[OSList] Lessons in Language : We are a global community speaking many languages, but even when we are trying to communicate in a single language, for example English, the task is tough. English, like all languages, has multiple forms, and even native speakers from different places have a hard time understanding each other. They usually use the same words, but with often different meanings. As the playwriter G. B. Shaw remarked, Americans and British are two people divided by a common language. Even when you are in a single place, America for example, a word can have very different meaning and impact depending on who said it, where they said it, and what the circumstances were. Many years ago when I was street organizing in a Black neighborhood, I stopped by a house where I knew folks were likely to be hanging out. As a contribution I brought a half gallon of Thunderbird -- absolutely the worst wine I've ever tasted, but it was red and very alcoholic. As the cups were passed and emptied, th

[Harrison Owen SR]

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