# A language is a dialect with an army and a navy. (Username poll) **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [October 23, 2007, 5:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-language-is-a-dialect-with-an-army-and-a-navy-username-poll/423667 "2007-10-23T05:06:56Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Hostile\_Dialect](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/e495f1/32.png) [@Hostile\_Dialect](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hostile_Dialect)\ **Post date:** [October 23, 2007, 5:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-language-is-a-dialect-with-an-army-and-a-navy-username-poll/423667/1 "2007-10-23T05:06:56Z")
With regard to the quote in the OP, I’ve decided to change my username to reflect my everlasting solidarity with the descriptivist movement. So, since y’all is gonna be the ones to see it plastered all over the Boards, should I be **Dialect Army** or **Dialect Soldier**? Grazi! ---
**Author:** ![waterj2](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/858c86/32.png) [@waterj2](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/waterj2)\ **Post date:** [October 23, 2007, 5:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-language-is-a-dialect-with-an-army-and-a-navy-username-poll/423667/2 "2007-10-23T05:38:42Z")
I’d go for **Dialect Cannon Fodder** , but that’s just the morbid side of me coming out. Seems more Warren Zevon-esque, if you ask me. ---
**Author:** ![TokyoBayer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tokyobayer/32/13989_2.png) [@TokyoBayer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TokyoBayer)\ **Post date:** [October 23, 2007, 6:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-language-is-a-dialect-with-an-army-and-a-navy-username-poll/423667/3 "2007-10-23T06:18:22Z")
You could alway work in the marines somehow. **Dialect leatherneck** though just doens’t meter well. ---
**Author:** ![Ice\_Wolf](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/dfb087/32.png) [@Ice\_Wolf](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ice_Wolf)\ **Post date:** [October 23, 2007, 10:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-language-is-a-dialect-with-an-army-and-a-navy-username-poll/423667/4 "2007-10-23T10:51:05Z")
I’ll just play it straight and vote for **Dialect Soldier**. I like the rhythm. ---
**Author:** ![Giles](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/giles/32/60_2.png) [@Giles](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Giles)\ **Post date:** [October 23, 2007, 10:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-language-is-a-dialect-with-an-army-and-a-navy-username-poll/423667/5 "2007-10-23T10:59:47Z")
You need an army **and** a navy – so **Pretty soldier sailor dialect**! ---
**Author:** ![CalMeacham](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/calmeacham/32/35_2.png) [@CalMeacham](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CalMeacham)\ **Post date:** [October 23, 2007, 1:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-language-is-a-dialect-with-an-army-and-a-navy-username-poll/423667/6 "2007-10-23T13:41:11Z")
> [@](#): > > A language is a dialect with an army and a navy. (Username poll) > > * * * > > With regard to the quote in the OP, I’ve decided to change my username to reflect my everlasting solidarity with the descriptivist movement. Color me Clueless. What’s this a quote from? What the _HELL_ does it mean? Should I just Google “descriptivist” and all will become clear? ---
**Author:** ![Phlosphr](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/c68b51/32.png) [@Phlosphr](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Phlosphr)\ **Post date:** [October 23, 2007, 1:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-language-is-a-dialect-with-an-army-and-a-navy-username-poll/423667/7 "2007-10-23T13:45:32Z")
[QUOTE=CalMeacham] Color me Clueless. What’s this a quote from? What the _HELL_ does it mean? Should I just Google “descriptivist” and all will become clear? [/QUOTE] I’d like to raise my hand here as well. What the heck does it mean? ---
**Author:** ![CalMeacham](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/calmeacham/32/35_2.png) [@CalMeacham](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CalMeacham)\ **Post date:** [October 23, 2007, 1:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-language-is-a-dialect-with-an-army-and-a-navy-username-poll/423667/8 "2007-10-23T13:47:02Z")
One site attributes the quote to Yiddish speaker/scholar Max Weinreich, but still doesn’t explain it, and neither does his Wikipedia entry: [Max Weinreich - Wikipedia](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Max_Weinreich) Another site asks (tongue in cheek, I hope) that Lily omlin came up with it: [http://volokh.com/posts/1185239379.shtml](http://volokh.com/posts/1185239379.shtml) Doesn’t explain it either. ---
**Author:** ![Giles](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/giles/32/60_2.png) [@Giles](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Giles)\ **Post date:** [October 23, 2007, 1:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-language-is-a-dialect-with-an-army-and-a-navy-username-poll/423667/9 "2007-10-23T13:50:45Z")
The quote, “A language is a dialect with an army and a navy,” is about the problem distinguishing dialects from languages. It should be a simple matter, based on whether they are mutually intelligible. However, politics comes into it. For example, most linguists would say that Danish and Norwegian are the same language, and that Croatian and Serbian are the same language, but people from those countries want them to be separate. One the other hand, linguists would argue that Mandarin and Cantonese are different languages, but because they are spoken in the same country, non-linguists describe them as “Chinese dialects”. ---
