This article from the BBC caught my eye and also my interest, at first sight the article pokes fun at the age old rivalry between France and England over the idiosyncrasies of the two languages but then it goes on to make a rather profound observation regarding real world language use.
Some thing I observed early on in my forum participation was the problem of English used as a second language by a majority of members, invariably misunderstandings occurred between first and second language users due to humor or innuendo (politics and religion are always good for a flame war), the very complexity of posts often led to misunderstandings.
The experience of Monsieur Nerriere at his conference is in fact a perfect example of this forum in action.
Article text: http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/programmes/f ... 844192.stm
Audio version: http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/programmes/f ... 845829.stm
Viv
Is the forum language Globish?
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Is the forum language Globish?
"Sometimes the lies you tell are less frightening than the loneliness you might feel if you stopped telling them" Brock Clarke
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