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At first I thought you were being sarcastic, but then I realized you are actually arguing that only overly-sensitive people are offended when their language is

At first I thought you were being sarcastic, but then I realized you are actually arguing that only overly-sensitive people are offended when their language is insulted. Since language is a core component of human culture, many people become offended when their language is insulted or threatened. Countries have gone to war over language. Provinces succeed over language. Language is a very, very sensitive topic in many places, such as Quebec, Catalonia, the nations of former Yugoslavia, and so on and so forth. You may think that people shouldn't be sensitive if their language is denigrated or insulted, but that is demonstrably not the case now. Some of us may not care, but many people -- maybe even most people -- would become angry or annoyed if their native language is open ridiculed.

sillysaurus3 12y ago
That's very interesting. Thank you. Which cultures have gone to war over language? I'd like to educate myself on their history, and try to understand how something like language was one of the primary reasons for something as serious as a war.
- sho_hn 12y ago
  Nicholas Ostler's Empires of the Word: A Language History of the World is a journey through human history as seen through a lense of expanding, contracting and competing languages spheres. Well worth a read.
  - sillysaurus3 12y ago
    Thanks so much!
- UrMomReadsHN 12y ago
  For an example of a "sensitive" language situation see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Serbo-Croatian http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Serbo-Croatian >In the 20th century, Serbo-Croatian served as the official language of the Kingdom of Yugoslavia (when it was called "Serbo-Croato-Slovenian"),[9] and later as one of the official languages of the Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia. The dissolution of Yugoslavia affected language attitudes, so that social conceptions of the language separated on ethnic and political lines. Since the breakup of Yugoslavia, Bosnian has likewise been established as an official standard in Bosnia and Herzegovina, and there is an ongoing movement to codify a separate Montenegrin standard. Serbo-Croatian thus generally goes by the ethnic names Serbian, Croatian, Bosnian, and sometimes Montenegrin.[10] This is also a great article on the topic http://www.rferl.mobi/a/Serbian_Croatian_Bosnian_or_Montenegrin_Many_In_Balkans_Just_Call_It_Our_Language_/1497105.html http://www.rferl.mobi/a/Serbian_Croatian_Bosnian_or_Monteneg...
Houshalter 12y ago
He's not arguing about language though, but writing systems specifically. If someone would say the English writing system sucks, and gave specific reasons why, I would probably agree with them. Spellings are absurd, we have unnecessary letters, case makes no sense, etc. But I can't get being offended even if criticizing the language itself. English certainly has a lot of strange and arbitrary rules. What is with "be", "are", "am" for example? Why should languages be above criticism?

sillysaurus3 12y ago

That's very interesting. Thank you. Which cultures have gone to war over language? I'd like to educate myself on their history, and try to understand how something like language was one of the primary reasons for something as serious as a war.

sho_hn 12y ago
Nicholas Ostler's Empires of the Word: A Language History of the World is a journey through human history as seen through a lense of expanding, contracting and competing languages spheres. Well worth a read.
- sillysaurus3 12y ago
  Thanks so much!
UrMomReadsHN 12y ago
For an example of a "sensitive" language situation see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Serbo-Croatian http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Serbo-Croatian >In the 20th century, Serbo-Croatian served as the official language of the Kingdom of Yugoslavia (when it was called "Serbo-Croato-Slovenian"),[9] and later as one of the official languages of the Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia. The dissolution of Yugoslavia affected language attitudes, so that social conceptions of the language separated on ethnic and political lines. Since the breakup of Yugoslavia, Bosnian has likewise been established as an official standard in Bosnia and Herzegovina, and there is an ongoing movement to codify a separate Montenegrin standard. Serbo-Croatian thus generally goes by the ethnic names Serbian, Croatian, Bosnian, and sometimes Montenegrin.[10] This is also a great article on the topic http://www.rferl.mobi/a/Serbian_Croatian_Bosnian_or_Montenegrin_Many_In_Balkans_Just_Call_It_Our_Language_/1497105.html http://www.rferl.mobi/a/Serbian_Croatian_Bosnian_or_Monteneg...

Houshalter 12y ago

He's not arguing about language though, but writing systems specifically. If someone would say the English writing system sucks, and gave specific reasons why, I would probably agree with them. Spellings are absurd, we have unnecessary letters, case makes no sense, etc. But I can't get being offended even if criticizing the language itself. English certainly has a lot of strange and arbitrary rules. What is with "be", "are", "am" for example? Why should languages be above criticism?