By now, I’m sure everyone has seen the viral video of the New York attorney who came undone when he overheard two restaurant workers speaking Spanish. He told the manager he was going to call immigration enforcement because, “It’s America. The staff should speak English.” A real charmer that guy. He did apologize after being publicly shamed, but the whole situation caused me to ponder language.
Like many of you, I took a foreign language in high school, but other than being able to say ‘hello’ and ‘goodbye,’ nothing stuck. I am sure Sr. Helen would be disappointed in my lack of retention. About six years ago, I decided I would relearn Spanish, so I bought the complete Rosetta Stone set for my computer. The program required you to repeat the words until you mastered the pronunciation. Well, I have a little bit of a twang when I talk. The program didn’t understand what I was saying, in English or Spanish. My daughter had to repeat the words so I could move on to the next lesson. It was very inefficient, so I stopped.
When I hear someone speaking in a different language, my first thought is, “I wonder if they are talking about me?” Admit it, it’s yours, too. I can’t be the only paranoid person. My second thought is, “I wish I could speak a second language.” Unfortunately, when I encounter someone who doesn’t speak English, my response is to speak slower and louder. Neither proves helpful.
Sadly, I sometimes struggle with the English language. There isn’t a last name I can’t destroy with mispronunciation. Most people are good-natured about it even though they must want to punch me after 20 years of correcting me. I also have a bad habit of combining words to create ones that don’t exist, like flabbergasted and frustrated, which becomes flustrated. And then there are certain words that, once I learn how to say them, I feel compelled to use all the time, like panacea. Trust me, that is not an everyday word, but I want to use it every day because I know how to pronounce it. I also love to use old adages or proverbs like ‘birds of a feather flock together,’ but I never get them quite right. A friend of mine recently combined ‘a bird in the hand is worth two in the bush’ with ‘killing two birds with one stone’ into ‘two stoned birds in a bush.’ It’s the best bird adage ever.
Speaking of best, the First Lady rolled out her plan to encourage our children to “choose their words wisely and speak with respect and compassion,” especially when using social media. She wants everyone to ‘Be Best.’ I am sure you are waiting for a snarky comment about the twittering POTUS, but that would be too easy. Let’s just say I agree with her. When it comes to word choice and tone, we should all try to be our best. Perhaps some of us are more linguistically challenged than others, but regardless of whether we are speaking English or Spanish, no one deserves to be screamed at for talking to a friend at work. Perhaps the First Lady’s campaign is the panacea we need to start understanding each other better, no matter our language. (See what I did there?)
Contact Patty at phannum@townandstyle.com.