It’s not funny - is it?
I watched an old episode of the sitcom Frasier the other day. In it, Frasier wants to give a speech to his son in Hebrew, but doesn’t know how to because he isn’t Jewish. He enlists a coworker to translate and help him with pronunciation. Later on, the coworker feels slighted, so instead of Hebrew, he translates the speech into Klingon (a fictional alien language from the Star Trek TV show, in case you somehow didn’t know). It all worked out well in the end, but it made me think about similar language tricks.
I’ve met plenty of people who have, as part of their kind language guidance to friends, tried to convince those friends that swear words and insults are merely everyday greetings or useful sentences (”No really, if you say this to that hot girl, they will totally go out with you!”). I’ve never been a fan of this behaviour, but perhaps I’m too sensitive? I don’t think people should be discouraged from learning languages by embarrassing experiences.
What do you think? Have you ever been in one of these situations, either as the trickster or the duped? Is it just a bit of harmless fun, or should people be wholeheartedly supported in their language efforts?
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