Peninsular Napoleonics Not-Kickstarter!

[jimduncanuk]

There are many reasons English is the lingua franca of our age rather than French or German and I'm sure one of those reasons is the absurdity of having to work out the gender of inanimate objects. There are enough problems agreeing the descriptions of the various points on the sliding scale of human genders without having to consider whether the sideboard is male, female or gender fluid

She's right.

[FierceKitty]

I'm with you that not all change is healthy growth. And mindless wokery-pokery is in dire need of a bit of common sense by now, and serves only to discredit the legitimate features of its own agenda. But German genders are a piece of cake, really. It's the way a sentence can go on over half a page that is the weakness of that lingo!

[FierceKitty]

.

[DecemDave]

She's right.

She always is

[Ithoriel]

She's not always right .... but she's never wrong

Though I presume Jim is not necessarily referring to a "she" as commonly defined ... or am I reading a deeper meaning than was intended?

[jimduncanuk]

 

[John Cook]

But German genders are a piece of cake, really.

They are, once you get used to it.  So are French.  But, I learnt Latin for my O-levels.  Although I dropped it for A-Level, it certainly helped when it came to French and, 20 years later, when the army decided I needed to learn German, although not a romance language, I reckon it didn't hurt then either.  But, what is English if it isn't a variety of plattdeutsch anyway

[Ithoriel]

But, what is English if it isn't a variety of plattdeutsch anyway

It is the mongrel tongue of a race that roamed the planet plundering everything that could be funnelled back to the mother country - vocabulary included

[Glorfindel]

>> It is the mongrel tongue...

I'm not a linguist by any means but expect every language takes something from others so 'Mongrel tongue' is quite normal.

>> a race that roamed the planet plundering everything that could be funnelled back to the mother country

Definitely a number of other contenders here as well.   Spanish Empire ?   Roman Empire ?


Phil

[Ithoriel]

True, Glorfindel but while the Romans undoubtedly incorporated some words from other languages into Latin (I don't know enough about Spanish to comment) it did not seem to change as much as English. In addition to the incorporation of the Germanic and French influences, courtesy of our invaders and allies, "the empire upon which the sun never sets" allowed us to pillage vocabulary on a global scale. French purists may rail against "le weekend" but the English Language seems to hoover up new words with gay abandon!

Anywho (sic) .... how did we get here from the Peninsular Napoleonics Not-Kickstarter?

[John Cook]

how did we get here from the Peninsular Napoleonics Not-Kickstarter?

I think the post of 20 May 2022, 01:56:36 PM might have something to do with it

[Ithoriel]

Pretty sure it started with John Cook

2022-05-20, 13:28:02

[John Cook]

Pretty sure it started with John Cook

Nonsense.  I didn't elicit a response and posed no question, not even rhetorically.  That was entirely your choice.  I think you are just looking for trouble  

[tony of TTT]

Most of the changes that differentiate English from modern German & Germanic languages actually came about between the time when Saxons etc. had a secure hold on most of Britain and the formation of a single kingdom. Many remnants remained in the language up until recent times and still do in dialects.

Long before the English went empire building the Saxons had a rich legacy of tales and songs, Chaucer showed that being civilised & christian hadn't stopped the English being creative and we'd produced one of the world's greatest playwrights just before our empire got started in a small way. There must be something about English (the language) or British (the people) that makes copying them attractive to others.

[FierceKitty]

(cue crowd in Trafalgar Square waving flags and singing "Rule Britannia"; cut to Churchill voice over "This was their finest hour" with image of Vera Lynn shooting down a Messerschmidt; list great British accomplishments in scrolling screen...Harry Potter...Page 3 of The Sun...the Carry On series...partitioning India...bodyline bowling...Mrs Beeton...Deploy armed guards to prevent patrons from leaving cinema...)