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> I'm not sure what the solution to this and the main article's problem is, though, other than vigilance. Generally, it helps to not rely on a single point of
by Hermel 13y ago
> I'm not sure what the solution to this and the main article's problem is, though, other than vigilance.
Generally, it helps to not rely on a single point of information. The more sources and viewpoins you consider, the more accurate the picture becomes. Even reading very biased sources can help you get a clearer picture when you intersect their information with a source from the "other" side. Also, as long as you speak only one language, you will miss out a lot as the media copy from each other and there often is bias in the language itself. For example, consider how different the meaning of "liberal" has become in English and German, even though it meant the same originally. Or consider the fact that Germans tend to use faecal terms to curse while in English, sexual terms are more common. This can subtly influence the way we think about things. Generally, the easier it is to express a viewpoint in a language, the more prevalent that viewpoint becomes. For example, before the term "political correctness" was added to the English language, it was much harder to comlain about it.
I diverted a little from the original point. Considering multiple sources in multiple languages helps a lot.
- eru 13y agoOften you don't even need to change languages. If you only read German, Swiss newspapers offer an interesting change in point of view.
- mogrim 13y agoAlso a fair point, it was interesting to read "An Army At Dawn" by Rick Atkinson: generally most of the books on WWII that I'd read were by British authors, and there was a definite change of viewpoint (or bias) when reading an American author.
- mogrim 13y ago> Or consider the fact that Germans tend to use faecal terms to curse while in English, sexual terms are more common. Bullshit. :) (But I fully agree with the rest of what you say).
- judk 13y ago> tend. "Bullshit" is vulgar slang, not cursing. You don't yell "Bullshit" when you stub your toe.
- gjm11 13y ago"Shit" isn't uncommon, though. It seems to me that English-language cursing is pretty broad-spectrum. For the toe-stubbing situation, for instance, you have the scatological ("Shit!"), the religious ("Christ!", "Damn!"), the sexual ("Fuck!"), the anatomical ("Arse!", at least in the UK; I don't think "ass" is used that way in the US), the weird-hybrid-between-sexual-and-religious-and-ethnic-minority-abuse ("Bugger!"; look its etymology up some time). Personally, I usually just say "ow".
- mogrim 13y agoAnd let's not forget a personal favourite: "You fucking piece of shit!", which nicely spans the faecal/sexual linguistic divide.
- twic 13y agoPersonally, i tend to shout "SHITTING FUCK" in that situation. I'm British, with some possibly-German ancestry five or six generations back. As is often the case, the Daily Mash illustrates the truth: http://www.thedailymash.co.uk/news/society/paper-cut-sparks-new-swear-words-201109304371 http://www.thedailymash.co.uk/news/society/paper-cut-sparks-...