokolas seggfejek baszd mer

[Dear_Prudence]

1. English is are language

And Your right!

[niyad]

4. The little red pen in my head is in constant motion some days!

[Permanut]

6. And it's OFFICAL!

[niyad]

9. Only since March 2025

The orange creature is a perfect example of my post.

[ret5hd]

17. you spelled "rite" incorrectly.

[SheltieLover]

2. Morans

[niyad]

7. To this day, some of us still use it to indicate a truly deep level of

stupidity!

[Deuxcents]

3. I saw a meme I'll paraphrase..the Constitution is in English and you guys don't seem to understand that. At all

[niyad]

5. That particular meme is what prompted my post tonight.

[Sogo]

8. In the run-up to 2016, they used to tout Melania's multi-lingual skills (fluent in seven languages, or so they said).

nt.

[niyad]

11. Six, although we never saw any indication of it.

And that pathetic attempt to distract from her history is about the only time supposed foreign language proficiency was portrayed as a good thing.

[johnnyfins]

10. How many of the lily white peeps screaming

About this spanish language Superbowl performance LOVE the Macarena at their family parties. WTAF?!

[niyad]

12. Interesting question.

[cachukis]

13. I suspect part of the problem stems from early

childhood education.
Bilingual families address the matter early on.
Parochial groups don't.
As an altar boy, I had to contend with Latin. My grandfather had spoken Spanish as a transplant. My father didn't speak English until he was nine.
As a reader of the classics, I was made aware of translations.
Culture and language go hand in hand.
Depriving our youth of exposure to understanding the linguistics of even modern day language is unfathomable. They create language and steal language every day.
Why parents would deprive their children of how words start and how they become is befuddling.

[niyad]

14. To thiis day, I can still recite part of the Latin mass! And a friend and I

Last edited Wed Feb 11, 2026, 12:53 AM - Edit history (1)

always spoke Latin when we were in public. Again, growing up in the multi-lingual military, in a tri-lingual household, it was normal for me.

I simply do not understand these people and their anti-intellectualism. I DO understand the powers that be about this. After all, one cannot control a populace capable of critical thought, and in multiple languages!

[3catwoman3]

15. "...ignorant, clueless, provincial" and, in many cases, proud to be so.

I would be most interested to know what your final words in this post mean.

[niyad]

16. Sadly, you are quite correct about their pride.

As for the last words, my comment when I encounter such people.

[DFW]

18. I really hope there is no one here who understands Hungarian LOL

That one was worthy of Chief Showcase in "Yellow Back Radio Broke Down."

One of my favorites is the Republican penchant for telling people "I speak American."

I then ask, "which one?" This prompts "Whaddya mean?"

I answer, "well since English, Spanish, French and Portuguese are European languages, you can't be referring to them. American languages are Navajo, Lakota, Cherokee, Apache, Nahuatl, Seminole, Hopi, etc. etc. etc. If you are telling me you speak "American," I'm already impressed, so tell me which one?"

Oh, and if you think I have a big repetoire, I know a guy here who was born in Transylvania who speaks Hungarian, Romanian, French, German, Spanish, Dutch, Hebrew, Aramäic, and Yiddish, as well as fluent English. I may have him matched in number, but he is miles ahead of me in sophistication! We have English, Dutch, Spanish, French and German in common, but he leaves me in the dust with the others.

[niyad]

19. I rarely use that one unless I am truly annoyed. A single digit

usually suffices in person, or. .the glasses being lowered or raised on the nose with said digital extremity (taught to me by the mayor as we sat through endless meetings). Online, since many sites frown on invective, it's remdi95.

You are much nicer than I about the "I speak american" group. In my most syrupy voice, "Reallllly??? There are some 540 recognized tribes. With which one are you enrolled??"

As I said, you are in a class almost by yourself! I seem to remember you mentioning your very linguistic friend a time or two overr the years. You both remind me of a report (story?) I heard years ago about how the Foreign Services office had suddenly lost half their translation specialty division overnight with the death of a man who spoke something like 13 languages.

[DFW]

20. I don't think I'll ever make it to thirteen

I'll stick to the modest ten I can get along in. There are a few more in which I can come out with a few phrases, and make a suitable impression, (Turkish, Tagalog, Croatian, Japanese, e.g.) but I'm nowhere near the point where I can carry on a conversation for any length of time.