Word: englishness
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Dates: during 1980-1989
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...American invasion, which they deplore as "cultural imperialism." France's AGULF has spent the past nine years suing organizations that violate France's law against the commercial use of foreign terms. It has had small fines imposed on about 40 defendants, including the Paris Opera and TWA (for issuing English-language boarding cards...
Most linguistic experts strongly oppose such artificial attempts to control language by decree. They argue that languages must keep changing as new problems arise and new information needs to be communicated. Besides, the portion of English words in any major language is not statistically large --generally less than 5%, according to some estimates--and the process of adopting new words follows a sort of international balance of trade. Discotheque came into American usage from France, posh from England, brainwashing from China and so on. "I dislike any form of nationalism," says Italian Novelist Alberto Moravia, "least of all a nationalistic...
...extent that such a nationalism reflects social prejudices, the criticisms become self-contradictory. Lillian Chao, professor of English emeritus at National Taiwan University, fears that the spread of English is doing subtle damage. "China has always been a civilization of great politeness and courtesy," she says. "But now our young people, through the English they're studying, are learning to be so offhanded. They say 'Hi' to everyone they greet, and everything is 'O.K.' " Well, exactly...
...Lionel Richie and Stevie Wonder. The government-supported national radio station tried to ban Wonder, but gave up after his fans began tuning in to his songs on foreign stations. Still, it is not so keen on the final entry on Stevie's current album. Delivered in both English and the South African tribal tongue of Xhosa, the song is called It's Wrong (Apartheid...
Everyone everywhere can drink Coke (almost $3 billion in foreign sales) and wear Levi's ($600 million) and watch Little House on the Prairie (broadcast in 110 countries). The lingua franca dispersion of English is both a cause and an effect of pop's global reach, but American pop commodities are also successful abroad because they work. Blue jeans are well designed and rugged. Most Hollywood filmmaking is technically impeccable. "American TV is extraordinarily beguiling to the Poles," says Sociologist Jeffrey Goldfarb, who lived in Warsaw for 18 months, "for the technical quality alone...