A U.S. Navy Admiral was attending a naval conference that included
admirals from the U.S., English, Canadian, Australian and French Navies.
At a cocktail reception, he found himself standing with a group of half
dozen or so officers that included personnel from most of the countries.
Everyone was chatting away in English as they sipped their drinks, but a
French admiral suddenly complained that, whereas Europeans learn many
languages, Americans learn only English. He then asked: “Why is it that
we always have to speak English in these conferences rather than
speaking French?”
Without hesitating, the American Admiral replied: Maybe it’s because the
Brits, Canadians, Aussies, and Americans arranged it so you wouldn’t
have to speak German."
A French politician was bemoaning the fact that the British wont give up their EU rebate. “You Briteesh are so onreasonabule” he said to a UK TV reporter. When asked why the French were being so unreasonable about not giving up their farming subsidies he replied, with a Gallic shrug “That is not being unreasonable, that is just being French”
He’s right you know, the percentage is a bit out - we have a lot of Norse words from the Danelaw period for instance - but over all he’s right! Although it gets worse, because the original structure of the English language is Germanic (where the Angles and the Saxons came from!). So to be really accurate we are all speaking German with a heavy reliance on French vocabulary.
Without hesitating, the American Admiral replied: Maybe it’s because the Brits, Canadians, Aussies, and Americans arranged it so you wouldn’t have to speak German."
Funny. Despite the fact that we were there from the start while the US had to get dragged in a couple of years late, I never hear this sentiment expressed by anyone but an american.
Funny. Despite the fact that we were there from the start while the US had to get dragged in a couple of years late, I never hear this sentiment expressed by anyone but an american.
Before English, during most of the middle ages, French WAS the language everyone important used. Except the Church of course.
Spanish will probably be next but if I were allowed a vote I’d opt for Navajo.
Avanutria keeps accusing me of lapsing into French because my spoken language is littered with expressions such as fait accomplit, coup d’etat, restaurant, rendezvous, c’est la vie, comme ci comme ca, and Le weekend.
