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Comment by karl_schlagenfu | Hacker News Reader

I disagree, English is fast becoming (already is?) the global language. It makes sense to standardise on English instead of learning hundreds of different languages (which is no easy task).

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English is woefully inadequate to capture cultural nuances of a lot of places in this blue-green spinny ball though

I grew up multi lingual before moving to the US and there are still several things that i have to say "well, there's no word for that in English but it's kind of xyz". There are so many ideas, thoughts and feelings that cannot be captured with the English language presently.

Of course every language has that issue across borders so I'm not convinced standardizing in english as a global language will bring enough benefit to be worth the cost

I think that's unfair, just because there is no direct or succinct translation doesn't mean the same thought cannot be expressed, it's just that it needs to be more verbose perhaps.

It is also incredibly open to new ideas and words, best put by James Nicoll >The problem with defending the purity of the English language is that English is about as pure as a cribhouse whore. We don't just borrow words; on occasion, English has pursued other languages down alleyways to beat them unconscious and rifle their pockets for new vocabulary.

Either you haven't gone many places, or you did so with a special kind of insensitivity. People all over the place have cultures and languages that is part of their identity. When you bulldoze over that and just use english without any further bother, these people feel that you rob them of who they are, that you attempt to commoditize them as an interchangeable people that just happens to be present in these lands.

That's my excuse, but I know it's an excuse (and not a reason) for not learning a different language.

I do however learn and use the pleasantries of any local language because that's just good manners.

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