Re: "warm" discussions
Karl Hoover wrote:
>
> At 05:01 PM 2/18/99 -0800, Charles Dills wrote:
> > I'm a member of another list that was almost destroyed by comments
> >with an "edge".
> >...Let's live with [cross cultural misunderstandings]
> >and when the need arises, explain with a desire to inform, not to correct
> >or chastise. Please. ---Chas---
>
> Whole-hearted agreement here. There is something about the e-mail medium
> which brings many participants' irritability.
I think it /so/ essential to remember that - in what is an international
and public forum - that /some/ misunderstandings must inevitably arise,
because of local differences in the way the language is used. A word
that is completely correct and acceptable in one country, may be very
suspect, or even downright rude in another. The classic example for me,
as between British English and American English, is the use of the word
"bitch". In British English, this is the technically correct word for a
female dog, and is so used by every speaker.
True, it is also - sometimes - used as an expletive, but this will be
clear from the context.
OTOH, I understand that - in American English - this word is used
/mainly/ as an expletive, and is only used to mean a female dog in
specialist dog breeding and showing circles.
On the whole, we should strive to use "common speech" words, and avoid
slang and local terms, but if we must use these for some good reason (to
give a deliberate local flavour perhaps) then we should perhaps either
explain the reason, or - at the very least - put a <g> with it, to
indicate that humour is intended. But as the "bitch" example shows, even
what we think is a totally inoffensive and "ordinary" word, may be
offensive to another person living in a different country and/or
culture.
Whatever, as readers of email in a public forum, I think we must all
remember that these difficulties do exist, and when we read something we
do not like (or do not like the way it is expressed), then PLEASE let us
think first and realise that we are probably misreading the other
person's intention and "putting words (meanings) in his/her mouth" that
were never intended. Tolerance has a lot to recommend it.
Tony
--
Tony & Moira Ryan <theryans@xtra.co.nz>
Wainuiomata, New Zealand
