Culture Backlash

Many of us (especially here in the free Americas) have been subject to such literary onslaughts as the semantical and linguistic nonsense that asian advertising would produce. These grammatical graffiti appear on all sorts of stationary, bed linen, knapsacks, T-shirts, posters, etc.

It really leaves the civilized (English-speaking) world to ask why they can't simply learn to write properly? And so the sesquipedalian gentry scoff at the foreigners' linguistic inferiority and the distorted culture they come to represent.

But fear not, all ye of mixed ancestry! For I, such as you, share blood that wells from both here and abroad. And at long last, I have discovered the backlash of this spoken slaughter. The aforementioned 'type' of language, as I've described it, I shall henceforth term "FoB English" (however unfairly).

There was a time when such orthographical errors were a curiosity among the general population, and a small source of entertainment for those of dual cultures. Now, the general public expect a certain degree of incorrect English in the Japanese stationary, or on packaged chinese foods.

But now, in our diverse strength, we have also found a diverse weakness. Intruding into a culture necessitates influencing it. Thus have we seen a generation of youth fancied and fascinated by the ancient eastern empires.

These same sesquipedalian gentry would now stoop so low as to learn the inferior tongues of servants. And apparently, the inferiority is infuriating because of its perceived unnecessary complications.

And now, throwing all sarcasm aside, I shall speak candidly. I've recently noticed a steadily growing fascination with the Japanese culture, its animated series, its language, etc. And so there are those who crudely gain some utility of its language without fully understanding it. They, I shall term "LMP" for "Language-Mutilating Puppets". And, like their arrogant counterparts across the sea, they openly and blithely write in this foreign tongue, in a vein only understandable to themselves, as they publish their aimless and ingrammatical rants online.

It is one thing to learn a language, and as both a linguist and a student of many tongues, I whole-heartedly encourage the genuine student who wishes to learn, understand and master the vast bounties of speech that the world has to offer.

However, it is quite another thing entirely to profess (however indirectly) that one carries thorough knowledge of a foreign tongue exclusively to an audience who know nothing about it.

Too often do I see (particularly on dA) artists who CLEARLY know nothing about the Japanese language, but who would cheaply attempt to earn the gaudy and false recognition in this virtual community for having some special and esoteric skill that many do not possess.

And, it is in the same, sad song as we've experienced here in the West. Non-grammatical forms galore, and plenty of errors. People who can't even read the language somehow have the fluency to think in that language when they draw their malformed pieces of 'art'.

Now, finally, we english-speakers have our revenge! They don't learn our language; we don't learn their language! It's only fair, really. And natural too, I suppose. Now that this 'anime' style is becoming so popular, and the Japanese suddenly seen as being a rich and deep language, we indignant english-speakers may finally wreck our vengance for the decades of grammatical grief. Writing meaningless drivel like, "bad today, because it I hate to go school."

...And it aggravates me to no end! ...Well, I suppose this is only a special extension of my general distaste for pretenders and pretensious persons. But in my beloved realm of art!?

So in conclusion, it is generally considered bad form to write in a language foreign to oneself, if one does it to effect an impression of an erudition most false and flimsy.

So, LMP, say I to thee: Ceasest thou thine endeavors and deceiving falsehoods most weak, for thy fluency is not yet come!


Latin phrase of the day: Ab initio
Used adverbially to mean "in the beginning". E.g.: "Some philosophers believe that man is not born with soul ab initio, but rather develop it through a series of trials and self-observations."