Personally, I am primarily intrigued by the possibility of learning something, from the study of language, that will bring to light inherent properties of the human mind.
― Noam Chomsky, Language and Mind
A friend sent me a link to Melania's press statement. It was, undoubtedly, scripted by the handlers surrounding the First Lady without taking into account her struggle with English pronunciation. She tripped over "trivial," and what was the other one? It began with a "k" sound. I had no intention of watching her humiliation again to figure out the second word she couldn't decipher, much less pronounce, and then I remembered: She said calculating instead of circulating. It was a pathetic display, pathos as per the ancient Greek definition : a quality that invokes sadness or pity. The hypothesis I offered in my blog post of March 18 still holds: Melania is struggling to find her voice, and is resisting management by the propaganda machine, or may not understand it.
I had been working on a blog post about the degradation of American English and put it aside to write the paragraph above. The two are connected. When we cannot speak, when we do not have command of language, we cannot think clearly. Melania cannot think clearly in the English language because she does not have command of the language. She is not American born, and she is not well educated.
I'll carry on with my attempt to counter the continuing verbal short-cuts in text messages, email messages and conversation. I find it as alarming as Melania's performative announcement at the White House podium. We need to protect our brain power, more so in our current political moment. Social media dilutes, degrades and distorts. Propaganda dilutes, degrades and distorts. AI challenges our thinking process, or replaces it.
Consider the following Americam English expressions:
1. It is what it is. No it isn't, no it shouldn't be. Why are we so accepting of what shouldn't be? Why are we not challenging all that should not be? Please explain in full sentences and paragraphs, if necessary, why you have become so resigned to what is that should not be, or that you wish would not be. And so on and so forth. It sounds better in French: C'est comme ça.
2. I killed two birds with one stone. I found myself using this expression the other day. I was in a hurry and I was multi-tasking, saving time. I stopped myself. Birds have not been killed with stones since the 17th century so why do we use this expression? And why would we want to kill birds in 2026? It sounds just as strange in German: Ich schlug zwei Fliegen mit einer Klappe.
3. My bad. Oh, really? If something or other is your fault, please explain in full sentences. Don't cut your apology short with just two words. Compare and contrast to these Spanish equivalents:
Lo siento – I'm sorry.
Mi culpa – My fault.
Perdón– Sorry.
Disculpa – Excuse me.
Fue un error – It was a mistake.
No fue mi intención – It wasn't my intention.
4. Off the hook. What kind of hook? A huge brass hook by the cabin door out west somewhere around the time of the Civil War when runaway slaves were hiding in your basement and the sheriff came by and said, "We'll let you off the hook if you tell us where they are," or something like that. Italian translation: Liberato. What a beautiful word.
5. Good luck with that, meaning: You think you can do that? Forget it. British-English equivalent: Good luck with that. You will need it. (Starmer to Trump, for example.)
Dedicated to my EU friends who are trying to understand the vagaries and embedded clues of American English threats, political theater, explanations, and pronouncements. All queries will be answered with alacrity. Please also include strange idiomatic expressions currently in use, or overuse, within your borders.