I don't know if I should add to this correspondence, but as a librarian one
thing that strikes me is the extraordinary juxtaposition of English and
German words in the titles of books in some subject disciplines, which makes
it sometimes hard to know at first sight which language a book is actually
in.
The following examples are all taken from a single section (Wirtschaft) in
one weekly issue of the German National Bibliography from last July:
"Bosch Automotive Aftermarket" : Systemkompetenz für die Werkstatt
Due diligence bei Unternehmensakquisitionen
Erfolgsfaktor Investor relations?
EsPresso : die Business-to-Business-Information des Focus-Magazin-Verlags
Handbuch Mergers & acquisitions
Online-Banking für Einsteiger
Praktiker-Handbuch Due diligence
Asset Management Standards : Regelungen in den USA und in der EU
Die neue Corporate Governance : richtiges Top-Management
Marketing-Facts Teenager
Stock options : Finanzwirtschaft, Gesellschaftsrecht, Bilanzierung ...
Sulzbach-Rosenberg : Standort mit Know-how
Taxman ... compact für Einsteiger
A colleague has also drawn my attention to the following Swiss
title:
Fit 4 Feedback : Wege zur Gesprächskultur "hart & herzlich"
Graham Nattrass
Head of Germanic Collections
British Library
96, Euston Road,
LONDON NW1 2DB
00(44)207-412-7572
-----Original Message-----
From: Jeremy Leaman [mailto:[log in to unmask]]
Sent: 03 October 2002 11:05
To: [log in to unmask]
Subject: Spelling Reform and Anglicisms
The Spelling Reform correspondence made me think about the more
gradual but no less dramatic changes in linguistic usage in German,
most notably the invasion of Anglicisms which don't quite work (for
me at least). Dipping into recent employment and taxation policy
discussions in Germany, I encountered the proposal to introduce the
'Job floater' (it involves offering small companies cheap credit if
they take on unemployed people) administered by a
'PersonalServicesAgentur' (with the old Arbeitsamt) and a
'BridgeSystem' for older workers. The SPD election campaign group
(Kampa) talks breezily about 'das neue Tool' (the Internet, I think)
and much, much more. The fact that such borrowings aren't embedded in
native English usage and therefore don't reflect the dafter
associations with floaters, personal services and tools is worrying.
Above all, the preparedness to coin new concepts without passing them
by a native English speaker (I assume they didn't) smacks of a rather
irritating confidence. Of course, we can only blame ourselves for
being a stubbornly monolingual culture and allowing others to become
confident in a second language where we so palpably aren't. (This is
all quite separate from any criticism of the banality of the new
policies hidden behind the modish rhetoric). Any other daft
Anglicisms out there to brighten the gloom?
Jeremy Leaman
Dr J.Leaman
Department of European Studies
Loughborough University
LE11 3TU
Tel: (44)01509-222995
Fax: (44)01509-223917
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