Hugo Chavez declares war on English language
The Hugo Chavez plan for defeating American imperialism: If you can’t beat ‘em, ban ‘em (hat tip - Reliapundit). Start with the nouns…
President Hugo Chavez’s government is taking its battle against U.S. “imperialism” into Venezuelans’ vocabulary, urging state phone company workers to eschew English-language business and tech terms that have crept into the local vernacular.
Through a campaign launched Monday, newly nationalized CANTV hopes to wean employees and others from words like “staff” (”equipo”), “marketing” (”mercadeo”) and “password” (”contrasena”).
Stickers and banners printed up by the company exhort Venezuelans to “Say it in Spanish. Say it with pride.”
The Communications and Information Ministry said in a statement that Venezuelans must recover Spanish words that are “threatened by sectors that have started a battle for the cultural domination of our nations.”
Other English words targeted include “mouse” (”raton”), “meeting” (”reunion”) and “sponsor” (”patrocinador”) _ all of which have become acceptable in business circles in various Latin American countries.
How will he translate “stupid supermodel” and “Hollywood tools?”
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Categories: Hugo Chavez
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I’m not ever sure what to say about this latest idiotic move by Chavez. Obviously, he is doing his part to illustrate to rational people that he is off-his-rocker.
But, I doubt Naomi Campbell, Kevin Spacey, Oliver Stone, et al will ever be able to see it. Call me skeptical.
“Say it in Spanish. Say it with pride.”
Say it a home.
How about El Raton Grande for Chavez?
Our favorite illegal apologist Geraldo has written a book about the fight he had with Bill O’ over illegals committing crimes here. It’s just a drunk driving problem not an illegal problem according to him. I guess he thinks we racist need to be straightened out.
Couldn’t have said it better… and only in English!
TFM
LOLOLOLOLOL
er, I mean… jajajajajaja… I think.
hmm.. Los Angeles, San Diego, San Francisco, Toledo…
Oh, yeah, Spanish, the language of Venezuelan natives, so to return to the days before imperialism and … oh wait, that is the language of the people who conquered Venezuela. I’m confused.
Ceasar caca de toro
Just like the french. The reason the terms are in english (the language of aviation, science, medicine, technology, and business) is because we are the innovators of all that is new.
Suck it hugo.
Your choice.
Marshall re: “It’s just a drunk driving problem not an illegal problem…”
Hmmmm, so if the ATF were to require a valid SS# to buy booze… Hmmmm, let me think on this….
It might called mouse here but its bastardo de rata in Hugoville in honor of dear dictator.
Doas survasas perfovor Sinoria. ARRRR
I’m listening to Geraldo try to convince Bill O’. Bill brought up the bus tragedy that killed four children and Geraldo said it was wrong to bring up the fact that the drunk driver was here illegally. I can’t stand to watch Geraldo any more. If he is convinced his argument is right he should go to the families and try to esplain it.
Hugo is brilliant! I say we follow his lead. No more pressing 2. Hurray!
Is Jerry “spitting” Rivers still getting airtime? That’s a shame, not to mention a hell of a waste of air time.
Is “Taco” an English-Americanized word or is it a Spanish one that America adopted it?
Ok. What about “taxi”? Is it a French or Spanish word? Maybe it’s really English?
http://babelfish.altavista.com/tr
Like many others, I think this is a good thing. I would love to see the leftists here back him and support him on this. Then when we do the same thing with English here, they can either there and not be diverse or live here and not be diverse. In the comforts of their own homes, people should be able to speak whatever they wish. In a common culture or a community, we need a common language. There, it happens to be Spanish and here it happens to be English. Certain foreign words will always be embedded in the language. I could not imagine going home to “snowed” but I would be happy to return to Nevada. However, the language itself should be standardized.
It is disgusting that the spitter, geraldo “speed drooler” rivera could write about double and triple crimes by ‘on the lamb’ criminals, not being guilty of anything but having too may beers.
He is a disgrace to ALL men.
He’s an empty suit with negative substance who is morally corrupt.
He does NOT have any idea, no concept whatsoever the meaning of integrity, nor of honor.
NOTHING the man says should be in print other than as a warning of what not to be.
The Spitter IS what to avoid. Warn your children.
OH, and Hugo Chavez is a coca-head.
how long til Mexican leftists here in the US start a similar campaign?
