By Ralph Rewes
INTRODUCTION..................................................................................................................................4 Why people abroad have this frightening image of us? ............................................................................................................ 4
WHAT’S IN A NAME? ..........................................................................................................................6 How was it that our country “stole” the name of the Hemisphere?..................................................................................... 6 Who suggested the name “United States of America”? ............................................................................................................. 6
AN ISLAND LANGUAGE ..................................................................................................................... 10 English is not mutually intelligible with any other language. ............................................................................................. 10 The alienating effects of the word “alien”.....................................................................................................................................10
FOREIGN? IN YOUR OWN HOUSE?.................................................................................................... 12 The meaning of “foreign”..................................................................................................................................................................... 12 What is and what is not foreign. .......................................................................................................................................................12
THE WAY WE MEASURE THINGS....................................................................................................... 14 Two liters cokes....................................................................................................................................................................................... 14 Million, Milliard, Billion ........................................................................................................................................................................14
CONVENTIONS OR CLICHÉS?............................................................................................................. 16 TV, movies, and the press specially ................................................................................................................................................ 16 US TV vs. European TV ..........................................................................................................................................................................16
THE CLASSIC CLICHÉS........................................................................................................................ 18 Ethnic and language clichés ............................................................................................................................................................... 18 Food clichés ................................................................................................................................................................................................18
TELEVISION MORALITY ..................................................................................................................... 20 Gambling..................................................................................................................................................................................................... 20 Sex and the future in science fiction ................................................................................................................................................20
THE FEMALE FACTOR........................................................................................................................ 22 Other movie and TV clichés................................................................................................................................................................ 22 Gilligan Island, full of them .................................................................................................................................................................22
GETTING OLD AND DUPLICATED ....................................................................................................... 25 Cloning characters.................................................................................................................................................................................. 25 The alter egos ............................................................................................................................................................................................25
POLITICS........................................................................................................................................... 26 Ah, this is a jackpot................................................................................................................................................................................. 26 Reporting from a bar abroad, with dictators’ interpreters ..................................................................................................26
FREEDOM — LIBERTY?...................................................................................................................... 28 A difference only Anglophones understand................................................................................................................................ 28 Freedom is not free .................................................................................................................................................................................28
RELIGION. TO EACH HIS OWN........................................................................................................... 30 Monotheism: totalitarianism ............................................................................................................................................................. 30 Polytheism: democracy .........................................................................................................................................................................30
“THÕSE FUNNY LITTLE THÎNGS ON LÉTTERS...” ................................................................................. 32 They used to take the umlaut from Hägar the Horrible......................................................................................................... 32 And instant coffee Café Français had no accent and no cedilla, no anymore ...............................................................32
WHY DO WE SPELL “MARIJUANA” WITH A “J” .................................................................................. 35 Pronounce it like “H” when Spanish spells it “marihuana” and pronounce it mariwana?...................................... 35 XRATED WORDS.....................................................................................................................................................................................35
HAMBURGERS, HOT DOGS — IS THAT ALL WE EAT? ......................................................................... 38 How about pizzas ............................................................................................................................. 38 How about frijoles negros ....................................................................................................................................................................38PRECIOUS COMMODITIES ABROAD .................................................................................................. 41 Toilet paper, getting softer ................................................................................................................................................................. 41 Showers, they call them douches ......................................................................................................................................................41