Mother Tongue

Fülszöveg

THE WORLD'S LANGUAGE More than 300 millión people in the world speak English and the rest, it sometimes seems, try to. It would be charitable to say that the results are sometimes mixed. Consider this hearty announcement in a Yugoslavian hotel: 'The flattening of underwear with pleasure is the job of the chambermaid. Turn to her straightaway.' Or this warning to motorists in Tokyo: 'When a passenger of the foot heave in sight, tootle the horn. Trumpet at him melodiously at first, but if he still obstacles your passage, then tootle him with vigour.' Or these instructions gracing a packet of fast food from Italy: 'Besmear a backing pan, previously buttered with a good tomato sauce, and, after, dispose the cannelloni, lightly distanced between them in a only couch.' Clearly the writer of that message was not about to let a little ignorance of English stand in the way of a good meal. In fact, it would appear that one ofthe beauties ofthe English language is that with even the most... Tovább

Fülszöveg

THE WORLD'S LANGUAGE More than 300 millión people in the world speak English and the rest, it sometimes seems, try to. It would be charitable to say that the results are sometimes mixed. Consider this hearty announcement in a Yugoslavian hotel: 'The flattening of underwear with pleasure is the job of the chambermaid. Turn to her straightaway.' Or this warning to motorists in Tokyo: 'When a passenger of the foot heave in sight, tootle the horn. Trumpet at him melodiously at first, but if he still obstacles your passage, then tootle him with vigour.' Or these instructions gracing a packet of fast food from Italy: 'Besmear a backing pan, previously buttered with a good tomato sauce, and, after, dispose the cannelloni, lightly distanced between them in a only couch.' Clearly the writer of that message was not about to let a little ignorance of English stand in the way of a good meal. In fact, it would appear that one ofthe beauties ofthe English language is that with even the most tenuous grasp you can speak volumes if you show enough enthusiasm - a willingness to tootle with vigour, as it were. To be fair, English is full of booby traps for the unwary foreigner. Any language where the unassuming word jiy signifies an annoying insect, a means of travel, and a critical part of a gentleman's apparel is clearly asking to be mangled. Imagine being a foreigner and having to learn that in English one telis a lie but the truth, that an American who says 'I could care less' means the same thing as someone who says 'I couldn't care less', that a sign in a shop saying all items not on sale Vissza