| |
| |
|
Language Information |
|
|
|
English Has Come A Long, Long Way...
I often wonder what would happen if Shakespeare were to be transported in a time machine to our world today. What would he think? How would he react? Yes, Willie would probably tell me "thou hast too much time on thy hands if thou spendeth it wondering about such flights of fancy." But only after he found his feet. You see, Willie would be blown away by some of the comforts we take for granted. For instance, that box we walk into. The doors close all by themselves...just like magic. When they open, we are magically in a different place. "What callest thou this contraption?" Willie would ask in utter amazement. An elevator. You would think nothing would phase a man who just landed his time machine 400 years into the future. "Ah, I see. It was not magic after all. It elevated us, because it is an elevator." This Willie guy is pretty handy with his English, isn't he? But that won't get him far these days. A hundred years ago, even fifty, he could have figured out just about every new word by tracing its roots (often to Greek or Latin). But not today. "What are those...those...those, things?" Why that's a TV, with a VCR and a DVD player. Over there, it's a CD player, an AM and FM radio and an amp. This is a PC, with CDRW and floppy drives, a powerful CPU, A and C drive, and more RAM than a MAC. "What? Thy alphabet seems a bit confusing." Once upon a time, the meaning of a word could always be guessed by simply tracing the entomology of the word back to its lowest roots. "Thou meanest 'etymology', dost thou not? Entomology is the study of insects and bugs." I knew that. I took out a 'Kleenex' because my nose was running. "But how dost thy nose run?" I suppose the same way I drivest on a parkway and parkest in the driveway. Or how it doesn't matter whether we fill in a form or fill out a form...either way, the taxman gets the last laugh. I offered to take Willie for a ride. "That is more like it. There is nothing quite like a horse under one's bottom.' No, no, no. We don't ride horses anymore. That is a barbaric way to treat such majestic beasts. Now we drive cars...and kill the horses off with the exhaust. "I have no idea what you are talking about." Just have a seat in the BMW, Willie, while I turn on the AC and rev up the RPMs on this old V6. Before you know it, we'll be doing 100 mph down the 102. "More letters and numbers. Have words become redundant in the future?" Pretty much. As life got more and more complicated, words got more and more complicated. Pretty soon it was taking several minutes just to pronounce a single government department. So real word groups had to be replaced by acronyms - the first letter of each word. Pass me a CANDY. "What does CANDY stand for?" Candy, actually. But maybe I should just leave old Willie guessing. After all, there is just so much to discover in this brave new world. Like why there are so few sundials around. And why some people sleep on the street, while other climb 34 stories to an office tower above to sleep at their desks. And just how do they shrink those liquor bottles for the airlines. "What is an RSVP? And ASAP? And TLC?" I had to find just the right way to explain to him that all these crazy letters actually made some kind of sense. Internal Department of Income Overhaul Transfer Systems. "Ah, IDIOTS. Now, that I understand!" About The Author Like Shakespeare, David Leonhardt is a writer: He is author of: Inspiration & Motivation To Go: http://www.thehappyguy.com/l/daily-motivation-inspiration.php The Get Happy Workbook: http://www.thehappyguy.com/happiness-work-book.html and Climb Your Stairway to Heaven: the 9 habits of maximum happiness: http://www.thehappyguy.com/happiness-self-help-book.html To write your website copy, newsletter or anything else, email him at: info@thehappyguy.com
MORE RESOURCES:
Language - Google News |
|
|
|
RELATED ARTICLES
What Does an Interpreter Do? Many people get confused as to the difference between an interpreter and a translator. There is a common tendency to think translators interpreter, or that interpreters translate. Japanese Kanji Learning: Short-Cuts to Rapid Mastery (Part 1) What? Kanji can be learned quickly? This seems an impossible dream to many students of Japanese who come from a non-kanji language culture. Even hiragana and katakana seem impossibly hard to the average beginner, so remembering kanji, with all their intricate strokes and multiple readings, can appear to be beyond the abilities of the human mind. Aphasia: The Cruelest Language Barrier Imagine the following scenario: You wake up one morning and instead of speaking English, everyone around you--including your family and friends--is speaking Hungarian. This is a problem because you don't speak Hungarian and you don't have a clue what they're saying. GROUSE ... GROUSE ... GROUSE!!! I realize that we here in the United States consider ourselves at the top rung of the educational ladder, if only for the fact that so many foreign language students are breaking their necks to come here to both study and live English.But, on second glance, we should not deceive ourselves. Learning a Foreign Language: Why Should you Learn Words You Never Use in Your Mother Tongue? Imagine a child sitting in front of a desk, his head in his hands, and mumbling various lists of words over and over. Does this child remind you of your own experience? If yes, I bet that "list of words" does not sound appealing to you. 7 Words Americans Should Stop Using Until Further Investigation Relationship: Here is a word that is used to qualify, justify and honey coat just about every nefarious, sleazy or reprehensible union between almost anybody and anything. Recently on an edition of the Jerry Springer show a guest was about to be interviewed who was getting it on with a very close relative. Online IELTS Preparation - Why Does It Make Sense? Because IELTS is a difficult test. While most agree that IELTS is a reasonable test, it is generally regarded as one of the most challenging tests of its type. Learn Italian for Free Italian is one of the most widespread languages in the world, and speaking it can give you a tremendous sense of accomplishment, an edge in your career, and even a stronger bond with your ancestors if you are of Italian descent. There are many ways you can learn Italian, including textbooks, tapes, CDs, software, group classes or private lessons, but there are also ways you can begin or continue your studies of the Italian language entirely for FREE!1. Show Me the Bunny: Language Acquisition Some children are really funny about experimenting with speech. Nonetheless, the first intelligible words bring such a feeling of elation to a parent. Teaching English in Mexico: A Decent Living? What's more disappointing than a person who makes a promise he can't keep? A person who makes a promise that is a lie. Many promises to make a "decent living" teaching English in Mexico are just that-a lie. Bridging the Language Gap Using Bilingual Picture Books There are more than 39 million Hispanics live in the United States making it the fifth largest Spanish-speaking nation in the world. It is estimated that within five years, only Mexico will have more Spanish-speakers than the U. How To Learn Spanish Quickly and Easily Spanish is a very useful language to learn as it is the world's second most popular language.Outside of the popular coastal tourist resorts a basic knowledge of Spanish is invaluable. English Slang For Perplexed Tourists I watched the British version of 'Big Brother' recently. That's the television show which is a human hamster cage. Learn Korean: Part 2 - Social Status in Culture Part 1 of this series covered the language and language families in general for the Asian languages. Part 2 will cover the social conduct that is seen throughout Asian countries. Second Language Competence Beneficial but often Misunderstood Second language learning has associated with it many types of benefits. Among them include: social, economic, intellectual and linguistic. Learn Italian in Your Hometown Are you interested in learning the Italian language right in your own hometown? There are several options that you can explore to find the Italian classes that are just perfect for you! First, you should consider whether you would you enjoy the interaction that takes place among students in group classes, or if you would prefer the one-on-one attention of a private instructor.1. Learning a Foreign Language: Learn from the Blind In a previous article, you read that to establih your own lists was the best way to learn vocabulary as fast as possible. Let's study what an effective list looks like. Mexican Living: Todays Obsession I would like to talk about one of my many obsessions: learning Spanish. I have been thinking about this lately mostly because I am under the impression that, though I've lived in Mexico for two years, my Spanish sucks in a major way. English Language Sputtering Online Like an Old Ford! Sad, but true. Just about everywhere you look online, the English language is suffering a fate worse than death. Learning French in Paris Nothing can be more frustrating than to be in France and not been able to speak their language. For, I remember the days when I was among people chanting around in a language totally alien to me, and me, trying to bring a smile in my face while shaking my head from north to south doing as if I am getting everything what they are speaking about, and waiting impatiently for my French wife to do the translation - and I can't deny, that that was not the most comfortable period of my life.
|
| home | site map |
| Web Site Development - Search Engine Marketing: Dream Team Media |
