In article .com,
"Jay Honeck" wrote:

So what *do* you mean by "foreign language"?

My apologies. You have gone to extreme lengths to explain your
ignorance of the situation, thanks. I didn't realize that the concept
of a "foreign language" needed to be defined, but here goes:

Well, one of use is surely unclear on the definition...

A "foreign language" in the context of the United States of America
(and in the context of this discussion) is a language that is not
spoken by the majority of people since the country's inception.

So after all this you really *do* just mean "non-majority" language when
you say "foreign language". OK...


Since every major founding document, every major newspaper, and (to
bring this discussion into the 21st century) every major American
website was/is published in English, we consider every language other
than English to be "foreign".

This would be the royal "we", right? Or do you presume to speak for all
America, Federal Government included (the US government doesn't, as it
happens, agree with your definition of "foreign language", but never
mind, I'm sure it's the thought that counts, right? Rigour never matters
when language is involved, right?).

(And the idea that "every major American website was / is published in
English" is funnier than you'll ever know, for reasons I'm guessing
you'll never know (let's just say I'm in the biz...). Or are we
encountering a "no true Scotsman" argument from you here?)

For further clarification, please refer to the definition of the word
"foreign", available in any of the free on-line dictionaries.

I have. I even -- twice -- quoted you the definition of "foreign
language" from one of your "free on-line dictionaries". Since you don't
agree with your own sources, this isn't aimed at you, but if anyone's
still playing along out there, a good place to start calling Jay's bluff
is http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/foreign.


Your example of such indigenous languages as Lakota and Spanish are
not relevant to this discussion, as they pre-date the creation of the
United States. They were never considered to be official languages of
the United States, and may therefore be defined as "foreign", both in
fact and in the context of this discussion.

English predates the official creation of the United States, too, oddly
enough. Can you tell me what *the* official language(s) of the United
States is (are) "in fact"? Where is it defined as official? Can you tell
me in which significant part of this country Spanish is the official
language? Is English a foreign language there?

Anyway, I hereby give up. If you want to call the native languages of a
country "foreign" languages in the countries of their origin, that's OK,
just expect to be badly misunderstood in the world beyond the flyover
states (unless, of course, you're using "foreign" as one of those dog
whistle words...). I don't expect you to care one way or another what
the wider population of the United States thinks (in fact something
tells me you'd be proud of the fact that they disagree), but your basic
ignorance of that wider United States rubs someone like me -- a fiscal
conservative who might otherwise bristle at the idea of spending *my*
tax dollars on unnecessary weather products -- very much the wrong way.

Over and out.

Hamish