Muttering into the void.
Tim Bray links to an article about the language problems in the European Parliament.* He quotes the following sentence (the context is a group of observers at a dinner, none of whom had a language in common): «On n’a pas parlé. Alors, en fin de repas, on a dansé…»
How would one translate this into English? One usually uses “we” for this kind of thing, but what if the speaker wasn’t dancing?
* *cough*esperanto*cough*
The following is a letter I just sent to the editor of Canada’s new Conservative magazine, the Western Standard, in response to an article (so far as I can tell available only in the print edition) lamenting the high turnout of Indo-Canadians in the Conservative party elections — in my riding!
Dear Sir:
While I appreciate an independent conservative voice, Terry O’Neill’s article “Ethnic Stew” in your April 12 issue left a foul taste in my mouth.
Far be it from a complacent Anglo politician to, you know, actually get out and meet the people who live in his riding. Instead, the author implies that the ignorant Pakis should stay home where they belong, or that the rules should be changed to exclude them.
What’s next? “No dogs or Chinese” on the doors of the polling booths?
Democracy is about letting everyone have a say, regardless of their presumed level of education, literacy, political knowledge, or “family connections that go back to the Punjab.” It’s not about making sure only the right kind of people show up at the polls. If a politician is too lazy to court the majority of his constituents, he deserves to lose ignominiously.
Regards,
Gordon Tisher,
North Surrey, BC
Ĉu existas rete konservatemaj esperantistaj retpaĝoj aŭ uloj? Aŭ ĉu estas ĉiuj esperantistoj liberalemuloj? Mi ĝuas esti esperantanta, sed la liberalaj sintenoj, kiojn mi observas je ĉiu esperanta retpaĝon, kion mi estas vidinta, min ofte offendetas.
Eble iu devus ekigi konservateman revuon. Ĉu ne?
The evening after I post about ignoring the signs of heart attacks, I’m with some friends, and one of them — female, late twenties, good shape — doubles over with chest pain. It subsides a bit, then starts spreading down her left arm and to her jaw. We persuade her to get it checked out, so she goes to an ER, where of course she’s perfectly fine, and all tests are negative.