Relay-Version: version B 2.10 5/3/83; site utzoo.UUCP Posting-Version: version B 2.10.2 9/18/84; site fortune.UUCP Path: utzoo!watmath!clyde!cbosgd!ihnp4!fortune!polard From: polard@fortune.UUCP (Henry Polard) Newsgroups: net.misc Subject: Re: English decaying Message-ID: <5774@fortune.UUCP> Date: Wed, 13-Nov-85 13:13:34 EST Article-I.D.: fortune.5774 Posted: Wed Nov 13 13:13:34 1985 Date-Received: Thu, 14-Nov-85 07:26:14 EST References: <1427@cae780.UUCP> <2472@sunybcs.UUCP> Reply-To: polard@fortune.UUCP (Henry polard) Organization: Fortune Systems, Redwood City, CA Lines: 35 Summary: English is not the predicate calculus (surprise!) In article <2472@sunybcs.UUCP> colonel@sunybcs.UUCP (Col. G. L. Sicherman) writes: >> Am I getting more sensitive, or is the English language, as used, >> becoming less logical? > >> On all airlines now, for example, the landing message is always "We >> would like to welcome you to ...". Well then, why don't they DO it? >> Isn't "We would like to welcome you to New York" different from >> "Welcome to New York"? Don't you expect the first to continue with >> "but, unfortunately, we landed in..."? > >The prelude gives your ears time to get used to the sound of the speaker. Also, language conveys more than just "logical" information. It also conveys social and emotional information. The logic of language is often implied rather than overt, and therefore superficial analyses such as the original posting often lead one astray. What the airline is really saying is something like, "we want to give to you, dearest friend and valued patron, a proper welcome celebration, with fanfares, champagne, great food, etc. but due to circumstances beyond our control, this is not possible." Similarly, the most polite way to offer someone something is to say, "you absolutely must... (e.g, have a piece of this cake)" This is illogical on the surface. But it really says, "this (e.g, piece of cake) is so wretched and a general drag that only your duties and moral obligations as a proper guest could force you to partake of it." This is because it is considered good manners to be humble. Robin Lakoff wrote an article a few years back in _Language_ explaining this. -- Henry Polard (You bring the flames - I'll bring the marshmallows.) {ihnp4,cbosgd,amd}!fortune!polard N.B: The words in this posting do not necessarily express the opinions of me, my employer, or any AI project.