# Which concept has each vernacular language come to represent in today's world? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [November 19, 2013, 10:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-concept-has-each-vernacular-language-come-to-represent-in-todays-world/674302 "2013-11-19T22:44:09Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![ILikeForeignLanguages](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/bc8723/32.png) [@ILikeForeignLanguages](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ILikeForeignLanguages)\ **Post date:** [November 19, 2013, 10:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-concept-has-each-vernacular-language-come-to-represent-in-todays-world/674302/1 "2013-11-19T22:44:09Z")
I’m a foreign language enthusiast; I love foreign languages and I am, in fact, learning Spanish right now. If possible, I would also like to learn French, Mandarin Chinese, Arabic and Russian. Anyway, I have an opinion poll: Which concept do you think is most associated with each individual language today? Don’t try to list every language in the world; just list a few and say what they remind you of. Here’s my list. English is the language of the world. (Spoken and understood all over the globe. The lingua franca. English is to now what Greek was to the past.) Italian is the language of food. (Think words like pasta, spaghetti, lasagna, ravioli, macaroni and pizza.) Arabic is the language of Islam. (The religion was founded by Arabic people and the Quran was originally written in Arabic [I think]). German is the language of Christmas time and the winter season. (Stille Nacht, the German “Silent Night” is fun to sing at Christmas time. Plus, I’ve heard that Germany is beautiful under the snow.) French is the language of love and romance (although Italian comes in as a pretty close second for this category.) Afrikaans is the language of South African/Afrikaner patriotism and national pride. That’s all I’ve got for now. ---
**Author:** ![robert\_columbia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e79b87/32.png) [@robert\_columbia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/robert_columbia)\ **Post date:** [November 20, 2013, 2:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-concept-has-each-vernacular-language-come-to-represent-in-todays-world/674302/2 "2013-11-20T02:44:59Z")
German and it’s close cousin Yiddish are associated _in the US_ with religious fundamentalism. Several extremely conservative Christian traditions in the US, most notably Amish, insist on using German even in communities where everyone is a native-born US citizen. Similarly, several ultra-Orthodox Jewish traditions insist on using the Yiddish language. Satmar Hasidism is one of the biggies - they more or less run a [town](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kiryas_Joel) in upstate New York that is majority Yiddish speaking. ---
**Author:** ![ILikeForeignLanguages](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/bc8723/32.png) [@ILikeForeignLanguages](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ILikeForeignLanguages)\ **Post date:** [November 20, 2013, 4:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-concept-has-each-vernacular-language-come-to-represent-in-todays-world/674302/3 "2013-11-20T04:21:45Z")
> [@robert\_columbia](#): > > Several extremely conservative Christian traditions in the US, most notably Amish, insist on using German even in communities where everyone is a native-born US citizen. Pennsylvania German (or Pennsylvania Dutch) is the ancestral language of the Amish, so it’s a part of their heritage. So, even though they are native-born U.S. citizens, English is not their first language. I like the PA Dutch language. It’s an interesting German dialect and extremely well-preserved against being endangered by the Anabaptist people. ---
**Author:** ![Johanna](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johanna/32/8318_2.png) [@Johanna](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johanna)\ **Post date:** [November 20, 2013, 3:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-concept-has-each-vernacular-language-come-to-represent-in-todays-world/674302/4 "2013-11-20T15:04:40Z")
Traditionally, Italian is the language of music. French is the language of diplomacy and related concepts. German is the language of science. There’s an old song, “Spanish Is the Loving Tongue” Latin was the language of scholarship and intellectuals in the Western world as late as the 19th century. Chinese has been the language of scholarship and intellectuals in East Asia since time immemorial. Sanskrit is the de facto language of world mystical religions, apart from its home base of Hinduism. Arabic was the language of philosophy in the 10th-11th centuries. Swahili is the international language of trade in East Africa. Hausa is the international language of trade in West Africa. English is the language of world aviation (and a lot of other stuff…). ---
**Author:** ![Johanna](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johanna/32/8318_2.png) [@Johanna](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johanna)\ **Post date:** [November 20, 2013, 3:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-concept-has-each-vernacular-language-come-to-represent-in-todays-world/674302/5 "2013-11-20T15:24:44Z")
Persian was until the 20th century the language of literature, culture, civilization, and sophistication over a very wide area from Turkey to Central Asia most of India. Persian’s little sister Urdu was also the predominant literary language in most of India until the 20th century, and the tradition of Urdu poetry is still influential in Bollywood lyrics. ---
