"That's where we make our mistake," he said, "-letting all them people onto English. There'd be a heap less trouble if everybody only knew his own language."
Flannery O'Connor "The Displaced Person"
English is the language of business, similar to the way French was formally. (Go Napoleon!) A universally understood language has been considered good business practice for, well, a long time. I guess Mr. Shortley doesn't agree - at least in terms of English.
In 1887, Esperanto was introduced by Dr. L.L. Zamenhof. Esperanto is an international language intended for the purpose of universal understanding. (How well that is working out for everyone is debatable. I don't know Esperanto - I've never had the opportunity to learn Esperanto - so how universal is that?)
This entire concept is what Mr. Shortley is arguing against and he wouldn't have even had to learn a new language! I'm not going to argue for or against Mr. Shortley. I guess I just don't see a point in doing so. I will say however that ignorance is bliss - and that includes understanding the words going on around you. If you don't understand, the words have no power over you. Without understanding however, you have no power over those words.
Posted by Diana Geleskie at May 9, 2007 2:17 PMI think there should be a universal language. It's sound :)
Posted by: RACHELLLLL (H) at June 16, 2007 10:00 AM