Whomever comes over to the western hemisphere SHOULD be required to only speak what we do.Being multilingual makes as much sense as such nonsense as every state having completely different laws of the road you must have to learn to function in that state,what the what is the point except for showing off purposes.There are so many things a person already has to contend with that keeps life bogged down that i just what to say to the clerk at McDonalds:" ".. just gimmie a dam hamburger without pickles please"

Life SHOULD be the old:
KISS-Keep It Simple Stupids"

Our previous Prime Minister (Mr Blair) speaks fluent French. The French were famously gob-smacked the first time he went there and delivered his speech to them in their language.

We're not quite as bad as the Americans, but the "speak English or die" attitude of some of my countrymen abroad mortifies me. I am fluent in French and get by in Italian and Spanish. None of which were difficult to acquire, and from which I derive a great deal of pleasure, both while traveling and at home via foreign magazines, websites and TV channels.

Those who won't even make the effort are, in my experience, either intellectually lazy or xenophobic philistines.

Since the Western Hemisphere is comprised of North, South, and Central America, which "we" would that be? At the very least, English, French, and Spanish is spoken in the Western Hemisphere. Anyway, if we're going to make them learn the language before they're allowed to come over here, let's at least make sure they learn the rules of punctuation and grammar (not to mention spelling). In fact, that's not such a bad idea after all; we could start a whole new movement towards literacy in this country.

chas

I once dated a girl from Calgary. She didn't say eh, she said OOOOOHHH!

DonM

Oh dam,guess i'm a lazy xenophobic easterner living as a westerner.All humans speaking one language would be the common sense to life approach..it sure WOULD make user manuals a helluva alot thinner,thus saving many more trees,thus putting aL gORE
out on his arse.

Seamaster, I don't believe I'm intellectually lazy, so I must be one of those other things. I'll look it up one of these days when I get the time and energy.

Chas, I agree that we mostly BUTCHER the English language. I get so angry at TV announcers who do not know that their constant use of such phrases as The Reason Why, Continue On, Whether or Not, etc. are teaching our children to be illiterate.
Also, the confusion of the meaning of words such as affect and effect, accept and except,
appraise and apprise, comprise, oh the list is way too long.
One of my pet peeves is the misuse of words such as Hopefully. Hopefully is what is knows as a "dangling modifier".
To say "Hopefully they will arrive on time," isn't wrong, as long as you mean they will arrive feeling hopefull. It does NOT mean you hope they arrive on time.
Is this nit-picking? It has been misused so often nobody seems to be aware that it is incorrect, so is it?
I gotta run. Not really, but I need to be somewhere else right now. Hopefully, I'll make it on time.
DonM

If someone claiming to be gifted in areas of intellectually superiority cannot even grasp the jist of what i may be intentionally or unintentionally mispelling,i deem that 'intellectual' a dumbass..if i said to a 911 operator;
"git ovr hear,some1 iz robin my howse" and the operator says:"ok first of all i cannot crack your code of speech with my harvard degree,are you lazy or did you complete grade 12?"..if you cannot get the jist of things in life,Dr.Phil is your man of undiagnoised issues.Can't understand what someone is saying,then learn my 'forma't?
See, suddenly MY form of language of 'Jist' is deemed an unfit eastern of mega lazy proportions.Who's to say my speech is not really the commone sense approach to those wanting such a red taped babblisms.

Do we have many earth's here on Earth? No,just ONE Earth,why not one language..one Sun,one language,one life one speech..is my 'lazy' showing with all this text?Why is the language of jist under such racist attack by the under employed spell police?Some of the bothered should be forced to marry someone of a complete different tongue,wonder how that would work out for you,actually i don't.IF you seriously cannot understand 'jistism',i suspect an ego is the the roadway of superior scoldings of 'you must do it this way'as i have spoken.Jistism is a nice little way of saying 'no sheeple here'.



[This message has been edited by mr9000 (edited 08-12-2009).]

No, but something else is.

chas

Common sense is much like those who thought it impossible to fly.

-"Western Hemisphere" should be capitalized (proper noun)

-"you must have to learn" should be "have to learn" or "must learn"

-"dam" should be "damn"

-there should be a space after commas and periods

-"MacDonalds" should be "MacDonald's"

-"keep it simple stupids" should be "keep it simple, stupid"

-"what the what" should be "then what"

-"I just what to say" should be "I just want to say"

-"without pickles please" should be "without pickles, please"


The USA does not have an official language.



Phonetically correct so it won't make any difference. It would only make a difference if you wrote it that way. So your point here is of no value.

I am happily married (and what a beauty she is) to someone who speaks a different language and whose language I am now learning. Respect begets respect, hatred begets hatred.

Since China is the most populous nation on earth it would only be fair for everyone to speak Chinese. Majority wins, after all.

Guess what, with your butchering of the English language you'd more than likely fail the American Citizenship Test! Back on the boat you go!

Gosh, I simply refuse to speak English when it is demanded by arrogant and racist people.

Dzai4 jian4!

Taike, the Intellectual Dumbass" aka Ru2 Shang Da4 Ben4 Dan4