Month: May 2016

BRIEF NEWS STORIES

BREXIT – A SUMMER LOVE STORY
Britain just cannot catch a break. Having just survived the breakup from Scotland, it now faces the danger of breaking up with EU. Although summer may be the preferred time to end long term relationship to enjoy the sun and freedom, EU breakup could, just as much, lead to sobbing nights and sorrow flavoured ice creams. Prime minister, David Cameron, certainly warns of the latter. Having somehow convinced the Scots to continue being part of Britain, the Prime Minister, now, faces an uphill battle of convincing the public to continue being part of EU. According to YouGov opinion polls, 40% are sympathetic towards Cameron’s desire to stay while 39% wants to leave EU. 16% are undecided about their stance. That is a very narrow lead; come Election Day, Cameron could lose that lead and have to end Britain’s relationship with the European Union. Brexit could go one way or other. Although each group claims to hold greener pasture, one can only assume but never be sure.

Supporters of “Out” campaign argue that U.K. is better off being a single nation that can build trade relationships with other countries without having to make budgetary contributions to the EU. Leaving would allow for a boom in jobs for British people. The UK would regain their sovereignty and have better control of their legislation. In contrast, their oppositions argue that without EU, UK would be losing massive financial aid that has helped the country develop. British people living in EU nations would either have to return or apply for visas, making it a nuisance for them. As the voting day looms, one has to wonder, should UK leave EU, what impact would it really have on the economy, British people, and the participating nations itself?


REPUBLICAN’S TRUMP CARD
America can never do anything without gaining attention from the media and scrutiny from the world. When it comes to the general election, everyone seems to have an opinion and an opposition to go against it. As Obama prepares to end his Presidency at the end of the year, The Republican candidate, Donald Trump, prepares to make America great again. Trump has certainly come a long way to be so close to being a chairman…I mean President of America. Once an extra in Home Alone 2, he is now the lead in every American News story. If his momentum continues, he might just go on to be the inspiration for the next season of American Horror story. In the beginning, not many took him seriously. However, he has outlasted every Republican candidate vying for the top position while the Democrats are still trying to decide between feeling the Bern and Hilary (Hilary needs a quotable slogan).

Trump is a controversial candidate. He is considered racist, sexist, and he doesn’t seem to care much about political correctness. Normally, this would hurt any candidate’s chances of being a President but not Trump. While he has rubbed people the wrong way, he has also managed to attract part of the American population that are tired of political correctness, fearful of national security, and fearful of their identity in their own country (to put it lightly). Trump, despite having no prior political experience, is marching forward towards the White house. What he lacks in political experience, he makes up for it in his business expertise, communication, and media handling. He has the money to support his campaign and awareness of how media works. In a modern world, perhaps, these are the most important qualities one would need to be triumphant in their endeavours and Trump possesses these qualities. Despite criticism and opposition, Trump is unfazed by it all. Despite the sexist and racist remarks, and Nazi references, Trump has managed to beat other primaries to be the Republican candidate for the US Presidency.


CIGARETTE NEW PACKAGING
Last week, High Court made a ruling that all tobacco products would now have to have plain packaging with 60% of it covered in health warnings. Fight to protect children against harmful products has certainly come a long way. Cigarettes advertisements have been banned, health warnings placed in each packaging, products have been hidden away from customers behind the counter, and now plain packaging. It was a celebratory moment and a movement forward towards protecting the children. Celebrations commenced with bottles of whiskeys, wines, and vodkas which they bought in its fancy packaging from a supermarket with an aisle labelled “WINE & SPIRITS”. Okay, that is an unfair joke. U.K. does have one of the strictest rules when it comes to alcohol advertising. However, if the mere sight of cigarette packaging is considered to be influential towards young children, shouldn’t alcohol be treated the same way? Just because one is more socially consumed than the other doesn’t mean children should not be protected from both.


