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Do you really believe Mao was the first to ever use something equivalent to the phrase 'Let a hundred flowers bloom' in any language? That thought, and that exp
by Confusion 11y ago
Do you really believe Mao was the first to ever use something equivalent to the phrase 'Let a hundred flowers bloom' in any language? That thought, and that expression, has many sources older than him.
- mikeash 11y agoAs, no doubt, does "final solution." But that's really not something you'd want to use casually.
- Confusion 11y agoEndlösung is a word I would not casually use. 'Final solution' is not a phrase I have ever thought twice about.
- mikeash 11y agoI would suggest you think twice about it now, then, because if you use "final solution" then you're going to cause a significant portion of your audience to immediately think of the Holocaust. If your intent is to communicate with people rather than simply be technically correct, it's not a good phrase to use unless you actually intend that association.
- jsprogrammer 11y agoIt's also subject to many fallacies, not the least of which is the Inductive Fallacy. I wouldn't use it as part of any argument as it will likely lead you to miss important details and cannot lead you to valid conclusions.
- Confusion 11y agoWell, it's all fine and well that I learn that here now, but many other non-native English speakers will not realize/understand/feel the same thing and will never learn about it. Complaining that they are insensitive isn't going to change that and is, in fact, culturally insensitive in itself. It doesn't really make sense to me that a regular phrase like 'final solution', which has been used as a rather awkward translation of 'endlösung', would have gotten the same connotation as the word itself. I must have said "so we end up with a final solution of ..." countless times and I've never noticed a thing.
- mikeash 11y agoI'm just trying to help, here. If you use that phrase you are quite likely to make people in your audience think of the Holocaust, and if that is not your intent then you probably don't want to use that phrase. If you want to be upset about this, feel free, but it won't change the facts in any way. Language is basically a crappy form of telepathy. You're essentially implanting thoughts in other people's minds. It's crappy because it's really imprecise and error-prone and the minds you're attempting to influence might end up thinking things other than what you're trying to make them think, often because the specific words or phrasing you used brought up associations existing within the target mind. Sometimes it's impossible to avoid because the association is a personal thing. But sometimes it's widespread. In that case, it's really useful to be aware of them. I've certainly made my share of bad phrasing in languages I don't speak natively. No reasonable person is going to be offended if you did it because of ignorance, but once pointed out, it's ridiculous to get defensive. Make a note of it and use this knowledge to improve.
- verinus 11y agocommunication is about your audience as much as about the message. using phrases that have additional meaning without knowing or ignoring it is either ignorant or counter-productive or both.
- Confusion 11y agoA lot of non-native English speakers are ignorant of many additional meanings and if you think less of them because of it, you are the one who is wrong.
- AnimalMuppet 11y agoAnd yet those additional meanings are really there, and aren't going to go away. So the correct response is to educate those non-native English speakers, as you have opportunity, when they stumble into unintended meanings. Don't think less of them, but also help them to not make that particular mistake again.