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Italian government seeks to penalize the use of English words

cnn.com

31–40 of 605 posts

Re: Italian government seeks to penalize the use of English words

#31
post #13

Italy really knows how to focus on what’s really important to address challenges like high unemployment and weak economy.

It is a very poor argument and ignores the fact that the lives of people, institutions and countries are not just about (the very important) jobs and economics. I, who have lived in the United States for decades, cringe when English words are used instead of those of my native language to give a sense of respectability to those words. A global culture and a world homogenized in ways of living is a much less interesti…

Culture can still thrive without being nationalist or traditionalist or whatever you call it.

What would people think if there was an american movement to stop using foreign loan words in English because they're diluting our culture?

I live in Quebec, Canada, where there is extreme policing of the French language, including various unconstitutional legislation to "preserve" French (the Canadian constitution has an override clause). It's a purely populist measure that does nothing for culture. I find it ironic but typical how much Quebec focuses on superficial cultural aspects (language) while hardly engaging at all with real questions of celebrating heritage - and other than the language, the culture is way closer to english canada than anything European.

Anyway, these language things are shallow populist measures to whip up a base, they're not about serious stewardship of cultural identity.

Re: Italian government seeks to penalize the use of English words

#32
post #21
post #13

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It is a very poor argument and ignores the fact that the lives of people, institutions and countries are not just about (the very important) jobs and economics. I, who have lived in the United States for decades, cringe when English words are used instead of those of my native language to give a sense of respectability to those words. A global culture and a world homogenized in ways of living is a much less interesti…

Yes, and if you actually read the bill (I'm not Italian, just trying to translate it online), it just bans other languages in official documentation, which every country does. I'm surprised Italy has not done it until now.

From the article i understood it goes deeper. It includes all official communication like job offers - not limited to public institutions. So you could be fined for having a position for "Product Manager" or "Test Engineer", etc.

Re: Italian government seeks to penalize the use of English words

#33

I think we (Americans and Europeans alike) wholly underestimate how Americanised European culture is becoming. This is an observation rather than a criticism as I don't know whether this is 'good' or 'bad' but it is noticeable phenomena manifest through language, and probably an unintended consequence of the dependency of Europe on US communication technology, leading to the import of US communication styles, politic…

Yeah, it was shocking here in Stockholm when there were BLM protests in 2020.

It's like people are more involved in US politics than their national politics.

Re: Italian government seeks to penalize the use of English words

#34
post #13

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It is a very poor argument and ignores the fact that the lives of people, institutions and countries are not just about (the very important) jobs and economics. I, who have lived in the United States for decades, cringe when English words are used instead of those of my native language to give a sense of respectability to those words. A global culture and a world homogenized in ways of living is a much less interesti…

I'm sure it is very important that the government make it a punishable offense to say "bru-shetta" instead of "brus-ketta" for the word bruschetta. This is the kind of important government regulation that makes for a productive use of parliament time and the votes of the people

> This would mean that saying “bru-shetta” instead of “bru-sketta” could be a punishable offense.

Maybe you missed the world "could" in this phrase. Actually, with a bit a critical thinking, you would realize this is a complete invention by the CNN author...

Re: Italian government seeks to penalize the use of English words

#35

Good. Americans are usually not aware of the extent of american cultural imperialism which is basically everywhere, not just in Europe but you can see it very strong here I'm not saying it's bad or good. But I wish we have less Hollywood, less Netflix, less american music, less american videogames, less imported american culture topics etc when actual local music, movies, books, games exist.

Nobody is forcing you to watch them nor comment on this American forum.

Re: Italian government seeks to penalize the use of English words

#37
post #13

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It is a very poor argument and ignores the fact that the lives of people, institutions and countries are not just about (the very important) jobs and economics. I, who have lived in the United States for decades, cringe when English words are used instead of those of my native language to give a sense of respectability to those words. A global culture and a world homogenized in ways of living is a much less interesti…

I'm sure it is very important that the government make it a punishable offense to say "bru-shetta" instead of "brus-ketta" for the word bruschetta. This is the kind of important government regulation that makes for a productive use of parliament time and the votes of the people

"This is the kind of important government regulation that makes for a productive use of parliament time and the votes of the people"

What is a "productive" use of the votes of the people is up for debate. I am not ashamed to say that I am all for strong regulations that preserve the use and dignity of local customs and traditions (when those customs and traditions don't affect the life and freedom of others, cruelty etc.).

Re: Italian government seeks to penalize the use of English words

#38
I love the world adopting English b/c it makes it easier for everyone to communicate with each other no matter where they're from. If we could achieve a global default language and adopt metric units everywhere I think that'd be a huge boost in communication and efficiency and a plus for the world.

Re: Italian government seeks to penalize the use of English words

#39

Italy really knows how to focus on what’s really important to address challenges like high unemployment and weak economy.

Just because there are other problems that are more pressing or severe doesn't mean that the proposed solution to a particular problem is not worth pursuing.

I guess it depends on whether the amount of effort applied to solving the problems is proportional to the severity of the problems.

On this side of the Atlantic, we have a catastrophic opioid epidemic, crumbling infrastructure, inflation and recession, failing national and state-level institutions, mass shootings, growing income inequality, race- and class-warfare, and out-of-control policing. But what are ~50% of our politicians currently focusing on? What genitals people have and what bathroom they should be allowed to go in.

Re: Italian government seeks to penalize the use of English words

#40

Good. Americans are usually not aware of the extent of american cultural imperialism which is basically everywhere, not just in Europe but you can see it very strong here I'm not saying it's bad or good. But I wish we have less Hollywood, less Netflix, less american music, less american videogames, less imported american culture topics etc when actual local music, movies, books, games exist.

You can use English without adopting the music, games, movies, etc
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