what if....
There I was, reading part of the State Dictionary, minding my own business, when it attacked me. Plot bunnies are not supposed to live in dictionaries! (I thought such books were safe!)
here's the passage that gave me the bunny {followed by thoughts}
--
But whereas Democrats were willing to treat foreign-born whites as equals, Whigs believed that aliens, like other "inferior" groups, needed to be uplifted sociall and "Americanized" before gaining full political equality. As a result, they vigorously defended stronger naturalization laws.
--
and it occurred to me that, with a greater move towards Americanization - particularly in the 1800s, and beyond, if the movement can outlive the Whigs (or the Whigs somehow manage to survive) - then a visitor from our timeline (OTL) visiting this new timeline (ATL) might notice that ATL Americans have fewer loan words than OTL Americans do.
I'm sure it wouldn't just be limited to phrases like "That ain't kosher, boss"...the 1800s saw massive Irish and Italian immigration in addition to Russians and Germans.
(any other things we'd not be able to say?)
this ATL America would probably pride itself on the purity of their language (much like OTL France does, complete with an Institute for approving words), though I'm not sure how we'd look upon the United Kingdom, what with their bastardized English (pjamas is a loan from India, for example)
...and then it hit me: this other America, the one in the ATL...when the Internet is invented, they are gonna have a fit! Probably lots of either cyberblocking or "your post has been sent for approval/rejection by the moderators".
and we thought Don Eppes and our other tv protagonists had to grapple with ethics and issues now :D
thoughts? additions? suggestions?
if you want to use this bunny, feel free to. (each of us would likely put their own unique spin on the idea)
here's the passage that gave me the bunny {followed by thoughts}
--
But whereas Democrats were willing to treat foreign-born whites as equals, Whigs believed that aliens, like other "inferior" groups, needed to be uplifted sociall and "Americanized" before gaining full political equality. As a result, they vigorously defended stronger naturalization laws.
--
and it occurred to me that, with a greater move towards Americanization - particularly in the 1800s, and beyond, if the movement can outlive the Whigs (or the Whigs somehow manage to survive) - then a visitor from our timeline (OTL) visiting this new timeline (ATL) might notice that ATL Americans have fewer loan words than OTL Americans do.
I'm sure it wouldn't just be limited to phrases like "That ain't kosher, boss"...the 1800s saw massive Irish and Italian immigration in addition to Russians and Germans.
(any other things we'd not be able to say?)
this ATL America would probably pride itself on the purity of their language (much like OTL France does, complete with an Institute for approving words), though I'm not sure how we'd look upon the United Kingdom, what with their bastardized English (pjamas is a loan from India, for example)
...and then it hit me: this other America, the one in the ATL...when the Internet is invented, they are gonna have a fit! Probably lots of either cyberblocking or "your post has been sent for approval/rejection by the moderators".
and we thought Don Eppes and our other tv protagonists had to grapple with ethics and issues now :D
thoughts? additions? suggestions?
if you want to use this bunny, feel free to. (each of us would likely put their own unique spin on the idea)