CSM Language Column

[Slava]

Here's a link to this week's entry:

http://www.csmonitor.com/2008/1003/p18s01-hfes.html

I'm wondering what my fellow Agorans think of Ms. Walker's takes on the English language. Are you fans or not, and why?

[Perry]

This is the first time I have read anything by her. I enjoyed this article though.

[Stargzer]

Fans of her or fans of America?

I liked the article. In this election year, there are some who would call fans of America Conservatives or Republicans, and others who would call them Liberals (I tend to think of Libertarians as fans of themselves ("Every man for himself")) As for the rest of the world, I sometimes think the words they use for fans of America could not be printed in a family-oriented publication!

[bnjtokyo]

I'd like to point out that a British citizen could not be considered an Anglophile nor could a French citizen be called a Francophile. The term refers to a non-citizen who is keenly interested in the particular country. Henry James was an Anglophile, but G. B. Shaw could never be one. The the word for a fan of the US would be a French word or a British English word, not an American English term.

I would suggest someone in Australia who is fond of his American cousins might be called a "sepophile."