May 30, 2003

Euphemisms 'R' Us Michele notes

Euphemisms 'R' Us

Michele notes that her daughter's school has replaced the term "Foreign Language" with the acronym "LOTE" ("Languages other than English").

Presumably this sounds more cuddly and inclusive to some ears, but to mine, the phrase is mostly familiar as a stock formulation usually used to express dry ridicule of poor or impenetrable writing. (e.g.: "Stanley Fish's latest essay, which at times appears to have been inexpertly translated from some language other than English...")

I assume a similar misguided quest for cuddliness lies behind the fact that Borders Books now puts their books written in LOTE in a section called "Untranslated Literature." We're all the same underneath, the good people at Borders want you to know. LOTE are just like you and me. It just so happens that they haven't yet been translated. (Watch out, though: the way our demographics are shaping up, it may soon be a case of translate or be translated.)

I have no idea why "Untranslated Literature" is so hilarious. Maybe because, technically, the books in a language other than LOTE (i.e., English, if you'll pardon my French) are also (usually) "untranslated." Translatedness is a relative condition. (There's even an old Woody Allen joke about some vandals breaking into a library and translating all the books into a LOTE, placing a tremendous burden on the hapless folks who had to clean up the mess by translating them back-- something like that anyway...)

For pure inadvertent, well-intentioned, misdirected whimsy, however, nothing can top the tortured brilliance of a term for the handicapped that had a brief moment in the Berkeley sun awhile back:

People Who Use Chairs as their Primary Means of Transportation.

That's an image that will stay with me for the rest of my life, and I'm grateful for it.

Posted by Dr. Frank at May 30, 2003 11:15 AM | TrackBack
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