Nick Against the World (68 Viewers)
- Thread starter IncuboRossonero
- Start date
Back I am.
Paduan’,
Let’s forget the fratello issue : after all who am I to tell you how to speak (besides you don’t even use the word yourself). I once heard that there are some 60 million Italians or Italian descendants living outside Italy. That’s like a second country, and a great resource and asset which we must exploit. My problem though – and Angus had a point there – is that quite a few of those have only a very superficial knowledge of the country’s history, culture, people or political situation. In particular, I don’t feel very confortable with the fascination some of them (notably those in America) seem to have for the darkest sides of Italian society, i.e. Cosa Nostra. With all the great things that Italy (or even that stupendous island that is Sicily for that matters) has brought to this world, why pick the mafia ? Many Italian Americans I met in the US wouldn’t know who De Gasperi or Cavour are, but they could promptly name me all the bosses of the Italian American mob since Al Capone. They seem to think that acting like a “wise guy” from a Martin Scorsese movie is a way of asserting their heritage. Well I’ve got news for them : Ray Liotta or Robert De Niro (otherwise one of my favourite actors) are hardly representative of the Bel Paese. They just symbolize one of the hundreds of aspects of Italy which the vast Italian community that emigrated to the US has brought with her.
Nick,
The reason why Italy’s Italians use English words a lot is the same reason why Inter keep buying the likes of Hakan Sukur, Gresko or Burdisso rather than cheaper and more talented Italian players. Italians think that everything foreign must necessarily be hip. Why say “tastiera” when “keyboard” sounds so much cooler (or so they think)? A word was even coined to describe this attiude : “esterofilia”, i.e. the tendency to embrace anything foreign. The “anglification” of the language happens in other European countries too (Germany to name but one) and is due above all to the pervasiveness of American firms, products and way of life on the Old Continent. Only France has been able to resist so far, thanks to the prominent role of the Académie française in French society (I wish our own Accademia della Crusca was just half as enterprising). A law has been passed there to restrict the use of foreign words in advertising. French linguists keep searching for French alternatives to Anglo-saxon concepts. For instance they created the word “ordinateur” for “computer”, and the public has adopted it, which is the ultimate proof that it works. Each language has its own grammatical richness and creativity, and it’s a pity not to use it. Note that language preservation was one of the good things that Mussolini did during his rule : preoccupied as he was of asserting the purity of the race (not a noble objective in itself) he demanded that all foreign words be removed from the Italian language and Italian alternatives be created. The term “autista” for instance, meaning “driver”, dates back to that era.
Emma,
Is Cosa Nostra still alive? Alive and kicking, yes. In fact, it hadn’t been in such a good shape for decades. Mafia penitents are no longer heard. Bosses are released from prison. Confiscation of their properties are being eased. The new law allowing for the repatriation of undeclared assets hidden in foreign (Swiss) banks by just paying a ridiculous fine has directly benefited Cosa Nostra. Illegal constructions in Souhern Italy on which it notoriously prospers are being legalized. Enforcers of the law (anti-mafia magistrates) in Sicily have seen their special protection programmes reduced, making them more exposed to the Cosa Nostra's vengeance. From Naples to Palermo, the entire economy of Southern Italy is firmly in the hands of the men of honour. Basically all the good work that had been done by those heroic judges Falcone and Borsellino, who paid with their life to fight this plague, has now gone up in smoke. Im sure don Bernardo Provenzano – the boss of all bosses since Riina's demise on whom a warrant for arrest has been pending for FOURTY ONE years and who hasn’t been found yet despite having rarely left the same area of Western Sicily – must be very thankful towards the present government, which incidentally has grabbed ALL of the 61 seats allocated to Sicily in the Senate. And I wonder if the wise guys’ admirers know this and somehow find it cool.
Gray : Angus didn’t deserve a ban. Admit it : you couldn’t resist exercising the powers that were conferred to you
.
Paduan’,
Let’s forget the fratello issue : after all who am I to tell you how to speak (besides you don’t even use the word yourself). I once heard that there are some 60 million Italians or Italian descendants living outside Italy. That’s like a second country, and a great resource and asset which we must exploit. My problem though – and Angus had a point there – is that quite a few of those have only a very superficial knowledge of the country’s history, culture, people or political situation. In particular, I don’t feel very confortable with the fascination some of them (notably those in America) seem to have for the darkest sides of Italian society, i.e. Cosa Nostra. With all the great things that Italy (or even that stupendous island that is Sicily for that matters) has brought to this world, why pick the mafia ? Many Italian Americans I met in the US wouldn’t know who De Gasperi or Cavour are, but they could promptly name me all the bosses of the Italian American mob since Al Capone. They seem to think that acting like a “wise guy” from a Martin Scorsese movie is a way of asserting their heritage. Well I’ve got news for them : Ray Liotta or Robert De Niro (otherwise one of my favourite actors) are hardly representative of the Bel Paese. They just symbolize one of the hundreds of aspects of Italy which the vast Italian community that emigrated to the US has brought with her.
