Re: verboten WAS: Insider #59: IDS Express

Christopher wrote: > Although a US citizen by birth, I was raised overseas and unfortunately > learned English, along with a number of other languages. Upon my > return to these great States, I was obliged to relearn the lingua > franca of the dominant sub culture. > Yes we're soooooo sub culture here. We came over to Europe and rescued your European dumbasses from such high culture as the Nazis. They were too high brow for us, which offended us so much--we just didn't get it, what with the outfits, and genocide and all it was too much for us. In recent times we have lent a hand to other disasters and provided aid because of our dominant sub culture having the opportunity to give to others in need, but you are too above it all to think about that. I've worked with a lot of foreigners who come to America thinking they are better than we are, then, amazingly enough, not even as citizens, they are buying houses and raising families here, paying taxes, sending their kids to the best schools, etc. Then they have the gall to say they are better than we are. Better in what way? That you lived in Europe or outside the US and went to a European or non-American school, or that your life was more interesting than living in Kansas, the most boring place on the planet? Go back to Europe if you don't like it here. Or move to a more interesting part of the US, Kansas is hardly representative of the whole US. > Imagine my surprise upon discovering that Americans, most of whom will > exert precisely no effort to learn a foreign language, are usually > impressed by the casual use of foreign words or expressions. America is a big country. There is hardly any need to speak anything else besides English, as the majority of people in the country speak English. Get over it. ( Of course if you visit Miami you might find the need to speak Spanish, English is considered a second language there. ) We don't need to apologize for not speaking three or four languages, this is something elitist assholes like to foist upon us as something we need to feel bad about. I don't give a shit about not speaking multiple languages. I do know alot about many different languages but unless I would need to speak them, what's the point? Most European languages, including English come from Latin, so what? > Technically, these are referred to as "foreignisms". As Kenneth G. > Wilson wrote, in The Columbia Guide to Standard American English, > "Never use foreignisms to impress others with your erudition," most > Yanks simply do it to seem cool, since they don't know what erudition > means, either. > And most don't care. > So, dropping a bon mot from a language you don't know is tr's chic. > Of course, the French language (should that be "Freedom Language"?) is > currently pass' in these United States, but German is still 'ber > cool. Yiddish is always menschy, so if you can drop a "bubbele" in > while sipping your grande chai latte, then everyone will know you're > livin' la vida loca despite the fact that the closest you've come to an > actual date was sweating on a Natalie Portman body double in full Naboo > costume at the convention last year. But, hey, if some hasi questions > your machismo, you just go kung foo on the little castrati tuchas (or > at least DDOS his ISP). > Actually people like you are not tres chic, you are annoyingly arrogant. > Frequently, the meaning (and/or spelling) varies significantly. > Consider "verboten", for example. Somehow, using the German term for > "forbidden" implies the prohibition can be gotten around. This, I > understand, actually dates to an old television show called Hogan's > Heroes which portrayed the officers of a Nazi prisoner of war camp as > incompetent schmucks. If something is described as "strictly > verboten", you can bet the person using the description is planning on > doing what is by no means allowed. This is because, in the Hollywood > version, everyone in the Great Escape got away. In reality, all but > three were recaptured and most were executed. > > Of course, the British use foreign words, too, but Americans tend to be > a little more proprietary. Once we take a word from your language, you > may never recognise it, again. For that matter, the Brits can barely > recognise what we've done with their entire language. It's 'cause > we're like, totally 'ber. > Easy enough for me to say some rather offensive things about Germany, England or France, or South Africa for that matter, but I'll save all of you delicate Europeans from my thoughts on those things. What I will say is that I find Americans that suddenly have the need to apologize for being American as really offensive. What are you apologizing for? Why do Americans need to feel like we owe other countries something? We are one of the most generous countries on Earth, and yet we have to listen to elitist Eurotrash tell us we have to live up to their standard? What standard? That you think you are better than other people? I will never apologize for being a citizen of this country, nor apologize for not being able to speak other non-English languages well. Yes, there are things here that I find annoying, such as the excessive consumerism, and lots of fat people in Kansas by the way, but this is still one of the best places to live on the planet. If I decide to travel to a certain country I will learn enough to be conversant but never will apologize for being an American. The only thing that I might apologize for is that I didn't learn their language well enough. Too many people want to come and live here because of their REAL sub-human, sub-cultural existence, that they still see the USA as a bright, shining place to come and live. > Certainly, for those to whom all forms of English are foreign, this is > highly confusing. Especially when the words are used entirely > malapropriately. Sorry. Ita erat quando hic adveni. > Whatever, go back to where you came from, certainly it's better there than here, what with all this freedom, innovation, and generosity. And by the way, don't forget where Informix and IBM came from--hint hint, it wasn't Europe. > Sincerely, > > Christopher Coleman > > President > Kansas City Informix Users Group > www.iiug.org/kciug > > Database Analyst > Medication Management > Mediware Information Systems, Inc. > > PS. This entire post is due to my classical education rebelling > against the fact I reside in Kansas. > Yes whatever.

Data Goob wrote: <snip> Chill dude. It doesn't matter where you go, people are people are people. I grew up exposed to the best and worst of both "sub cultures", and neither of them can play Rugby for a damn. There is really only one culture of truely modest, brave, smart, strong, good looking, well humoured and honorable people on this earth, who live in a god given land of plenty, that would be near to perfection, except for the neighbours.

"Mark Townsend" <markbtownsend@comcast.net> wrote in message news:42AB8C44.1000600@comcast.net... > There is really only one culture of truely modest, brave, smart, strong, > good looking, well humoured and honorable people on this earth, who > live in a god given land of plenty, that would be near to perfection, > except for the neighbours. What have you got against New Zealand?

"Captain Pedantic" <theharlequin36@hotmail.com> wrote in message news:3h2aguFdpv5oU1@individual.net... > "Mark Townsend" <markbtownsend@comcast.net> wrote in message > news:42AB8C44.1000600@comcast.net... > > There is really only one culture of truely modest, brave, smart, strong, > > good looking, well humoured and honorable people on this earth, who > > live in a god given land of plenty, that would be near to perfection, > > except for the neighbours. > > What have you got against New Zealand? > He likes vowels?