For TR

Gypsy · 07-11-2006, 15:29

Couldn't decide where to post...here or the Soapbox.

**The Reaper** · 07-11-2006, 20:36

I called the electric company earlier today and was thinking the exact same thing.

If I was in Mexico, I would understand having to push a number for English, but not Spanish.

Thanks much!

TR

Gypsy · 07-11-2006, 20:47

TR I've noticed it everywhere I call, and on the ATM machines as well.

You're welcome!

12B4S · 07-12-2006, 03:36

LOL Gypsy,

Great pic. Ya don't EVEN want to know what it is like down here.

Solid · 07-12-2006, 04:13

If only the corporations weren't so whorish for the Mexican clientele. Politicans have started doing the same... with the immigrant population growing at the rates it is, soon we'll have bi-lingual Presidential speeches, and soon, a large portion of the US will be international-business ineffective.

Economic doomsday, I tell you!

Speak American!

Solid

Air.177 · 07-12-2006, 09:51

Quote:

Originally Posted by Solid

.... Politicans have started doing the same... with the immigrant population growing at the rates it is, soon we'll have bi-lingual Presidential speeches...
Solid

If you thought "Ich bin ein Berliner" was bad, wait until Gore or Kerry attempt a speech in spanish

x SF med · 07-12-2006, 09:58

I grew up in NYC - "American" was an odd mix of English, Italian, Yiddish and whatever else was part of the neighborhood.

"Hey, Joey, you putz, you're giving me ajida, didi over here so I can bust you one in the head, you pinchi chingadero." Is an acceptable, intelligible and complete sentence in NYC. (apologies if the Spanish is offensive to anybody)

lrd · 07-12-2006, 10:33

Quote:

Originally Posted by x_sf_med

I grew up in NYC - "American" was an odd mix of English, Italian, Yiddish and whatever else was part of the neighborhood.

"Hey, Joey, you putz, you're giving me ajida, didi over here so I can bust you one in the head, you pinchi chingadero." Is an acceptable, intelligible and complete sentence in NYC. (apologies if the Spanish is offensive to anybody)

I'm not sure if I understand the meaning of your post. Do you think we should or shouldn't have to choose to speak American English in America?

American English is a very fluid language, incorporating words from many languages. Your sentence is American English (structure, grammar, terms) incorporating individual words from other languages, not the reverse. If you had to choose one language for that sentence, what would it be?

x SF med · 07-12-2006, 10:52

lrd-
You got the exact point I was trying to make - Idiomatic / Vugate American English is fluid, is dynamic and incorporates phrases, phrasing and words/idioms from other languages, based on the region of the country where used, or the group setting in which used.

Standard American English is that which would follow the rules set forth by Strunk/White, Orwell, Hodges, et al. and use only those foreign phrases readily accepted by the 'majority', and would be branded school or university English.

Use the word 'fixin' in NYC - and you are branded an outsider - although it is your 'standard' Idiomatic American English in the south. Inject 'already' every third word in the south, and you are branded an outsider - even though it is common in NYC. Either is accepted as normal in its 'home' but is seen as non standard in another region. Military English is acceptable among soldiers - but loses coherency to civilians - and the subset of SF Military English narrows it down even further.

All of us switch among the various different American Englishes in our frames of reference everyday.

**Roguish Lawyer** · 07-12-2006, 11:01

I like to choose the Spanish option every now and then just to practice.

lrd · 07-12-2006, 11:10

I just wanted to make sure that I understood.

I think I would feel the same about this issue (push "1" for English) no matter what language it was in. I shouldn't have to do it. On the other hand, I don't want us to develop a language police like they have in France.

RL - Unfortunately, I took German. I don't know...maybe I would feel different if I understood the optional language.

x SF med · 07-12-2006, 11:17

oh, and here in the northeast - you can occasionally get options for:
Portugese
Russian
Polish
Korean
Mandarin
Japanese
Turkish
Farsi
Arabic
Urdu
Peshwar
Hindi

need I go on?

and once I actually got the option for Esperanto

Gypsy · 07-12-2006, 19:04

Quote:

Originally Posted by 12B4S

LOL Gypsy,

Great pic. Ya don't EVEN want to know what it is like down here.

I'm sure I can't even begin to imagine.

OTOH, and a somewhat serious post for this forum, the state of CO is doing something about it. One of the State Reps was interviewed on a talk radio show this morning.

http://www.latimes.com/news/nationwo...tion-headlines

Colo. OKs Toughest U.S. Immigration Bills
By STEVEN K. PAULSON and JON SARCHE, Associated Press Writers
7:00 AM PDT, July 11, 2006

DENVER -- Colorado lawmakers ended a five-day special session on illegal immigration with a resounding approval of several bills that Democrats call the toughest in the nation and Republicans say don't go far enough.

The legislation sent late Monday to Republican Gov. Bill Owens would force a million people receiving state or federal aid in Colorado to verify their citizenship.

It would deny most non-emergency state benefits to illegal immigrants 18 years old and older -- forcing people to prove legal residency when applying for benefits or renewing their eligibility. The state Senate passed it 22-13 and the House voted 48-15 in favor. Both chambers are controlled by Democrats.

"At the end of the day, everybody who serves in this building as senators or representatives knows we're making Colorado history," said the bill's sponsor, Senate President Joan Fitz-Gerald. "We want to be able to look in the mirror and say we did legislation that is tough, enforceable and humane."

Republicans said the legislation still left glaring loopholes, including allowing benefits for minors and denying voters the chance to have a direct say on the issue.

The bill would apply to Medicare, Medicaid, unemployment insurance, energy assistance programs and aging and adult services. Owens has said an estimated 50,000 illegal immigrants could be thrown out of those programs.

"It simply puts teeth into existing federal regulations," Owens said.

Sen. Dan Grossman, one of four Democrats to vote against the measure, said: "I don't think the poor people of the state of Colorado or businesses of the state of Colorado should have to pay because we want to play politics with immigration."

Congress has been debating immigration reform for months, sparking demonstrations this spring involving millions of illegal immigrants and their supporters in several cities. With no major federal changes yet, however, some local governments have been taking matters into their own hands.

Last month, the City Council of Hazleton, Pa., tentatively approved a measure that would revoke the business licenses of companies that employ illegal immigrants; impose $1,000 fines on landlords who rent to illegal immigrants; and make English the city's official language.

"Illegal immigrants are destroying the city," Hazleton's Republican Mayor Lou Barletta said then. "I don't want them here, period."

Two Florida communities, Palm Bay and Avon Park, are considering similar immigration measures.

Idaho's Canyon County took a different tack -- it filed a racketeering lawsuit against agricultural companies accused of hiring illegal immigrants. A federal judge threw the case out, but county commissioners voted to appeal.

**Jack Moroney (RIP)** · 07-12-2006, 19:08

Quote:

Originally Posted by Air.177

If you thought "Ich bin ein Berliner" was bad, wait until Gore or Kerry attempt a speech in spanish

I'd be happy if they, and the rest of their contemporaries, would just speak simple, straight forward English.

Solid · 07-13-2006, 02:24

Politics, business, and education should remain in English. I couldn't care less what street-talk or informal conversation is carried out in, but English remains the global language of business, and will remain so for the next 50-100 years (I know someone will say Indian or Chinese, but honestly... their businessmen (and in the case of India, everyone) speak English anyway). If a large portion of the US population continue to be pandered to in their native language to seize votes and business patronage, and thereby lose the ability to speak english... My great country will suffer economically. And that cannot and shall not happen.

Otherwise, it's all good.

Solid