In a discussion over common lingo that are not proper English words, one friend came up with the ultimate example: decheemanise. To me that is the ultimate oxymoron; why do you need a word with 12 letters and 4 syllables that essentially means 'simplify'?
Quite coincidentally, I came across a global effort to decheemanise the English language. It is predicated on the assumption that clear communication is the responsibility of the speaker/writer, not the listener/reader. It is the responsibility of the more sophisticated linguist to convey concepts and ideas in a language that is easily understood by the intended audience.
The product of this is called Globish, and comprises 1500 commonly used words, which should be able to convey the same meaning as the broader English language, albeit in a less poetic way. Instead of being parsimonious with the prose, it pares down the necessary vocabulary to simplify communication. It would be pretty cool if someone could just program a Globish checker to highlight all the words in a speech/document not within this 1500-word subset, and suggest amendments. I know some people I would use it for.
I think this should be much more effective than other attempts to bridge global communication such as Esperanto. It is much easier to get experts to simplify their vocabulary than to expect beginners to pick it up at an impossible rate. And I wish someone would reduce Mandarin to 1500 words.
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3 comments:
im sure 'parsimonious' wldnt be in the 1500 word subset ;)
wldnt the use of Globish limit the expansion of vocabulary of us lesser folks? methinks my english has inproved vastly since reading your blog paddy. hahahah
The 3rd word in the Globish entry is portmanteau. On the same line, the entry explains the main objective is to simply the Eglish language...talk about irony.
Speaking of irony, here are two more
Common Parlance: What so common about it
Pleonastic: A redundant word if there was ever one
The wikipedia entry is not written in Globish and neither is my blog. Globish is primarily intended to clarify communication in a cross-cultural setting for business (and I suppose maybe diplmatic purposes) with non-native speakers.
My blog is damn atas one. Don't mess.
And for so-called 'lesser folks', there is a vast expanse of English literature to expand the vocabulary once Globish is mastered.
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