>>>>>>>It's probably historical: some languages got used to hidden sense and implicit talk. I am not a linguistic expert, so I could be wrong, but it might be that Russian language is the most double-speak phenomenon in this area.
>>>>>>
>>>>>>What about (ouch, forgot the exact name) of the language in "1984"? I read it recently in English.
>>>>>
>>>>>Isn't it "Newspeak"?
>>>>>
>>>>>That expression is hijacked today "Oh, downsizing is newspeak for 'laying people off'"
>>>>>
>>>>>Just as in "1984" they had "Minitrue" (the Ministry of Truth - in effect lies) nowadays we have the MetPol for London's Metropolitan Police.
>>>>>
>>>>>Incidentally, recently on a BBC telethon day, the woman who's presented the Big Brother reality show in UK since its start was asked, in a quiz, "Who is the leader of Oceania?" ... and she had no idea.
>>>>>
>>>>>Similarly many people bandy about the expression "Catch-22" without ever having read the book or really knowing what one is. That annoys me.
>>>>
>>>>I was watching a dvd of one of the old episodes of a show we had here (don't know if it was ever in England), called "Remington Steele", and in the episode, he was using a fake identity, and introduced himself to one person as "Milo Minderbinder".
>>>
>>>Wasn't that the show where Piers Brosman first shot to fame?
>>>
>>>I once had a military-style jacket and put "Capt. Washington Irving" (Yossarian's mail censoring persona, you may recall) in the name slot. Some guy in a pub asked me what position I played in the team!
>>
>>At least nobody asks you to sign a copy of
Tales of the Alhambra <g>
>
>Presumably an Irving novel. I've never read any.
Tales. To be read on a calm day on the ancient castle of the Alhambra.
But you might have heared of the
The Legend of Sleepy Hollow.
Agnes
Words are given to man to enable him to conceal his true feelings.
Charles Maurice de Talleyrand-Périgord
Weeks of programming can save you hours of planning.
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