Over in Slate, in a piece titled Terrorists, Dissidents and Copy Editors, Christopher Hitchens tracks the shifting language used by journalists to describe the perpetrators of violence in both Iraq and Northern Ireland.

Al-Qaeda in Mesopotamia (AQM), he notes, is now being referred to simply as a “a largely homegrown terrorist group,” when it was once known as “a largely homegrown terrorist group that American intelligence says is foreign-led.”

There is some debate as to whether AQM is a spontaneous local response to the American occupation, or a more calculated, opportunistic group with ties to Al-Qaeda proper — and, as Hitch writes, “at least this ponderous formulation expressed the ambiguity.”

Dropping that ambiguity, he argues, lends the group greater legitimacy.

Similarly, the perpetrators of the recent attacks in Northern Ireland, splinter groups of the IRA who refuse to participate in the peace process, are now being referred to as “dissidents” — a term which, Hitch writes, “describes only attitudes and not actions, and it is most famously associated with the intellectual opposition to Soviet totalitarianism.”

He goes on: “Plainly, something has been lost when such a historic term of honor and respect is loosely applied to homicidal thugs who shoot a Catholic policeman in the head and use pizza delivery workers as human shields.”

…If you want a quick definition of euphemism, this would do: It consists of inventing nice terms for nasty things (perhaps to make them seem less nasty) and soft words for frightening things (perhaps to make them seem less scary). We should have learned by now that this form of dishonesty is also a form of cowardice, by which some of the enemy’s work is done for him.

Fine points, all, and I’m glad to see someone is carrying on Orwell’s mission to monitor the use of language, and its enormous consequences.

But I’d be a lot more convinced that Hitchens really means what he says, if he didn’t refer to the US-led invasion of Iraq as “the coalition intervention” throughout the article.

What was that about “inventing nice terms for nasty things,” again?

Photo by ItzaFineDay (Creative Commons)

The French language has been in the news a lot lately – in part, because this weekend saw the 2008 summit of the Francophonie – an organization of French-speaking nations, loosely equivalent to the British Commonwealth – take place in Quebec City.

Here are a couple of interesting stories that came up during the summit:

Rwanda Says Au Revoir To French Language

Last week, on the eve of the Francophonie’s summit, the Rwandan government announced that French would no longer be the language of instruction in schools. Instead, most classes will be taught exclusively in Kinyarwanda or English.

The move is a complicated mix of pragmatism (since English is viewed as a more global or useful language) and post-genocide backlash against the French government, which has been accused of aiding the Hutu militias responsible for killing nearly 1 million Tutsis in 1994.

The Globe and Mail has a good article on the move, and the events leading up to it.

Sarkozy Steps Into Quebec Quagmire

French officials are scrambling to quell an angry backlash in the ranks of Quebec’s separatists following Nicolas Sarkozy’s apparent endorsement of a unified Canada during the summit.

“If someone tries to tell me that the world today needs an additional division, then they don’t have the same read of the world as me,” Sarkozy said on Friday. “I don’t know why a fraternal love of Quebec would have to be nourished through defiance toward Canada.”

You might think that a foreign leader’s support for an existing country would be a given, but in fact Sarko’s comments were a break from French presidents past, who’ve often voiced sympathy for the fight for a Quebecois nation. (See, most infamously, Charles de Gaulle’s “Vive le Quebec libre!” speech.)

Said an incensed separatist politician: “I hope the President of the republic poorly expressed himself and that it is not the way he actually thinks. If the President of the French republic came and interfered in our affairs and took a position against the independence of Quebec, well then it is extremely serious.”

Of course, the separatists have no issue with the French presidents who’ve “interfered in our affairs” by taking a position in support of Quebec independence…

Meanwhile, In The Developing World

Many of the poorer member nations of the Francophonie expressed concerns this weekend that their problems would be forgotten by Western countries preoccupied by the crisis on Wall Street.

“It’s a crisis that will ultimately strike us, we will see development falling away, we can anticipate prices for our commodities dropping, there will be much less enthusiasm for helping us,” said President Blaise Compaoré of Burkina Faso.

“It’s countries like ours, countries on the road to development, that will take the hardest hit,” added Denis Sassou Nguesso, the President of the Republic of Congo. “At this moment, we don’t really know what that hit will be.”

Photo by Rene Ehrhardt (Creative Commons)

It’s a guidebook.

It’s a history book.

It’s a language guide.