Nick,
The reason why Italy’s Italians use English words a lot is the same reason why Inter keep buying the likes of Hakan Sukur, Gresko or Burdisso rather than cheaper and more talented Italian players. Italians think that everything foreign must necessarily be hip. Why say “tastiera” when “keyboard” sounds so much cooler (or so they think)? A word was even coined to describe this attiude : “esterofilia”, i.e. the tendency to embrace anything foreign. The “anglification” of the language happens in other European countries too (Germany to name but one) and is due above all to the pervasiveness of American firms, products and way of life on the Old Continent. Only France has been able to resist so far, thanks to the prominent role of the Académie française in French society (I wish our own Accademia della Crusca was just half as enterprising). A law has been passed there to restrict the use of foreign words in advertising. French linguists keep searching for French alternatives to Anglo-saxon concepts. For instance they created the word “ordinateur” for “computer”, and the public has adopted it, which is the ultimate proof that it works. Each language has its own grammatical richness and creativity, and it’s a pity not to use it. Note that language preservation was one of the good things that Mussolini did during his rule : preoccupied as he was of asserting the purity of the race (not a noble objective in itself) he demanded that all foreign words be removed from the Italian language and Italian alternatives be created. The term “autista” for instance, meaning “driver”, dates back to that era.
Emma,
Is Cosa Nostra still alive? Alive and kicking, yes. In fact, it hadn’t been in such a good shape for decades. Mafia penitents are no longer heard. Bosses are released from prison. Confiscation of their properties are being eased. The new law allowing for the repatriation of undeclared assets hidden in foreign (Swiss) banks by just paying a ridiculous fine has directly benefited Cosa Nostra. Illegal constructions in Souhern Italy on which it notoriously prospers are being legalized. Enforcers of the law (anti-mafia magistrates) in Sicily have seen their special protection programmes reduced, making them more exposed to the Cosa Nostra's vengeance. From Naples to Palermo, the entire economy of Southern Italy is firmly in the hands of the men of honour. Basically all the good work that had been done by those heroic judges Falcone and Borsellino, who paid with their life to fight this plague, has now gone up in smoke. Im sure don Bernardo Provenzano – the boss of all bosses since Riina's demise on whom a warrant for arrest has been pending for FOURTY ONE years and who hasn’t been found yet despite having rarely left the same area of Western Sicily – must be very thankful towards the present government, which incidentally has grabbed ALL of the 61 seats allocated to Sicily in the Senate. And I wonder if the wise guys’ admirers know this and somehow find it cool.
Gray : Angus didn’t deserve a ban. Admit it : you couldn’t resist exercising the powers that were conferred to you
.
Great, the others get an essay and all I get is two lousy lines? 
a handful of people messaged me in private asking why Angus was banned when so many other members have worse language and more aggressive behaviour. The reason Angus was banned was not because of his behaviour/language, but simply because I didn't believe that a new member would have so much inside knowledge on the members and happenings of the forum, and considering how annoyed I get when people make multiple accounts just for kicks, I guess it was simply a case of Thermopyl's little deviation being the straw that broke the camel's back.
Actually, I've resisted said temptation on many occasions, and as I said before, there are a handful of members who are more deserving of a ban than A.T. was, but it was more of a case of my discrimination against schizophrenics than anything else
a handful of people messaged me in private asking why Angus was banned when so many other members have worse language and more aggressive behaviour. The reason Angus was banned was not because of his behaviour/language, but simply because I didn't believe that a new member would have so much inside knowledge on the members and happenings of the forum, and considering how annoyed I get when people make multiple accounts just for kicks, I guess it was simply a case of Thermopyl's little deviation being the straw that broke the camel's back.
++ [ originally posted by Kaiser Franco ] ++
Admit it : you couldn’t resist exercising the powers that were conferred to you.
Admit it : you couldn’t resist exercising the powers that were conferred to you
.
OK, Libero, I agree with your post, but why talk to me about the mafia? My only interest in the mafia, Italian or American, is that I enjoying watching "Godfather's Week" on the Biography channel. Nobody in my family has anything to do with organized crime, or acts as if we do. In fact, I have had to spend my life denying Mafia connections because ignorant WASPS think that Italians (and in the the USA I am considered Italian, they won't let me be American due to my name and religion) of wealth must be criminals.
well, my father knew a guy in college that robbed a persons house, not knowing he was a member of the mafia. They took a sledge hammer to each of his joints, starting at the angles and wrists, to the elbows and knees, then to the shoulders and hips, then the head. He didn't make it.
So yea, the mob guys were pretty good to him, he probably thought they were real nice.
So yea, the mob guys were pretty good to him, he probably thought they were real nice.
