"We have really everything in common with America nowadays, except, of course, language." <https://www.oscarwildeinamerica.org/quotations/common-language.html>
“Britain and America Are Two Nations Divided by a Common Language.” <https://quoteinvestigator.com/2016/04/03/common/> Variously attributed to Churchill, Shaw and Wilde. -- Shmuel (Seymour J.) Metz http://mason.gmu.edu/~smetz3 ________________________________________ From: IBM Mainframe Discussion List [[email protected]] on behalf of Dean Kent [[email protected]] Sent: Thursday, June 9, 2022 9:45 PM To: [email protected] Subject: Re: ] Re: "A Rexx" (or "A REXX") I'll likely regret becoming involved in this, but... I once was speaking to a woman about the practices of another family, and said "Well, that is the culture he grew up in". She said "No, I wasn't raised that way". Both families are Vietnamese. I replied that I was using the term 'culture' to mean the practices, traditions and behaviors that he grew up with, which can be different between people even in the same geographic region or nationality. I have a number of neighbors, some who 'look like me' and others who don't, that have different practices, traditions and behaviors (including both families I was speaking about). All three of our children attended the same school, and were in the same class. Language is like that also. I was married to a Filipina, who believed that the term I just used was proper. I spoke to another who insisted that the *only* proper term was Filipino. Regardless of what someone decided to write rules about, language 'evolves', if you will. And what passes for proper in one 'culture' is not in another. Growing up in a 'melting pot', which I presume most from Europe and the US have, this should be expected. Sadly, there will always be those who insist that some document or regional practice defines what is 'correct'. Good luck hashing that one out... 'Nuff said, I think. On 6/9/2022 5:09 PM, Bob Bridges wrote: > I suppose every culture has its rules about this. As a completely off-topic > side note, some years ago at a gig in New Jersey I was chatting after hours > with a Hispanic cleaning lady, and I mentioned something I had done as a > child. To indicate my approximate age as I said "child", I patted an > imaginary child on the top of its head at about waist level. > > She corrected me; in her culture, it is inappropriate to indicate children > with the hand horizontal as if patting the top of its head. It took her a > few tries to get this through to me, because my Spanish isn't that great > (then or now), but eventually I understood: Animals you indicate that way, > but human children you must indicate with the hand held vertically, that is, > sideways, as if patting the child's cheek. > > I say "her culture", but I don't know whether this is Hispanic generally, or > New-World Hispanic, or what. Since I was in New Jersey she ought to have > been Puerto Rican, but in my hazy memory is the impression she was from > Central America somewhere. > > --- > Bob Bridges, [email protected], cell 336 382-7313 > > /* The Constitution is not neutral. It was designed to take the government > off the backs of people. -Justice W O Douglas */ > > -----Original Message----- > From: IBM Mainframe Discussion List <[email protected]> On Behalf Of > CM Poncelet > Sent: Thursday, June 9, 2022 19:37 > > "every child has their <whatever>" should be "every child has its <whatever>" > - as "child" is animate but is also gender neuter (regardless of political > correctness and woke culture.) > > ---------------------------------------------------------------------- > For IBM-MAIN subscribe / signoff / archive access instructions, > send email to [email protected] with the message: INFO IBM-MAIN ---------------------------------------------------------------------- For IBM-MAIN subscribe / signoff / archive access instructions, send email to [email protected] with the message: INFO IBM-MAIN ---------------------------------------------------------------------- For IBM-MAIN subscribe / signoff / archive access instructions, send email to [email protected] with the message: INFO IBM-MAIN
