My comments about language (yesterday) seem to be echoing around the net with some speed. In the course of the day I have written a very apologetic e-mail to Tracy for using her as a launch-pad for what is clearly a much larger rant, been chastised for criticising American culture as low-brow (never my intention), been introduced to the regional variations of dialect in Newfoundland, been agreed with by a New Zealander and told I am naive by someone else. Here’s a selection of the best comments that have emerged in response to my ravings:
Matthew Rossi: “When you just assume the rest of the world exists to become more like you, you don’t need to worry about things like [culture]. America is a monster. A bastard born out of deformed magecraft and naked opportunism, it rolls over other national identities like the Cohort of Julius Caesar meeting Vercingtorix. Bastard confident, a great big engine that chews up shit and blood and hate and spits it out all over the landscape.”
Prolific: “I was taught by mostly Brits and Americans in a teacher training college in Utrecht. Oddly, there were none of the ‘my English is better than yours’ vibes there, perhaps because these were language teachers. We were told ‘adopt an accent, any accent, be it American, English, Welsh or Irish. It will help you sound more convincing.'”
Kitsch Bitsch: “I can most wholeheartedly agree with Tom when he says that the worldwide awareness of American vernacular far excedes the average American’s awareness of regional versions of the language.”
Daily Doozer: “I don’t want to get into a nasty argument about cultural imperialism and the proliferation of American media. I don’t want, particularly, to talk about any perceived or real damaging societal effects. Personally, I think that at the moment I’m a typical student and I’ve completely lost faith in capitalism (and it’s probably a phase I’ll go through before I become a corporate lawyer).”