Improbable Research

[P. Kerim Friedman]

There was recently some discussion of this over on Language Log:

<http://itre.cis.upenn.edu/~myl/languagelog/archives/000374.html>

- kerim

On Jan 27, 2004, at 10:58 AM, Harold F. Schiffman wrote:

> -----------------------------------------------------------------------
> ---------
>  The English disease
>
> If we all spoke Japanese, Sars might not be half such a problem. Marc
> Abrahams explains
>
> Marc Abrahams
> Tuesday January 20, 2004
> The Guardian
>
> One's aspirations can kill - if Dr Sakae Inouye, of Otsuma Women's
> University in Tokyo, is correct - and Chinese aspirations are
> particularly
> deadly. Dr Inouye devised a simple theory about a vexing public health
> problem.  Her theory is this: the English language, when spoken by
> someone
> who normally speaks the Chinese language, can be lethal.