LINGUIST List 4.683

Thu 09 Sep 1993

Disc: More cross-cultural fun

Editor for this issue: <>

Directory

  • , inappropriate English
  • Lisa Reed, more fun
  • Natalie Maynor, Re: 4.666 More fun: inappropriate English
  • "Anne M Loring-1", Re: 4.666 More fun: inappropriate English
  • , RE: 4.652 More Fun

    Message 1: inappropriate English

     Date: Sun, 05 Sep 1993 19:09:39 inappropriate English
    From: <GURTguvax.acc.georgetown.edu>
    Subject: inappropriate English


    So far, we've been working with a definition of "inappropriate English" that goes something like: English used by nonnative speakers in a way that seems inappropriate to native speakers." But what about English used by native speakers of one variety of English that seems inappropriate to speakers of another variety?

    One such example is discussed by Martin Amis in his review of John Bly's "Iron John: A Book About Men" ("Return of the Male," London Times, February 7, 1993). Amis's exegesis is so elegant, it would be a shame to paraphrase, so here are the relevant paragraphs:

    _Iron John,_ a short work of psychological, literary and anthropological speculation by the poet Robret Bly, `dominated' the New York Times best-seller list for nearly a year, and has made, as we shall see, a heavy impact on many aspects of American life. It has not done so well over here. For this there are many reasons, but let us begin with the most trivial. _Iron John_ runs into trouble - into outright catastrophe - with the first word of its title. I don't know why I find this quite so funny (what's WRONG with me?); I don't know why I still scream with laughter every time I think about it. Is it the spectacle of Bly's immediate self-defeat? Or is it because the title itself so firmly establishes the cultural impossibility of taking _Iron John_ straight? Anyway, here's the difficulty: iron is rhyming slang for `male homosexual'. Just as ginger (ginger beer) means `queer', so, I'm afraid, iron (iron hoof) means `poof'. At my local sports club in Paddington, where I do most of my male bonding, there is much talk about irons. Not long ago I joined in a conversation whose notional aim was to select an iron football team. The mood was earnest rather than hostile, and we didn't get very far with this particular team sheet. `Chairman: Elton John. Elton IS an iron, isn't he?' `Centre-forward: Justin Fashanu. HE'S an iron. He came clean about it in the _Sun._' So I can easily conjure the fickle leers that would await me if, one morning, I walked into the club saying: `Well, guys - there's a new book about men that says we should take all our clothes off and rough-house in the woods. It says we should hang out more with older men. It's called _Iron John._

    Joan C. Cook Department of Linguistics Georgetown University GURTguvax.georgetown.edu

    Message 2: more fun

     Date: Mon, 06 Sep 93 11:57:13 EDmore fun
    From: Lisa Reed <LREEDacadvm1.uottawa.ca>
    Subject: more fun


    Reading Ian MacKay's example involving the translation of "Gentle cycle machine wash" into French as "Aimable bicyclette machine pour laver" reminded me that there is actually a show here in Canada called Metropolis which collects such examples, broadcasting them under the heading "Le francais heavy metal" = Heavy Metal French. The show is hosted by a comedian named JiCi Lauzon with a format roughly equivalent to that of The Tonight Show. If your example is selected you get a prize - a T-shirt, I think. Anyway, for anyone interested in trying, just send your "perle" to: JiCi Radio Canada Emission Metropolis Case Postale 6000 Station "A" Montreal, Quebec H3C 3A8 Canada

    P.S. They accept not only examples like the preceding, but also ones which are totally incomprehensible, like Nancy Frishberg's.

    Lisa Reed University of Ottawa

    Message 3: Re: 4.666 More fun: inappropriate English

    Date: Mon, 6 Sep 1993 12:27:20 -Re: 4.666 More fun: inappropriate English
    From: Natalie Maynor <maynorRa.MsState.Edu>
    Subject: Re: 4.666 More fun: inappropriate English


    There's an especially funny collection of bad translations available via ftp from ftp.msstate.edu as docs/words-l/Funnies/translations. --Natalie (maynorra.msstate.edu)

    Message 4: Re: 4.666 More fun: inappropriate English

    Date: Tue, 7 Sep 1993 15:46:33 -Re: 4.666 More fun: inappropriate English
    From: "Anne M Loring-1" <loringmaroon.tc.umn.edu>
    Subject: Re: 4.666 More fun: inappropriate English


    One of my favorite eating spots is a down-home, folksy place whose decor runs to weathered barn board wall finishes, photos of antique farm equipment and shotgun-brandishing fellows with corncob pipes clenched between their teeth, rusty hurricane lamps, etc. A sign by the exit reads: "Ya'll come back" (abbreviating "Ya will come back"?) (No, for those of you unaccustomed to such folksiness, that's "You all come back!")

    I've run across similar usages of apostrophes, placed almost at random SOMEWHERE within an abbreviated spelling of a phrase or word to indicate informal or dialect pronunciation. Several variants of "little" informalized include (no citation quotes used here): lil' l'il 'lil' and li'l (which to the prescriptionist within me seems closest to hitting the mark-- though if apostrophes are supposed to indicate missing material, there's more missing at the end of the word, isn't there?)

    Message 5: RE: 4.652 More Fun

    Date: Wed, 8 Sep 93 16:26 GMT
    From: <HILTONMWESTMINSTER.AC.UK>
    Subject: RE: 4.652 More Fun


    I have just broken into this inappropriate English discussion, and wonder if anyone has mentioned my favourite example, which was the pretty high-powered sports car marketed in the UK by Mitsubishi under the name 'Starion'. I'm convinced that some Japanese executive must have thought "Ah, Starion - velly stlong horse - good name." This was confirmed by the Chinese husband of a freind, who had one, and was convinced that that was what it meant!

    And the sign above a car workshop in Bangalore, India, which advertised their services for "Engines, electrical, bodywork ... and tinkerings". How wonderful to have tinkerer as one's official job!

    Mark Hilton University of Westminster