Alright, so, I might be a bit of a Linguistics nerd, but this caught my eye on Slashdot today:

“You can now get GPLed JVM sources from Sun. Everyone seemed to be expecting the desktop version (J2SE) but J2ME has been released first. It looks to be buildable for Linux x86, MIPS, and ARM platforms. Sun now calls it ‘phoneME.’ Enjoy.”

For those without the technical background, Sun Microsystems, who created the original code to the popular Java programming language (used by many applications and websites), has decided to release the source code to that language, making it usable for anybody. This is very cool, and will be a huge step for open source software. w00t for Sun!

What caught my eye, though, is the name: “PhoneME”, which is a recapitalization of “Phoneme“, a linguistics term, indicating a group of sounds, which, although different in terms of sound and articulation, sound the same to a native speaker of a certain language (think the L’s in “People” and “Light”).

I’m not certain why they chose this particular name, but hey, whatever. Perhaps it’s a commentary on the fact that, although Java has many distinctly different libraries and implementation, all users view it as one thing. That, or maybe they just don’t have a clue what they did. Yeah, I’m gonna go with the second option there.

Tagged with Computers and Software, Corporate Language, Language Humor, Phonetics and Phonology, Words, Phrases, and Idioms | 2 Comments


So, I just read a charming little news story about a company not far from me. Here’s the basic gist of it:

From 9news.com:

Gerardo Wence said he could be fired for speaking Spanish at work. According to his employer, Amalgamated Sugar Company in Brighton, employees can speak Spanish on breaks and at lunch, otherwise, it’s safety issue.

…

Days after he started, Wence said he had to sign a policy, agreeing to speak Spanish, only during breaks and at lunch.

“You get three write ups and you get fired. So I can literally get fired for speaking my language. I find that pathetic.”

The plant’s manager, Kevin Severson wouldn’t talk on camera, but gave a statement that said, “Employees can speak Spanish on personal time, because we want to make sure there are no safety issues occurring from the lack of communication.”

Severson added, “Everyone who comes through the door is given safety documentation in English, employees need to read, understand and be able to communicate in English.”

Wence said of the four Spanish speakers working at the plant, two barely speak English.

So, we’ve got an employer forcing employees to speak only English on the job, under pain of dismissal. That’s charming, but not unusual, similar cases have been battled out in courts in the past.

However, what makes me a bit livid here is his “safety” excuse when some employees “barely speak English”. Apparently, it’s safer to explain safety measures and give warnings in English to employees who don’t understand English. Presumably, this company hired these employees knowing that they weren’t English proficient, so this manager decided then that he’d have to use some other methods to communicate with them for safety, but now, for some reason, he’s decided to enact this policy instead. Information helps ensure safety. Information needs to be understandable. Banning people from giving this information in an understandable way to these employees is not safe.

So, Mr. Severson, what exactly are you trying to accomplish? I hate to break it to you, but this little policy won’t make your factory any safer. It will, however, make your workplace a bit less diverse, but that might be what you wanted all along.

Tagged with Corporate Language, Language Usage, Notes, Sociolinguistics, Tirades | Leave a Comment


So, I was wandering the halls of the campus the other day and stumbled across this poster (click the thumbnail for full size):
MONEY

Although the camera phone picture doesn’t capture it terribly well, they’ve boldfaced letter such that it spells out “MONEY IS GREAT” down the page. I can hardly expect that they’d think this would somehow subconsciously tempt people into their business/pyramid scheme/web of crime, but still, it’s fascinating. Given my past interest in subliminal advertising, I found this as a humorously bad example of the idea, and I figured I would share.

So, really, ideas like this are floating around all the time. It’s often a tricky mystery to find them all, but if you’re observant, you might just pick one up.

Tagged with Corporate Language, Language Humor, Language Usage, Notes | Leave a Comment

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