...is this whole conversation truly about language? (notwithstanding the significance of the subject, in and of itself, where many good suggestions have been made). Or is this really about someone's power and control issues? "Once in awhile we get shown the light, in the strangest of places, if we look at it right" - Hunter/Garcia
But not even for the deep reason that whataboutbob is a manipulative character who wrote a diary calculated to bring out the festering resentments in the community! ;-)
No, the reason it is about power and control is we are not "talking about language" we are talking about "choice of language."
And as we all know as soon as choice is the issue, power and control follow. After all, who makes the choice? Who died and made them king? Did you vote for them, I know I didn't!
</snark>
In the case of my diary, I feel that the discussion had been going on so long that there absolutely was an expression of strong interest from a large number of EuroTribbers, and that I was following a consensus decision in posting it.
In fact, I feel that so strongly that I'll say this: I doubt if any diary on ET has ever been posted with as much user demand behind it (even in choice of language, since the census showed that French was the next language down from English as a common denominator).
Those who say they were surprised by my diary, I'm sorry to say, were, imho, simply not paying attention to the discussions that were taking place, and had been since last summer.
And now I've had enough of this.
Also, before I saw your thread which made it obsolete, I planned a "census analysis" post. In there, I would have concluded that I think trying French in a few diaries would be worthwile, but for a truly big experiment, ET would still have to grow much more. *Lunatic*, n. One whose delusions are out of fashion.
So...long contentious threads to sometimes cause a person to reflect and make changes. "Once in awhile we get shown the light, in the strangest of places, if we look at it right" - Hunter/Garcia
(The actual phrases are manglings of the peasant complaint in Monty Python and the Holy Grail.)
I've explained my position so many times here now that I've had enough, that's all :-)
But may I suggest you think twice or thrice before doing that? (no snark, no hostility ;)).
Peace!! "Once in awhile we get shown the light, in the strangest of places, if we look at it right" - Hunter/Garcia
If we do another such diary (and that depends on the will of people to do it), I think we should previously agree on some procedural questions. As you say above, you feel clearer now about the possibility of butting in -- that should be made very clear. English is the lingua franca. The idea of a summary of the diary in English also seems good and should become mandatory.
In this, I'm accepting (let it be said in passing) that I myself will be "excluded" by some diaries. I very much doubt I'm capable (though I'm willing to sweat over it) of reading a diary in German and following the comments, for example. I'll just have to duck out, as I already do for some diaries that are too technical for me.
And, in the end, who knows? Maybe we will collectively gravitate towards the decision that such diaries are not useful...
Some rugby matches coming up in a few weeks could do the job. ET could take, each year, the language of the winner of the 6 nations tournament, only if that winner is France. All in agreement raise your eyebrows. Ok, done.
The origin of the term lingua franca is Latin (literally "Frankish language"), derived from the medieval Arab and Muslim use of the ethnonym "Franks" as a generic term for Europeans during the period of the Crusades. Originally "lingua franca" referred to a mix of mostly Italian with a broad vocabulary drawn from Turkish, Persian, French, Greek and Arabic. This mixed language (pidgin, creole language) was used for communication throughout the medieval and early modern Middle East as a diplomatic language;
Originally "lingua franca" referred to a mix of mostly Italian with a broad vocabulary drawn from Turkish, Persian, French, Greek and Arabic. This mixed language (pidgin, creole language) was used for communication throughout the medieval and early modern Middle East as a diplomatic language;
