Rethinking our relationship with the language

March 12, 2022 10:02 AM

Rough Translation podcast (& transcripts!) "Wouldn't it be easier to teach Americans when they enter global business meetings to check their idioms at the door?" from April 21, 2021 episode on "bad English". "Without any official permission from McDonald's, this former restaurant [in Marseilles France] has been occupied and repurposed as a food pantry and community hub during the pandemic" from April 7, 2021 episode. The Ukrainian and Russian languages are the focus of the most recent episode (March 2, 2022).
posted by spamandkimchi (5 comments total)

Rough Translation is fantastic.

Their recent re-broadcast on the Ukranian competitive comedy scene (which Zelensky came out of) is fantastic, and gives some great insight into both Zelensky and Ukranian national identity from a time well-removed from the current conflict.

I have tried very hard expunge baseball idioms from my language since hearing the 'Bad English' episode. (I really have to keep my eye on the ball to succeed at this... Frequently find myself way off base, but hope to eventually bat a thousand with practice.)

Another great inspiration on this front is from Ted Lasso's Doc Sharon: "He refuses to open up, and when he gets anywhere close to being vulnerable, he fires off a zinger of some obscure reference to something very specific to a 40-year-old white man from Middle America." The expectation that people understand your references+idioms is a really concrete manifestation of cultural hegemony and privilege.
posted by kaibutsu at 11:24 AM on March 12, 2022 [7 favorites]

Thanks for this.
posted by signal at 11:25 AM on March 12, 2022

peepofgold, you remind me of a man from India who came to America. He expected that lentils would be something special, but they were only dal.
posted by Nancy Lebovitz at 2:40 PM on March 12, 2022 [4 favorites]

I am genuinely amazed that granola is muesli. Is it really?! Muesli?!

Nah. Muesli has some similar ingredients but granola is also full of sugary binders, and often baked. We have both in the UK.
posted by biffa at 4:29 AM on March 13, 2022 [1 favorite]

Good stuff! TIL "(ph), a notation used in transcripts to indicate that the transcriber does not know the spelling, usually of a name, and has spelled it as it was pronounced (phonetically)"
I was wrong-footed because this appeared in the 1st transcript: My name is Stephanie (ph). Stefanie (f) being different altogether.
posted by BobTheScientist at 6:38 AM on March 13, 2022