Quote:
Originally Posted by Michael Chui  The absolute worst thing about the English language is that it implies ownership when you're really going for attribution.
It's not really "my opinion" and "your opinion"; it's "the opinion I expressed" and "the opinion you expressed".
I haven't come up with a solution that doesn't involve making up my own language and intending the entire world to manifest an acceptance of it. It's the first part that's giving me trouble. |
Well, it's not necessarily
the worst thing - English is crappy in an awful lot of ways
- but yes, it's a serious limitation.
A related issue is that English tends to rely on Subject-Object pairings which implies, well, an object. And the object is - by nature of being an object - very passive. "Boy that Michael Chui really makes me angry" - Subject: You, Object: Me. And, as the passive recipient of the anger you are so rudely causing in me, I'm helpless.
Alternately, if you say "I become angry when you do that" and you have something much more workable and accurate - but more awkward in the English tongue.
Probably the best that can be done in the short term is to use english in a more careful way. I try not to use the expression "your idea" (except sometimes when giving credit for a particularly good observation) because it encourages people to become defensive of 'their' idea. I tend to say things like "I agree with the idea to do X because..." instead.