On Wed, 08 Oct 2003 17:17:30 -0700, Gerry
<222ggg@adelphia.net.invalid> wrote:
>In article <77h8ov04k3rcdevboe2skgth0brtda27a1@4ax.com>, Mxsmanic
> wrote:
>
>> Frank F. Matthews writes:
>>
>> > Then again the ignorant europeans who keep using the term "Ugly
>> > American" without understanding the literary reference are cute as well.
>>
>> There are precious few Americans who understand the reference, either.
>
>Well as is the case with most words and phrases, they change over time.
>Apparently the good-hearted culturally-ignorant "ugly American" is not
>to be confused with the boorish tourist. But I think we can use the
>words "ugly" and "American" without it's meaning being limited by the
>title of a 50 year old book.
Not intelligently. The phrase is used because and only because it
describes a character in a novel, which has nearly nothing to do with
tourists or boorishness.
And their is a cost to the misuse of it, as such misuse actually
waters down the full impact of the meaning. I don't think that the
Iraqi War would be fully applicable, either, largely due to the
forthrightness of the American intervention, but it's several
magnitudes closer. And one could certainly make a case that the US,
through arrogance, lack of foresight, and ignorance, has played into
the hands of Iranian Shiites.
Graham Greene was smarter. Nobody is going to popularize a broad
usage of "The Quiet American", even though the term is even more
chilling, to my mind.
Well, of course, you can use the tem any way you want to. You can say
"irregardless" and "I have went", too. Doesn't do much for your
credibility, though.
Mason Barge
"If this is coffee, please bring me some tea. If this is tea, please bring me some coffee."
-- Abraham Lincoln |