**Author:** ![LawMonkey](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/d6d6ee/32.png) [@LawMonkey](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LawMonkey)\ **Post date:** [November 20, 2013, 3:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-concept-has-each-vernacular-language-come-to-represent-in-todays-world/674302/6 "2013-11-20T15:32:53Z")
> [@robert\_columbia](#): > > German and it’s close cousin Yiddish are associated _in the US_ with religious fundamentalism. Ehhhh. Despite the Pennsylvania Dutch and loonier fundamentalist Jewish sects, I’d not really think that German or Yiddish is associated in the average American’s mind with religious fundamentalism. German’s not associated with much of anything (except perhaps Hitler and shoutiness), and Yiddish is mostly associated with all of the “sch” words we’ve borrowed into English, like “schmuck”, “schlemiel”, “schlep,” “schlemazel”, etc. ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [November 20, 2013, 3:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-concept-has-each-vernacular-language-come-to-represent-in-todays-world/674302/7 "2013-11-20T15:42:19Z")
If there’s a language of food, it’s French. Italian is used for the names of Italian foods. French is used for foods from all cultures. ---
**Author:** ![Colophon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/f05b48/32.png) [@Colophon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colophon)\ **Post date:** [November 20, 2013, 3:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-concept-has-each-vernacular-language-come-to-represent-in-todays-world/674302/8 "2013-11-20T15:59:19Z")
> [@LawMonkey](#): > > Ehhhh. Despite the Pennsylvania Dutch and loonier fundamentalist Jewish sects, I’d not really think that German or Yiddish is associated in the average American’s mind with religious fundamentalism. German’s not associated with much of anything (except perhaps Hitler and shoutiness), and Yiddish is mostly associated with all of the “sch” words we’ve borrowed into English, like “schmuck”, “schlemiel”, “schlep,” “schlemazel”, etc. Yes, like it or not, Arabic is what your average American/westerner thinks of as “terrorist talk” nowadays… ---
**Author:** ![Little\_Nemo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/little_nemo/32/3120_2.png) [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)\ **Post date:** [November 20, 2013, 4:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-concept-has-each-vernacular-language-come-to-represent-in-todays-world/674302/9 "2013-11-20T16:14:55Z")
> [@ILikeForeignLanguages](#): > > German is the language of Christmas time and the winter season. (Stille Nacht, the German “Silent Night” is fun to sing at Christmas time. Plus, I’ve heard that Germany is beautiful under the snow.) > [@robert\_columbia](#): > > German and it’s close cousin Yiddish are associated _in the US_ with religious fundamentalism. Several extremely conservative Christian traditions in the US, most notably Amish, insist on using German even in communities where everyone is a native-born US citizen. I’ve never associated German with any current religious ideas. My association with German would be philosophy: ponderous thinkers like Freud, Goethe, Hegel, Heidegger, Jung, Kant, Marx, Nietzsche, Popper, Schopenhauer, Spengler, and Wittgenstein. ---
**Author:** ![robert\_columbia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e79b87/32.png) [@robert\_columbia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/robert_columbia)\ **Post date:** [November 20, 2013, 5:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-concept-has-each-vernacular-language-come-to-represent-in-todays-world/674302/10 "2013-11-20T17:30:01Z")
> [@Colophon](#): > > Yes, like it or not, Arabic is what your average American/westerner thinks of as “terrorist talk” nowadays… [![](https://img.youtube.com/vi/Hl0DD_MYqZU/hqdefault.jpg "Derka mohammed allah jihad") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Hl0DD_MYqZU) ---
**Author:** ![Mangetout](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mangetout/32/19_2.png) [@Mangetout](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mangetout)\ **Post date:** [November 20, 2013, 5:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-concept-has-each-vernacular-language-come-to-represent-in-todays-world/674302/11 "2013-11-20T17:50:36Z")
> [@Chronos](#): > > If there’s a language of food, it’s French. Italian is used for the names of Italian foods. French is used for foods from all cultures. Agreed - I mean, the word _Chef_ (and so much other kitchen terminology) is French. And it’s not at all uncommon to hear people talk about Italian _ **Cuisine** _. ---
**Author:** ![Thudlow\_Boink](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thudlow_boink/32/320_2.png) [@Thudlow\_Boink](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Thudlow_Boink)\ **Post date:** [November 20, 2013, 6:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-concept-has-each-vernacular-language-come-to-represent-in-todays-world/674302/12 "2013-11-20T18:45:07Z")
> [@ILikeForeignLanguages](#): > > Italian is the language of food. (Think words like pasta, spaghetti, lasagna, ravioli, macaroni and pizza.) > [@Johanna](#): > > Traditionally, Italian is the language of music. Agreed! Allegro, concerto, opera, sonata, adagio, pizzicato… Italian is only one of several languages that have a popular cuisine associated with it. > [@robert\_columbia](#): > > German and it’s close cousin Yiddish are associated _in the US_ with religious fundamentalism. I certainly don’t associate them with religious fundamentalism. If there’s a “language” I associate with fundamentalism, it’s English spoken with a strong Southern (American) accent. Yiddish I associate with Jews who came to America from Europe, or those for whom Jewishness is a strong part of their cultural (not necessarily religious) identity. The Amish, when I think of them at all, I think of more as “separate” or “old-fashioned” than as “fundamentalist.” ---