VAN GAAL AND MANCHESTER NO LONGER UNITED
The departure of Sir Alex Ferguson has left such a massive hole in Manchester United that no one has been able to fill it up yet. Fergie’s handpicked successor, David Moyes, was supposed to lead United into glory the way his predecessor did. After all, they had so much in common. Both were Scottish…umm…both of their last names started with a consonant?!? Okay, so aside from their nationality they didn’t have much in common. However, he was handpicked and was expected to lift trophies with United. Instead, the Red Devils had a miserable season before being replaced by the philosophical Van Gaal. Tearing a page out of their opponents’ book, United opted for a foreign coach with a strong reputation. Only, he too turned out to a polarising figure. Gone were the dominant days of United. Once a dominating team, they had now reverted back to being the United in Ferguson’s early days. Van Gaal was subject to much criticism during the Dutch’s stint as a manager. So much so that The Telegraph have listed 33 reasons why he had to be sacked. Seriously, that’s 30 too many. Despite winning the FA cup and having a year remaining on his contract, United made the decision to part ways with the Dutchman. Having failed to qualify for the Champions Leauge, he won’t be remembered fondly; although, the FA cup will provide some comfort…if any.

However, one man’s loss is another man’s gain. After suffering through, what must have been the worst implosion of a winning team, Jose Mourinho is back in the Premier League to avenge his unceremonious departure from Chelsea and renew his rivalry with Man City’s newly signed manager, Pep Guardiola. Maybe, it will take the Special One to fill the void left by arguably the greatest manager ever and I don’t mean Van Gaal or Moyes (as good as they are).

Absurdity of English Language

Buffalo buffalo buffalo buffalo buffalo buffalo buffalo buffalo. This is a grammatically correct English sentence regardless of what Microsoft Word says. Although, it may never be used in a conversation, repeating buffalo eight times forms a sensible construct that tells a story of a buffalo from Buffalo city that the buffalo from Buffalo city bully (buffalo) are also bullying buffalo from Buffalo, NY. TED-Ed explains the meaning of this sentence further in their wonderful short video which you can watch here. This is one of many sentences that make you realise the absurdity of English language.

Why do we tolerate such absurdity in the English Language? When spoken out loud, the aforementioned sentence would be met with questioning glances and brushed off as a nonsensical utterance from the speaker, yet grammar accepts it to be a fully formed sentence with no fault what so ever.

Take, for instance, this sentence: “A woman without her man is nothing.” This is one of the popular grammar meme floating around the internet highlighting the importance of punctuation. When spoken, pauses after certain words completely change the meaning of the sentence. Punctuating the sentence as “A woman, without her man, is nothing” describes women’s value as being dependent on her man. However, if you punctuate the sentence as, “A woman: without her, man is nothing”, it suddenly empowers women’s role in the life of men. When spoken, pauses in places where punctuation dictate, make the sentence mean two completely different things even though there are no changes in the words or their order. The same sentence can be used to utter two clashing ideas.

The absurdity of English language does not end there. In fact, the two examples I have discussed do not even account for a drop in the ocean that is the English language. In Crazy English (1989), Richard Lederer discusses the absurdity of English language. In the first chapter of the book, English is a Crazy Language, he writes:”Sometimes you have to believe that all English speakers should be committed to an asylum for the verbally insane. In what other language do people drive in a parkway and park in a driveway…In what other languages can your nose run and your feet smell?” English speakers are indeed insane.

Attributes reserved for certain things/subjects are not exclusive to one but shared among many. This is why your nose can smell but it can also run; your feet can run but it can also smell. However, your noses do not run the same way your feet does, neither do your feet smell the same way your noses do. Yet, the English language is adamant in using the same word for two different things with two different meaning. Because why not?  AsapThought, a YouTube channel, have highlighted more of these idiosyncrasies in their poem, inspired by Richard Lederer and Richard Krogh.

Like any other languages, there are various words English borrows from others The likes of Latin, French, German, and others are the sources for words that we find in the English language. For instance, the word “oxygen” actually originates from French word oxygène, coined in 1777 by French chemist Antoine-Laurent Lavoisier (1743-1794), from the Greek words oxus (acid) and gennan (generate). Similarly, other words such as banana, sushi, massage, terror are all of foreign origins. Wikipedia has a compiled a massive list of foreign words in the English language which you can view here. To pull out an appropriate quote from the internet, “..English is about as pure as a cribhouse whore. We don’t just borrow words; on occasion, English has pursued other languages down alleways to beat them unconscious and rifle their pockets for new vocabulary.” (James D. Nicoll).

English really is absurd, because, despite its impurity, non-sensical yet sensical construct, and contradictory meaning, it is still one of the widely used languages around the world. So much so, that it is considered to be an international business language. Not only that but most of the literary books, that see massive sales, are printed in this perfectly absurd language that we call English.