Comments on: Irish to Americans: When Negative is Positive http://irishkc.com/irish-to-americans-when-negative-is-positive.htm Kansas City Irish Festivals, Music, Pubs, & Events by an Artist in Ireland Sat, 26 May 2012 09:26:46 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.5 By: eolai http://irishkc.com/irish-to-americans-when-negative-is-positive.htm#comment-614 eolai Fri, 04 Aug 2006 01:59:44 +0000 http://irishkc.com/index.php/irish-to-americans-when-negative-is-positive.htm#comment-614 Now, now - easy on the irony. In the tradition of highlighting everything on a page effectively highlighting nothing, I once pointed out to an American that if everything is wonderful then <em>nothing</em> is wonderful. Mind you similarly I had to point out to an Irish man in Kansas City that <em>everybody</em> couldn't be a [expletive]. Now, now - easy on the irony.

In the tradition of highlighting everything on a page effectively highlighting nothing, I once pointed out to an American that if everything is wonderful then nothing is wonderful.

Mind you similarly I had to point out to an Irish man in Kansas City that everybody couldn’t be a [expletive].

]]> By: Brettski http://irishkc.com/irish-to-americans-when-negative-is-positive.htm#comment-608 Brettski Thu, 03 Aug 2006 17:56:28 +0000 http://irishkc.com/index.php/irish-to-americans-when-negative-is-positive.htm#comment-608 Even now, after all these years of being here, I still occasionally get caught out by using what I imagine to be a NZ compliment of understatement (even if uttered with correct intonation.) Midwesterners would never use the "Not Bad at all" high praise I'm accustomed to; instead, they prefer verbal sensationalism. It’s rooted in the positivism and extremism of the culture. Words they choose, however, in this game of external validation and back slapping, become over used, lose their meaning and the language chases itself in a game to constantly seek one-ups-man-ship (not unlike the escalating SUV race for size.) Huge was replaced with enormous, enormous with gigantic, then both with humongous, and recently again with gi-normous. I’m almost “positive” that there’s yet another one waiting in the wings of some schoolyard to top that. The other loss, and one which I mourn, is the lack of nuance in intonation. I’m sure it derives historically from the need to speak loudly and slowly to be understood, but its result is that word choice is the primary means of expression. Inflection here, to the degree with which I was raised, is lost and with it too, a large chunk of expressive communication. It wouldn’t matter how I uttered “Not Bad at all” – it would only ever be heard as a half-ass compliment when in fact, it’s perhaps my highest (genuine) compliment. Even now, after all these years of being here, I still occasionally get caught out by using what I imagine to be a NZ compliment of understatement (even if uttered with correct intonation.) Midwesterners would never use the “Not Bad at all” high praise I’m accustomed to; instead, they prefer verbal sensationalism.

It’s rooted in the positivism and extremism of the culture. Words they choose, however, in this game of external validation and back slapping, become over used, lose their meaning and the language chases itself in a game to constantly seek one-ups-man-ship (not unlike the escalating SUV race for size.)

Huge was replaced with enormous, enormous with gigantic, then both with humongous, and recently again with gi-normous. I’m almost “positive” that there’s yet another one waiting in the wings of some schoolyard to top that.

The other loss, and one which I mourn, is the lack of nuance in intonation. I’m sure it derives historically from the need to speak loudly and slowly to be understood, but its result is that word choice is the primary means of expression. Inflection here, to the degree with which I was raised, is lost and with it too, a large chunk of expressive communication. It wouldn’t matter how I uttered “Not Bad at all” – it would only ever be heard as a half-ass compliment when in fact, it’s perhaps my highest (genuine) compliment.

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