2026-09-20 18:03 UTC
Replies (3)
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@IrateAnteater@sh.itjust.works 2026-09-20 18:09
I think this is one of the reasons why English (or it’s descendants) will forever be the international language of trade. If it’s not your first language, it’s damn difficult to make yourself sound like a native speaker, but it’s damn easy to make yourself understood.
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@NABDad@lemmy.world 2026-09-20 21:33
I remember an interview with Lisa Kudrow in which she described her French boyfriend’s failure to remember the English word for toes, and said they were foot fingers. English: if the people you’re talking to understand what you’re saying, you’re ok. Even if the people you’re talking to don’t understand what you’re saying, you’re still ok. Just be fancy with your words, and everyone will like it.
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@cynar@lemmy.world 2026-09-21 07:00
I still like the theory that the industrial revolution kicked off in England due to the English language. English has an amalgam of several different root languages. This gives it an unusual amount of flexibility and granularity. This helps hugely with crystallising newer ideas into words. This, in turn gave English a slight advantage over France, Germany etc.