What is the meaning of "you"?
I feel a bit like Bill Clinton (bless his heart) deliberating over the meaning of "is". But really, what is the meaning of "you"? Because this is currently what is puzzling me over our departure for Oman.
In English, there is no plural of you. No, wait, I retract that statement. Ireland, or at least Northern Ireland, uses "youse" to indicate the plural, and if our contact in Oman had written, "Youse will be receiving more information on your September 19th departure," I would know who, exactly, is leaving on the 19th.
If our contact had used the South's plural of "you", "y'all", I would know whether or not I should repack my clothing. However, all she said was, "Dear Tony, You will be departing for Oman on September 19th. You will soon receive more information...". Now to me, that sounds like the singular form of "you", don't you (plural) think?
This somewhat ambiguous information we have been receiving is reminding me of one of the greatest challenges associated with living and working abroad--language, and not the foreign one. My main difficulty is always with the English.
When I lived in China in the early 90s, I had a Chinese colleague whose English name was Kent. Kent was Mr. Cool. He wore stylish blue polyester pants, had a stylish mole, and had produced one son to carry on the family name. He drove a scooter instead of riding a bike and he spoke English communicatively. He was truly amazing.
Kent used to knock on my door in the evenings and make proclamations such as, "You had better lock your bike in the middle of the rack," "you had better eat rice instead of bread," "you had better clean your porch." "You had better" was the only imperative he knew and, coming from a guy who was the same age as I was, it rubbed me the wrong way. "You had better" is a phrase you use to scold someone, not make kind suggestions, but Cool Kent didn't know that.
We are not yet into Oman but we are already suffering from English that lacks the same nuances as that to which we are accustomed. Did that "you" in Tony's email mean that we are all going to be flying to Oman on the 19th? Or did it mean that Tony will be flying ahead and the kids and I will follow behind at a later date?
With the Eid holiday upon the Middle East, we will quite likely not know who exactly is going until the 18th.
Of course, it would be extremely helpful if we were to hear by tomorrow whether or not we are all going on the 19th.
No, no, wait...we had better hear soon. That's much more appropriate to the situation, don't youse think?
Get ready for a steady diet of Arablish. I had a teacher that liked imperitives, she would start every sentence with "Look," or"Listen." One of my least favorite English moment in Yemen seemed to crop up every time with kids on the street. Apparently, they teach all the kids two phrases, "I love you!" and "What's your name?" The I love you bit I can understand because the in arabic, love/like is pretty much the same thing. I can't tell you how grating it is to have conversations started everyday with "What's your name?"
ReplyDeleteI also had some great Arablish words, mumtaz and fantastic get smashed into mumtastic. A Yemeni friend of mine told me that "someone-a" was going to do something. Someone-a? Yeah, you know, a female someone...
Arabic does have the plural second person, with both genders of course. You'll find most people don't bother with the female versions, especially for the plurals. Can't wait to hear more language stories...