And it has two language CDs that can help whip your Sicilian into shape.

Hippocrene Books’s Language and Travel Guide to Sicily (yep, that’s Sicily above), written by Sicilian born Giovanna Bellia La Marca, may be titled simply, but what its title promises is exactly what it delivers. And remarkably, the book remains small enough to be able to carry along on your trip.

The book’s chapters are organized around all the important themes–geography, food, art, architecture, annual events, and customs–and ends with a generous section loaded with restaurant and hotel recommendations.

I’d keep this book myself, but I’ve got no plans to go to Sicily anytime soon. Instead, I’m giving it away (and it’s brand new!) to the first Matador member who posts the URL for his or her profile and tells us about any past experience in Sicily or any future plans to travel there.

Community Connection: If you’re planning an Italy trip, be sure to check out Marla Seidell’s helpful guide, Slow Food, Slow Travel: Italy, over at MatadorTrips.

Photos: Macorig Polo (Flickr creative commons)

Last week, we featured Jared Romey, author of the local lingo guides, Speaking Boricua and Speaking Phrases Boricua.

As promised, we’re back with some tips from Romey about how you can pick up local lingo:

1. Read local newspapers: Not only will you learn what’s going on locally, you’ll learn what words people use to talk about what’s important to them.

2. Watch television: It doesn’t matter what you watch—the news, cartoons, soap operas or prime-time dramas, but by listening to TV programs, you’ll begin to develop an ear for the cadence and pronunciation that distinguish regional variations in language.

3. Listen to locals. As often as possible, talk with local people. Try out the language. Ask questions, Be sure to talk to people of all ages. Lingo is often generational.

4. Develop a deep understanding of the structure of the language. The more you grasp the formal mechanics of a language, the more prepared you’ll be to recognize and understand variations.

5. Remember that lingo is not static. Language is changing all the time. The lingo you learn today may be obsolete next week or next year.

Editor’s Note: In addition to Romey’s fantastic tips, we have a couple more.

*Don’t get frustrated with yourself: You may have an excellent mastery of the formalities of a language and feel totally out of your league, just as Romey did, when you visit or move to a new place and recognize how different the local brand of that language is. Be patient with yourself.

*Recognize that language has regional distinctions for various reasons: Local lingo is influenced by history, pop culture trends, and the degree of contact a country shares with other nations, among other factors. The more you learn about why the local lingo is the way it is, the more you’re likely to understand and enjoy it!

Community Connection: Matador member Christine Gilbert also offers some great tips for learning languages on her website.

A few years ago, while living in Puerto Rico, I came across a copy of Jared Romey’s excellent guide to local lingo, Speaking Boricua. Romey, an American expat who lived in Chile and Argentina, arrived in Puerto Rico only to find that his fluent Spanish was “of no use.”

Having mastered the distinctions between the words for “straw,” “stapler, and “pen” — not to mention “popcorn,” “kite,” and “women’s panties”–in his former host countries, Romey set out to capture the unique words and phrases of Puerto Rican Spanish.

The result? Speaking Boricua and its follow-up, Speaking Phrases Boricua, two entertaining guides meant, as Romey told me in a recent interview, not to be used as a dictionary, but as “fun, humorous” books, “that a group of people can read in a social setting over beer, wine or shots of rum.”

“Salud!”

Romey, who is currently working on a local lingo guide to Argentina, is also developing a website where visitors can consult words to learn their meanings, as well as contribute local lingo. To order Romey’s books, visit his website.

And stay tuned to Pulse, where we’ll be sharing some of Romey’s tips for learning local lingo soon!

Community Connection: Matador member Christine Gilbert offers great tips for refreshing language skills on her website.

Photo courtesy of Jared Romey

How and where do YOU learn the local lingo of the places you visit? Share your stories in the Comments section below.

Are you a stickler for good grammar and spotless spelling?

So are Jeff Deck and his fellow members of the self-appointed Typo Eradication Advancement League (TEAL).

TEAL launched a three month road trip in March, and its members have been making their way around the U.S. in search of the country’s worst typos. Their mission? “To stamp out as many typos as we can find, in public signage and other venues where innocent eyes may be befouled by vile stains on the delicate fabric of our language.”

They’ve made it from the East Coast to the West Coast and will be heading back to New England later this month. Keep up with their adventures by reading their blog.

And on your next trip, think about throwing a red pen in your bag.

Photo by Tom Bevan.