Claire Wang really, really believes Sum Ting Wong with America, and somebody better do something about it!
Posted on 04/20/2024 12:50:45 PM PDT by Fiji Hill
GFY, Claire Wang.
Oh please! English (especially American English) is a living language. Words come and go (especially slang words). If you don’t like the way we speak, well tough, deal with it on your own but don’t demand we adjust to your sensitivity.
Yeah, I have. Worked in IT for a flaming jackass that used it every chance he got. We all figured he just needed to get laid.
Claire Wang really, really believes Sum Ting Wong with America, and somebody better do something about it!
She makes use of the phrase, ‘death by a thousand cuts’ with no awareness that the practice originated in China as a means of combined torture & execution.
Each time I hear that phrase, it reminds me of how cruel & barbaric Chinese law used to be. Yet she glibly uses it within an article that lambasts phrases that might possibly reflect poorly on Asians.
But she doesn’t have a full acquaintance with the English language.
I’d be a lot more willing to listen to her opinion about her own mother tongue.
Exactly, the term Cakewalk was co-opted by later groups, just like they’re determined to co-opt terms today.
The first Chinese immigrants to the US were brought here as cheap labor for such tasks as railroad construction, were from the poorest class and no doubt illiterate in their own language. They did not have the benefit of free ESL classes and had to make do (oops!) with pidgin phrases to communicate. So instead of saying “I’m terribly sorry but I can’t comply with your request to have your laundry ready by this afternoon “, they had to say “No can do.” English speaking Americans picked up on such phrases as handy, readymade replies and adopted them in turn, thus enriching our culture with yet more diversity to everyone’s benefit.
Or, to put it more succinctly, China Doll speak with forked tongue.
My advice to this woman, and those who fall into the same confused state, is to watch some of the old western movies and television shows from half a century ago. That way they can try to get a sense of what English is supposed to be.
“5. A lot of those terms you find inadequate, are, and have been, a part of American military culture,…”
I’m 65 and I have always associated ‘No can do’ with wwll era svc men.
That is a blatantly stupid article. The author should be required to repeat his attendance in all twelve grades of public school, followed by four years of compulsory service in the Marines.
Of all the crap we should worry about, this is at the bottom of the totem pole.
I had heard that Gypsies called themselves that because they liked to claim their ultimate origins were Egypt.
A Dixie is a insulated container used to bring semi-hot
food up to the troops in the field, it is also used to make lemonade in during the day and coffee at night
as a consequence the lemonade tastes like coffee, and the coffee like lemonade, both of which arrrive in a state neither hot nor cold.
A Marine term. Ooorah!
Since Madam Know-it-all didn’t mention it, I’ll assume “tits up” is still ok to use.
Some people see racism at every turn. I am sure shortened English was common not just with foreign born but with the less literate native born.
I’m so sorry, babe. No Can Do.
But if you’re nostalgic for the language police back home, we might be able to get you on a slow boat to China.
You posted my thoughts, exactly.
Thanks. I can’t remember where I read it was a way for a beau to bid on or outright purchase a cake made by his intended. Still I find nothing racist about it.
I can’t go for that.
Check out the author’s LinkedIn page.
Nuff said
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.