>>>>>>>>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.

Yeah, I've seen the Johnny Depp film
>
>Agnes