As IF Times

link 2010 Quotes of the Year, Top Quotes of 2010.

Readers are directed to this site for the complete list as compiled by them.  I have chosen the ones most in the spirit of AsIF!

“Letting fatties roam the site is a direct threat to our business model.” — Robert Hintze, founder of dating site BeautifulPeople.com, which dropped 5,000 members who appeared in photos to have gained weight over the holidays.

“I’d rather be a really good one-term President than a mediocre two-term President.” — US President Obama, vows to continue to press for health care reform.

“I have a lot of work to do and I intend to dedicate myself to doing it. Part of following this path for me is Buddism.” — Tiger Woods.

“I think Jesus was a compassionate, super-intelligent gay man who understood human problems.” — British singer Elton John.

“I’m living proof that you can survive without sex for that long.” — Jim Gibbons, Nevada governor, saying in deposition in sexual-harassment lawsuit filed against him that he has not been intimate with any woman, including his wife, since 1995.

“A ban on eating would show China has reached a new level of civilization.” –Chinese professor Chang Jiwen on China considering making the eating cats and dogs illegal.

“The concepts of man or woman don’t fit me.” — Norrie May-Welby, who became first person in world to be classified genderless after Australian officials altered May-Welby’s birth cert to read “neuter”.

“Many women who do not dress modesty…lead young men astray, corrupt their chastity and spread adultery in society, which increases earthquakes.” — Hojatoleslam Kazem Sedighi, Iranian cleric, after severe earthquake warning in Tehran.

“I was also going to give a graduation speech in Arizona this weekend, but with my accent, I was afraid they would try to deport me.” — Arnold Schwarzenegger, governor of California, ribbing Arizona’s new immigration law, in his commencement speech at Emory University in Atlanta.

“Fuck my victims. I carried them for 20 years and now I’m doing 150.” — Bernie Madoff, jailed Ponzie king.

“The Internet’s completely over…All these computers and digital gadgets are no good. They just fill your head with numbers and that can’t be good for you.” — Prince, on his plans to withhold online distribution of his new album and instead include it, free, in British newspapers.

“I thought it was gum.” — Paris Hilton, denying responsibility for packet of cocaine Las Vegas police found in her bag.

“I feel sorry for straight men. The only reason women will have sex with them is that sex is the price they are willing to pay for a relationship with a man, which is what they want.” — Stephen Fry, actor, claims straight women don’t really like sex.

“We have to pass the (health care) bill so you can find out what is in it.” Nancy Pelosi, speech to National Association of Counties, March 9.

According to many news sites, the most memorable utterances of the year were:

“I’m not a witch.”   — Christine O’Donnell, television advertisement, Oct. 4.    and,

“If you touch my junk, I’m going to have you arrested.”  — Airline passenger John Tyner, remark to Transportation Security Administration worker at San Diego airport, Nov. 13

link AFP: China bars English words in all publications.

Oddly, I will bet lots of money that in barely a generation, the use of English will become as common as Chinese as the operating business and cultural language of that country.  That’s  a pretty bold prediction since at the moment, the population of China at an estimated 1.3 billion Chinese speakers, is more populous than any other nation in the world.  The reality though, is that the jungle drum-like lure of English is pervasive and persistent.  While China may have the edge as far as descriptive and lyrical language, English has the advantage of being the preferred language of most popular entertainment and technology. 

The reach of American media and entertainment extends far beyond the defined boundaries of the U.S.  Whether people like it or not, entertainment innovations still sprout from American shores.  With the proliferation of media devices such as Iphones, IPads and Blackberrys, the influence of American and therefore English speaking culture hits every corner of the globe, including China.  The popularity of You Tube, Facebook and Google all create a need for a grasp of English to enable plugging into the modern world. 

This recent measure by the Chinese government to stem the tide of “English creep” into popular use is futile.  They may as well try to ban nose picking.  The French found out as much decades ago when they tried to maintain the ‘purity’ of French culture by insisting on the use of appropriate French words and adjectives for common cultural things.  As we know now, this didn’t work since they are not an isolated nation.  Even in that bastion of snobby cuisine, a hamburger is called a hamburger, mais avec une accent.  I’ve never been to a McDonalds over there, but doubt that anyone orders pomme frites instead of french fries.   As it happens, the French have more cause to worry from the creep of Muslim culture into that society than they do American culture.  Nevertheless, the influence of American pop culture shows up in their music as well in the form of hip hop music, at the moment, tres au courant.

This same type of cultural hegemony will happen to China as well.  Via the social and cultural media conduits mentioned earlier, Chinese kids will be exposed to the novelty and lure of Western entertainment.  It’s tough to keep the kids focused on the party line when You Tube videos depict fast cars, fast women and unfettered hedonism.  In addition, they will have to master some semblance of English in order to navigate the social networking apps and be conversant with the associated lingo.  A Blackberry is not called a ‘hei shiguo’. Let’s face it, who are the kids going to idolize more, Jason Statham in the latest shoot ’em up or their national table tennis champion Ma Lin? Yao Ming and Jet Li may be big name stars, but arguably largely  because they are big stars in the West.  As the younger generation becomes more accustomed to the cultural ‘offerings’ from the West, English will start to become more pervasive in China.  In the meantime, we get to enjoy a few more years of mangled English, or Chinglish as the transition moves forward.

One more compelling reason in support of my prediction is simply the will to learn.  Chinese kids have a thirst and a capacity to learn.  There is a mentality of curiosity to learn and adapt there because they are an emerging economy.  As discussed in previous postings, Chinese students will learn what’s neccessary to ascend to greater things.  We would never see the mass learning of Chinese by kids over here.  Heck,  it’s enough of a challenge  for them to learn proper English.