zlacker

"English is a good international language because it's simple, not because it's subtle, and it shows."

I can't let that pass :-)

English as an international language is not the entirety of English. The English language is enormously subtle - but people rarely (these days) learn it to the required level. Ironically, (in my view) its adoption as an international tongue is one cause of this. People learn it to a functional level, to get on in business and life, and that's the job done. Sadly this reduced, simplified English will likely become what English is (this is already happening) . A bit of a poisoned chalice, becoming the international language.

>>taylor+(OP)
Hence lowest common denominator.

But upward mobility remains :)

>>taylor+(OP)
There's a word for that : "Globish" !

;)

>>walter+p1
We can hope! :-)

>>BlueTe+m5
Thank you, I hadn't heard of that!

>>BlueTe+m5
Ok, just looked it up - and I see the phrase was coined by a Frenchman from the Grand Ecole. From the article - Nerriere describes Globish as a device that will 'limit the influence of the English language dramatically'.

plus ça change, plus c'est la même chose... :-)