English is not a language invented in America. We have the good fortune to be associated with England as does the countries that make up what was the British Empire. If you speak English you speak the language of many countries and many more countries speak English as a second language. Some where I read that more technical information ever five years is published in English than the previous 5000 years in all other languages, or some such. This is a good example why those of our Subculture who sign because they do not speak the language or children of illegal immigrants taught Spanish as a first language are severely handicapped when competing for jobs and advancement.
Chavez is hurting no one other than his countrie when turning back the English clock. New Spanish words will have to be invented to cope with tomorrow’s technology invented and published in English. Can you imagine reinventing English DNA research publications in Spanish. They will not know their own language. So Chavez, jump on your donkey and cruise another step backwards in the third world.
Well if I had a name like ….Hugo.
NO MORE PUBLICATIONS PRINTED IN ESPANOL!!!!!! I cannot for the life of me figure out why it is OK for some people to do things like this but when WE do it, we are racist or xenophobes or whatthehellever they call us. UGGGG! I have had enough. Have you??? And NO, I do not want to take the high road. Turnabout is fairplay damnit! PS: I wil probably get banned for this but: He is a dick.
isn’t this the same as people advocating for English-only here?
Long live American English!
How do you say Anwar in Spanish?
Who needs Hugo Chavez to fight the war against the English language? We’ve already Bush, McCain, Lindsey Graham, Obama HUSSEIN, and the majority of the Democrat and RINO parties doing an excellent job already.
American parents who are not compelling their children to learn Spanish are crippling those children’s future.
Oh by the way, when the Mexicans are running the
USANorth American Union, I don’t think they will be giving all the minority white people free medical care, housing, education, food, Aid to Dependent Families, and bonus checks in the mail.In South America, English is the preferred second language of the upward mobile, ambitious and those just seeking to improve themselves. Nobody learns French or has dreams of moving to France. As much as America bashers here and abroad hate it, the USA, our economic system, and English is the envy of people all over the world.
The day I stood in a sub shop and watched a Greek immigrant restaurateur and his Lao employee make me lunch I understood why English is so important to America. We can’t all learn each other’s languages or we will have time for nothing else.
So my mother, a Dominican immigrant, taught her nine kids to speak English, not to mention a whole lot of other Dominicans who were educated here and went back to better their country.
It is not that we cannot speak Spanish, we can, but we all, all nine of us, are not so arrogant and foolish as to believe that the country must change for us.
Somos Americanos y hablamos ingles.
We are Americans and we speak English.
Their only technological achievement is probably refining cocaine. Maybe we should stop printing instructions for our manufactured goods in spanish. Then they’d be building fires for light and heat.
JSR, you’re dead right. Everybody hates America but either they refuse to leave or they die trying to get here for some unknown reason. GO FIGURE!
This brings back memories of the early-80’s; the French tried to expunge American-English computer terms that were creeping into everyday use among the French. The rest of the world doesn’t mind using our technology, but they insist on inventing their own words for it.
Maybe he’s on to something. We should have a similar policy here.
Say it in English. Say it with pride.
To show you how much Spanish is taking over here, we got a swingset from Home Depot for Christmas (one of the big wooden ones). It came with three instruction booklets, one in French, one in Spanish, and one in English. But the English one was English/Spanish. There was a whole freaking instruction book in Spanish, but heaven knows you can’t print anything in English without Spanish being on the other side. Just amazing.
Academics outside the U.S. commonly speak English. For example, when a scientist in Russia works with a scientist in India, or when a scientist In Hungary works with a scientist in Japan, the language they speak together will almost always be English. Not American English, or British, but English without the frills. This is not a new concept. I read an article about it nearly two decades ago in the, of all places, New Yorker magazine. The New Yorker article’s prediction was that English would become the defacto universal tongue, just not the English we speak in the old U.S.A. It will be interesting to see how well Venezuela will contribute to the international science community with the new Chavez initiative.
Chavez is doing a last hurrah - as others have mentioned the French went down the same path - for instance they call a “byte” an “Octet” (MB=MO) and prohibited their state-controlled media from using English (Franglais) words.
Much ado over nothing on both sides of the aisle EXCEPT a little more ammo for those who can light the fire under (a) enough Congresscritters including the chairs of the House and Senate Judiciary Committees for a proposed Constitutional amendment declaring English to be the sole national language of the United States of America (b) if (a) fails light the fire under State Legislators and Assemblymen and -women for an Article V Convention to directly submit this proposed Amendment to the State Legislatures and Assemblies for consideration.
Of course should the North American Union become a “reality”, monolingual English-speakers will become at best second or third-class citizens and at worst a hunted people.
I still think this clown looks like Curly Howard.