**Author:** ![Hermitian](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hermitian/32/470_2.png) [@Hermitian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hermitian)\ **Post date:** [November 20, 2013, 6:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-concept-has-each-vernacular-language-come-to-represent-in-todays-world/674302/13 "2013-11-20T18:54:41Z")
I’ll probably get all jumped on for saying this, but when I think of Spanish, I think of poverty. German - Science and engineering Italian - food and family Russia - stocisim and practicallity, lack of emotion ---
**Author:** ![Johanna](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johanna/32/8318_2.png) [@Johanna](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johanna)\ **Post date:** [November 20, 2013, 7:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-concept-has-each-vernacular-language-come-to-represent-in-todays-world/674302/14 "2013-11-20T19:38:27Z")
> [@Chronos](#): > > If there’s a language of food, it’s French. Italian is used for the names of Italian foods. French is used for foods from all cultures. But that’s all because French _haute cuisine_ only came into existence in 1533 when Catherine de’ Medici married Henri II of France, and brought a team of Italian gourmet chefs with her from Florence to France. (I keep waiting for them to develop this theme on _Reign_, but perhaps that’s expecting too much.) ---
**Author:** ![StusBlues](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/dc4da7/32.png) [@StusBlues](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/StusBlues)\ **Post date:** [November 20, 2013, 7:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-concept-has-each-vernacular-language-come-to-represent-in-todays-world/674302/15 "2013-11-20T19:50:03Z")
I should think that German is still associated with authoritarian behavior. If someone is bossy, it isn’t unusual to hear someone reply “_jawhol, Mein Kommandant!_” or something like that. That’s the association I have with German, anyway. Yiddish is the language of discontent. When you’re tired of carrying something, you complain about \*schleping \*it around. Look at the loan words that \*\*LawMonkey \*\*cites above; Yiddish is what someone (Jewish or Gentile) lapses into when they’re disgruntled. Japanese, because of its association with Anime and Manga, is the language of geekery. Latin is the language of medicine or hardcore Roman Catholicism. ---
**Author:** ![Alessan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/alessan/32/465_2.png) [@Alessan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Alessan)\ **Post date:** [November 20, 2013, 8:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-concept-has-each-vernacular-language-come-to-represent-in-todays-world/674302/16 "2013-11-20T20:20:54Z")
> [@Hermitian](#): > > Russia - stocisim and practicallity, lack of emotion Lack of emotion? Really? To me, Russian is one of the most emotional languages, and the Russians the most romantic - and pessimistic - people on earth. Russian, in my ears, is: “We are all going to die tomorrow, my friend. Let us drink!” ---
**Author:** ![Johanna](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johanna/32/8318_2.png) [@Johanna](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johanna)\ **Post date:** [November 20, 2013, 9:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-concept-has-each-vernacular-language-come-to-represent-in-todays-world/674302/17 "2013-11-20T21:58:29Z")
> [@Alessan](#): > > Lack of emotion? Really? To me, Russian is one of the most emotional languages, and the Russians the most romantic - and pessimistic - people on earth. Russian, in my ears, is: “We are all going to die tomorrow, my friend. Let us drink!” [L’Chaim!](http://youtu.be/YjEDgvNP0NU?t=2m23s) Russians getting _down_. ---
**Author:** ![ILikeForeignLanguages](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/bc8723/32.png) [@ILikeForeignLanguages](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ILikeForeignLanguages)\ **Post date:** [November 23, 2013, 3:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-concept-has-each-vernacular-language-come-to-represent-in-todays-world/674302/18 "2013-11-23T03:55:48Z")
Okay, why don’t we do a double-whammy for Italian? Let’s say it’s the language of food _and_\*\* music. Anyone agree? ---
**Author:** ![ILikeForeignLanguages](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/bc8723/32.png) [@ILikeForeignLanguages](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ILikeForeignLanguages)\ **Post date:** [November 25, 2013, 3:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-concept-has-each-vernacular-language-come-to-represent-in-todays-world/674302/19 "2013-11-25T03:57:37Z")
I’m sorry if I said anything offensive in this thread. I’m leaving Straight Dope. Bye. ---
**Author:** ![Johanna](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johanna/32/8318_2.png) [@Johanna](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johanna)\ **Post date:** [November 26, 2013, 1:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-concept-has-each-vernacular-language-come-to-represent-in-todays-world/674302/20 "2013-11-26T01:43:18Z")
Aww, you didn’t say anything offensive at all. We cool. C’mon back. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-concept-has-each-vernacular-language-come-to-represent-in-todays-world/674302.md?page=2)