Post by Mansons2005 on Jun 7, 2013 23:58:05 GMT
"Youse" - a response to the use of the Northern form of the Southern "Ya'll" ............
It would appear that you perceive my predicament with complete clarity! The American language (I hesitate to call it English, though in this instance they share the same deficiency) is lacking in a plural pronoun other than the ambiguous “You”. Though technically correct as a plural, on common speech one feels the necessity to clarify that it is being used in a collective or plural sense. Thus “Youse” , actually a bit of archaic Brooklyn (NY) slang originally formulated by immigrants from the Mediterranean basin. The lack of words such as Ustedes, Loro, Vous, etc. combined with our instance that English conform to the rules of Latin grammar (sheer idiocy, that) brought the newly Americanized to the conclusion that there was (or should be) a plural forn of “You”. And now there is – “Youse”!
In realtion to foreign languages:
I was brought up in a sort of bi-lingual environment. My mother’s family spoke German as well as English (the Queen’s variety) and it was used interchangeably. Unfortunately, just as is the case with modern immigrants, I was of the younger generations that wanted to be completely American and refused to speak it. I can understand much spoken conversation in German if I concentrate, but can get no further than Darf ich ein Bier and Vielen Dank when speaking (or reading).
I studied Spanish for twelve years and now (barely) speak the almost pidgin Spanglish used by the Latin American population here in Chicago. Though I found it most convenient on my first visit to Madrid to be able to order a beer and locate a bathroom facility with no problems! And it serves me well enough in Italy, believe it or not.
I also studied French as a youth, but alas, a lack of interest has severely limited my knowledge. Shall we say that I can order lunch but go starving when it comes to a dinner menu?
It is rather unfortunate that when posted abroad during my employed years, I was posted to England and Netherlands primarily and was never “forced” to absorb another language. It’s a bit of a struggle to translate English into American, but it can be done, and in Holland English is taught in school as a matter of course, so almost everyone speaks it . What little Dutch I ever needed I was able to learn from day to day interaction with my Dutch colleagues here in the States.
All jesting aside, I do speak (and mostly write) “American” as a rule. I think it was Rodney Dangerfield who said that you have to “play to your audience”! And I find it rude and affected to push uncommon rules and uses into situations they have no real relation to and only cause confusion. Nest Pas?
PS I like “Comedians” as well – but I know people who would emphatically deny being from Canada if I addressed them thus ………………….
It would appear that you perceive my predicament with complete clarity! The American language (I hesitate to call it English, though in this instance they share the same deficiency) is lacking in a plural pronoun other than the ambiguous “You”. Though technically correct as a plural, on common speech one feels the necessity to clarify that it is being used in a collective or plural sense. Thus “Youse” , actually a bit of archaic Brooklyn (NY) slang originally formulated by immigrants from the Mediterranean basin. The lack of words such as Ustedes, Loro, Vous, etc. combined with our instance that English conform to the rules of Latin grammar (sheer idiocy, that) brought the newly Americanized to the conclusion that there was (or should be) a plural forn of “You”. And now there is – “Youse”!
In realtion to foreign languages:
I was brought up in a sort of bi-lingual environment. My mother’s family spoke German as well as English (the Queen’s variety) and it was used interchangeably. Unfortunately, just as is the case with modern immigrants, I was of the younger generations that wanted to be completely American and refused to speak it. I can understand much spoken conversation in German if I concentrate, but can get no further than Darf ich ein Bier and Vielen Dank when speaking (or reading).
I studied Spanish for twelve years and now (barely) speak the almost pidgin Spanglish used by the Latin American population here in Chicago. Though I found it most convenient on my first visit to Madrid to be able to order a beer and locate a bathroom facility with no problems! And it serves me well enough in Italy, believe it or not.
I also studied French as a youth, but alas, a lack of interest has severely limited my knowledge. Shall we say that I can order lunch but go starving when it comes to a dinner menu?
It is rather unfortunate that when posted abroad during my employed years, I was posted to England and Netherlands primarily and was never “forced” to absorb another language. It’s a bit of a struggle to translate English into American, but it can be done, and in Holland English is taught in school as a matter of course, so almost everyone speaks it . What little Dutch I ever needed I was able to learn from day to day interaction with my Dutch colleagues here in the States.
All jesting aside, I do speak (and mostly write) “American” as a rule. I think it was Rodney Dangerfield who said that you have to “play to your audience”! And I find it rude and affected to push uncommon rules and uses into situations they have no real relation to and only cause confusion. Nest Pas?
PS I like “Comedians” as well – but I know people who would emphatically deny being from Canada if I addressed them thus ………………….