“Woo, woo-woo-woo-woo, woo-woo-woo-woo!”
“Moronica for Morons!
Sorry, couldn’t help it.
Spanish? How could Hugo support the use of a language that represents the colonization of South America and the oppression and destruction of the rich linguistic and cultural heritage of the indigenous peoples of that continent?!? Please– say it in Wayuu (I’m sure they have perfectly serviceable words for “poverty,” “stupidity” and “failure”)!
I CAN’T WAIT TO SEE THE HOLLYWOOD STARS COME OUT FOR THE 2008 COMMUNIST OSCAR AWARDS HOSTED BY HUGO AND NAOMI.
BEST PICTURE NOMINEES:
1. No Country for Bold Men - An epic look at the U.S. when socialist democrats run the Whitehouse and Congress.
2. There Will Be Universal Healthcare - A fairy tale sold to the Americans people in an attempt to draw them ever closer to socialism by handing over all power to the government.
3. Condone-ment - The sad story of laws being gutted to allow for illegal immigrants, homosexual marriage, and more abortions.
4. Hugo - A story of a man who’s whole life has been an abortion and the Hollywood stars that adore him for it.
5. Fatso - The pathetic documentary ramblings of a clinically obese man determined to blame the U.S. for all the worlds wrongs while promoting the failed universal healthcare of other countries.
Probably got the idea from Quebec.
A good day for liberals. Something to consider, and maybe promote. Anything to show their hate for America.
The irony is almost sickening, on multiple levels.
Will someone point out to Venezuala that a number of our dollars go to support their socialist paradise?
Dang, why can’t we just do offshore drilling, and ANWAR, and be done with this loser?
Glad to oblige, Hugo:
¡Planche mi camisa…puto!
In my wife’s country (Philippines) they speak 87 dialects of 14 distinct languages. Guess which one is used in commerce and by educated people in ordinary conversation - English of course. One reason is that English is neutral. They don’t have to give points to the other guy by using his dialect when they use the ‘foreign’ language, English. Even out in the boondocks you’ll find that all educated people and even many not very literate folks all speak some amount of English. (Very handy for me when I’m there
)
I guess Hugo got fed up when he had to press uno para espanol.
Maybe because congress and the White House are extremely BLUE.
It’s a good sign, I suppose, whenever some tin-pot “Maximum Leader” or whatever - whose grip on power depends heavily on keeping people’s attention focused on some foreign bogeyman - has to resort to claiming that Eeeengleesh is the latest existential threat.
I mean, where’e the promised Yankee invasion? Chavez has been saying for years now that it’s imminent, and pffft. The average Venezuelan has probably figured out by now that the Yankees aren’t coming.
Just like some people who depend on being seen as victims will claim “structural racism” when they can’t find examples of actual racism, Hugo Chavez will vigorously do battle with “cultural imperialism” if we won’t give him the real thing.
The English language as Trojan Horse or something. Pitiful.
These words should be plastered on billboards, bumper stickers, Media ads!!!
Oh, I’m sorry. That’s sooo xenophobic and ethnocentric. I must remember, there is no pride in being an english speaking, US citizen.
ThatSamIAm #38:
Good stuff! I would like to add:
An Inconvenient Youth - the gripping story of a wet-behind-the-ears Senator who attempts to run a country. Not sure if this is a comedy or psychodrama.
Hugo Chavez, in a nasty snit over his failed referendum, has decided to ban English words. Me oh my…. yes, let’s ban those widely used English words that are commonly known throughout Latin America.
Can I ban the color red? How ’bout that ridiculous beret he likes to wear? The beret is a French modicum of dress, therefore Western, and thereby verboten. Is this man running a country or editing a dictionary?
No wonder there are Venzuelans fleeing this idiot. They don’t want to be left holding the bag when Hugo’s socialist experiment peters out and there are still poor people living in their one room shacks.
El Putzo Supremo
So let me see if I have this right. Hugo doesn’t want his citizens speaking English. Yet here in America, we can’t stop people from speaking Spanish and can’t force them to learn English.
If I tried to understand the world, my head would hurt.
/em>
I would say”: “El Asso Whipe-oh’s”. Te heh.
English is the international language because the British Empire was the vastest, most influential and most powerful empire in history, of a reach still as yet unsurpassed (1/4 of the world’s population and 1/4 of the world’s landmass under its domination at the height of its power - funny when you think that all of that came from one small island).
Simple as that. You can’t change history. Chavez should blame the Spanish for not achieving an empire of quite the same proportions.