**Author:** ![Freddy\_the\_Pig](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/a587f6/32.png) [@Freddy\_the\_Pig](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Freddy_the_Pig)\ **Post date:** [October 23, 2007, 2:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-language-is-a-dialect-with-an-army-and-a-navy-username-poll/423667/10 "2007-10-23T14:14:57Z")
The challenge is to phrase the user name in such a way that people connect it with the quote, which will be difficult. With **Dialect Soldier** , people are going to read _dialect_ as an adjective and take it as a riff on Marxism–they’re going to think you meant “dialectical soldier” and got it wrong. You could go with the more direct **Dialect with an Army** , but then you’re setting yourself up as the dialect rather than the soldier, which might be lame. And of course, you don’t _have_ an army. Maybe **Dialect without an Army** would work better. Or you could try **Soldier for a Dialect** or **Army for a Dialect** –both are a little wordy, but people will get the idea. I don’t know. Personally, I’d be happy to be recognized as a regional accent. ---
**Author:** ![Sunspace](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sunspace/32/1250_2.png) [@Sunspace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sunspace)\ **Post date:** [October 23, 2007, 6:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-language-is-a-dialect-with-an-army-and-a-navy-username-poll/423667/11 "2007-10-23T18:55:45Z")
How about **Militisto por Dialekto** (Warrior for a Dialect)? It covers both army and navy, plus any other military services that may be required, plus, it’s in Esperanto! 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Lionne](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/8e8cbc/32.png) [@Lionne](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lionne)\ **Post date:** [October 23, 2007, 7:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-language-is-a-dialect-with-an-army-and-a-navy-username-poll/423667/12 "2007-10-23T19:54:14Z")
Never mind. Misread OP. ---
**Author:** ![Hostile\_Dialect](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/e495f1/32.png) [@Hostile\_Dialect](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hostile_Dialect)\ **Post date:** [October 23, 2007, 8:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-language-is-a-dialect-with-an-army-and-a-navy-username-poll/423667/13 "2007-10-23T20:02:00Z")
> [@CalMeacham](#): > > What’s this a quote from? Nobody knows for sure; it’s a pretty pervasive meme in the world of linguistics, though. [This](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/A_language_is_a_dialect_with_an_army_and_a_navy), [this (descriptivism)](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Descriptive_linguistics) and [this (prescriptivism)](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Linguistic_prescription) may help. Interesting input from the rest of you guys, thanks. ---
**Author:** ![Hostile\_Dialect](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/e495f1/32.png) [@Hostile\_Dialect](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hostile_Dialect)\ **Post date:** [October 23, 2007, 8:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-language-is-a-dialect-with-an-army-and-a-navy-username-poll/423667/14 "2007-10-23T20:03:02Z")
[QUOTE=Sunspace] How about **Militisto por Dialekto** (Warrior for a Dialect)? It covers both army and navy, plus any other military services that may be required, plus, it’s in Esperanto! 🙂 [/QUOTE] I remain stubbornly resistant to conlangs in all shapes and forms. I’ve resolved to save as much brain space as possible for real languages that people actually speak outside of academic departments. ---
**Author:** ![Cervaise](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cervaise/32/16693_2.png) [@Cervaise](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cervaise)\ **Post date:** [October 23, 2007, 8:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-language-is-a-dialect-with-an-army-and-a-navy-username-poll/423667/15 "2007-10-23T20:31:14Z")
Go for broke. Call yourself **Dialect Assassin.** ---
**Author:** ![Yllaria](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/yllaria/32/3452_2.png) [@Yllaria](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Yllaria)\ **Post date:** [October 23, 2007, 8:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-language-is-a-dialect-with-an-army-and-a-navy-username-poll/423667/16 "2007-10-23T20:37:52Z")
I’d be inclined to: **Dialect with Army**. But I think that \*\*Dialect Army \*\* or **Dialect Soldier** work as usernames. \*\*Dialect Warrior \*\* would work, too. Or you could smush it to **DialectArmy** , as in - - what is the name of that cartoon/game where you look at a card with “He’s Himself” and guess that it means “He’s beside himself”? Because within that game’s rules **DialectArmy** could be interpreted as “a dialect with an army”. DialeAcrtmy? Nah. Smushing them together further doesn’t work. ---
**Author:** ![Sunspace](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sunspace/32/1250_2.png) [@Sunspace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sunspace)\ **Post date:** [October 23, 2007, 9:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-language-is-a-dialect-with-an-army-and-a-navy-username-poll/423667/17 "2007-10-23T21:16:20Z")
Yeah, I kind of like “Dialect with Army”. ---
**Author:** ![Freudian\_Slit](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/5daacb/32.png) [@Freudian\_Slit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Freudian_Slit)\ **Post date:** [October 23, 2007, 9:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-language-is-a-dialect-with-an-army-and-a-navy-username-poll/423667/18 "2007-10-23T21:20:04Z")
I think **fetus** is such a cute username, so I would stick with i.t If you have to be Dialect something, I’ll second **Dialect Assassin**. You’re taking more initiative that way. ---
**Author:** ![Ravenman](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ravenman/32/2929_2.png) [@Ravenman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ravenman)\ **Post date:** [October 23, 2007, 9:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-language-is-a-dialect-with-an-army-and-a-navy-username-poll/423667/19 "2007-10-23T21:43:19Z")
Dialect Seaman. I said seaman… heh-heh… ---
**Author:** ![Terminus\_Est](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/terminus_est/32/3087_2.png) [@Terminus\_Est](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Terminus_Est)\ **Post date:** [October 23, 2007, 9:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-language-is-a-dialect-with-an-army-and-a-navy-username-poll/423667/20 "2007-10-23T21:56:57Z")
How about **Language Without an Army**? [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-language-is-a-dialect-with-an-army-and-a-navy-username-poll/423667.md?page=2)