LL-L "Idiomatica" 2008.02.14 (01) [E]

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L O W L A N D S - L - 14 February 2008 - Volume 01
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From: heatherrendall at tiscali.co.uk <heatherrendall at tiscali.co.uk>
Subject: LL-L "Resources" 2008.02.13 (04) [E]

Reinhard/Ron wrote:    Bad example, dear, poor Heather ... Please never say
"Outer Mongolia" or "Outer Mongolian" in my presence again if you know
what's good for you. ;-)

Could I please have suggestions from the forum, then, for a language to
replace my " Outer Mongolian", which I have used these past 4 decades in
order to describe  a language spoken 'a great distance away' or a language
unlikely to be spoken by any one present  ( not I hasten to add that the
latter is valid on THIS forum!)

Just as one used to use Timbuctoo as an expression of a place 'far far
away', I have been using OM as a language 'far far away'

What is acceptable as a replacement without offending anyone?

humbly

Heather
----------

From: R. F. Hahn <sassisch at yahoo.com>
Subject: Idiomatica

Hi, Heather!

Sorry I shot that one down. Oops! We do have at least one person in and one
person from "Outer" Mongolia in our midst, and someone from there sent us a
translation of the wren story (http://lowlands-l.net/anniversary/mongol.php
).

You asked:

What is acceptable as a replacement without offending anyone?

This is the "problem" these days when hardly any community, few languages
and certainly no country are not hooked up to this international medium
we're using. You could single out a few languages and communities in
Amazonia or Papua New Guinea, but that's not going to last you long.

I suggest that these days you have to leave Planet Earth for this purpose.
For instance, you could say "Klingon" instead, for which we recently
received a translation of the wren story (
http://lowlands-l.net/anniversary/klingon.php).

Even the Malian city of Timbuktu (Western Songhay *Timbutu*), once truly
several days' travel from anywhere around, can be reached more easily and
has Internet connection these days. However, because of its history as a
remote salt trading town and center of the Songhay Empire, it seems fair to
continue that "Timbuctoo" thing. After all, it hardly seems offensive,
though the geographically most remote large cities appear to be Yakutsk
(Sakha Republic) and  Perth (Western Australia).

How quickly things have been changing! Daily cross-boundary encounters
require that we rethink lots of things we never thought about.

Regards,
Reinhard/Ron

•

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