This message was originally submitted by Michael Medley >([log in to unmask] to ATEG) > >Wendell wrote: > >> Two points. First, what "macho" has come to mean in English is entirely >> different from what "macho" means in Spanish (especially mexican >> spanish)--and this suggestion that the word be translated in accordance with >> an English-language misinterpretation of it (i.e., masculine" is closer in >> meaning to "macho" than "male" is) is a terrific example of the cultural and >> linguistic hegemony practiced by English-only speakers. > > You made a big leap here, Wendell. Why do you suppose that I am >a monolingual English-speaker? And even if I were, it seems to me >that Alan was asking the opinions of native English-speakers to get >an idea of how we would interpret the particular wording that he >suggested. What the meaning is of "macho" in Mexican Spanish has >little if any bearning on what it means to English speakers in the >United States (especially monolingual ones, which is all too >unfortunately the norm). If Alan receives a variety of answers, he >might get a feel for what the tendencies in interpretation are. He >might avoid a one-word translation and use a hypenated modifier of >some kind. I think he is going about this task in the right way, >getting some sense of what people's linguistic senses are in real >situations of interpretations or production--not >relying on certain people's brash pontifications of what should >be the case. > > > > >********************************************************************** >R. Michael Medley VPH 211 Ph: (712) 737-7047 >Assistant Professor Northwestern College >Department of English Orange City, IA 51041 >********************************************************************** > >