« Recommended Reading | Main | Missile Gap » An Annotated Map of the Western Mediterranean10 Jul 2008 01:11 pm
Maybe Steve Hadley should put the above image in the briefing book before the next G-8 summit: “Amigo! Amigo!” Mr. Bush called out cheerily in Spanish when he spotted the Italian prime minister. “How you doing, Silvio? Good to see you!" Or perhaps it's elitist to suggest that you should address people in the correct language. Comments (52)
"Amigo"? Perfectly butch. "Amico"? Kinda gay. 
Would you prefer "Yo, Blair"? How about an unsolicited shoulder-rub? He's improving.
Isn't this the same Bush whose White House had to apologize to Prime Minister Berlusconi for a briefing describing him as a political "amateur" who is "hated by many", which was contained in a press kit distributed to reporters travelling with Bush? The briefing goes on to state that Berlusconi was "one of the most controversial leaders" of a country "known for governmental corruption and vice". Is this gaffe squared or gaffe cubed?
How embarrassing. Naturally, it's un-American to learn languages other than English, so I assume Bush will be congratulated by the idiots that populate sites like RedState and National Review.
Well, that's the other thing. An insulting press kit may be cause for a falling out between amici. But among amigos? No hay problema.
You know, this anecdote could serve as a counterexample to the study referenced in the thread below claiming that people who were unable to speak standard, mature English in the workplace faced professional barriers.
Let's not forget Bush chiding NBC's David Gregory for having the temerity to address the President of France in his native language: http://www.rense.com/general25/mock.htm
Is it completely impossible that bush said "amico, amico" (Italian) and that the gray lady's stenographer screwed up. That seems really possible to me.
Is it completely impossible that bush said "amico, amico" (Italian) and that the gray lady's stenographer screwed up. That seems really possible to me.
I hate to do this, but how sure are we that Sheryl Gay Stolberg can hear the difference between Bush seeing "amigo" and Bush saying "amico." It'd be one thing if the story noted Berlusconi or anyone else reacting as if he'd said the wrong thing, but on the facts we have I don't think it's clear. That said, I like the map.
Let's not forget Bush chiding NBC's David Gregory for having the temerity to address the President of France in his native language: http://www.rense.com/general25/mock.htm
Let's not forget Bush chiding NBC's David Gregory for having the temerity to address the President of France in his native language: http://www.rense.com/general25/mock.htm
Yowzers. Dr. Mrs. Joe is a professor of Italian, and nothing peeves her more than her students (many of whom took high school Spanish) lapsing into Spanish in Italian class. There's even a word for it in the department -- "Spantalian." At oral exams, the kids would be better off just answering in English. At least they would only be marked down for getting it wrong, and Dr. Mrs. Joe wouldn't be agitated about it.
I think the language of choice in Tunis is French, with Italian just behind.
Or perhaps it's elitist to suggest that you should address people in the correct language. I think it's positively lowbrow to point out the errors of the mentally challenged. Now put Georgie's helmet back on, give him the rounded plastic scissors, and for heaven's sake don't let him near the pretzels. Hmmmmm. I wonder if Steve Martin modeled his portrayal of "Ruprecht" in Dirty Rotten Scoundrels after GW?
I absolutely hate writing in defense of W - but come on folks! A Japanese friend commonly uses "Ciao" as the ending of her emails to me. Neither of us is Italian. I commonly use "Cheers" as my ending even though neither of us are Brits (I picked up the expression from British friends). "Amigo" is one of those expressions that people just use. I can imagine using it as a greeting for a friend, even if neither s/he nor I have Spanish as a first language. Not living in Texas I don't know, but I can also easily imagine that it is in common usage there. Cheers!
I used to work with an Italian named "Domenico" who pronounced his name "Domenigo". I wonder if there is a local accent in Italy that slurs the "c" into a "g". The weird thing is, if you called the guy "Domenigo", he'd get mad. He'd say, "Domenigo" as if to correct you.
"I wonder if there is a local accent in Italy that slurs the 'c' into a 'g'." There is, but it's not one that Berlusconi uses.
If the English language was good enough for Jesus Christ, it's good enough for me.
Yes, and let's not forget that in Sopranos-ese, Cappicola is pronounced Gabagul
Linguistic issues aside, I can't say I ever address anyone as "Amigo, Amigo!" under any circumstances, particularly professional colleagues. Then again, I don't pinch people's shoulders at work or tell fart jokes, either.
Too bad no one caught Angela Merkel yelling out, "Scheisskopf! Scheisskopf!" as Bush walked by.
Sicilian uses "g" for "c" and "b" for "p" (a linguist would say that it replaces unvoiced consonants with voiced consonants). Tony Soprano was always looking in the fridge for some gabbagool, which is capicola ham. Socially, this accent is like a hillbilly accent or a Jersey accent in the US, not something a wealthy, sophisticated Milanese like Berlusconi would want to be associated with.
Thanks to Chris Schoen for pointing out what I was going to. Maybe the president was using Sopranos Italian, in which manicotti is mani-gut.
Njorl - probably your colleague heard a difference in the way you pronounced the "g" sound and the way he pronounced it. You couldn't hear the difference and so every time he corrected you, you thought he was being inane. It's pretty common that people raised in one language can't discern minor differences in sounds that are obvious to people raised in another language.
Doesn't Bush speak Spanish, though?
"Linguistic issues aside, I can't say I ever address anyone as "Amigo, Amigo!" under any circumstances, particularly professional colleagues." True enough for most of us. But it is his normal style to treat colleagues like fellow frat-house members, and calling Berlusconi "amigo" is fully in keeping with that. Getting worked up about which language he was using is silly.
Hard to say, Janet. He might think that Italian and Spanish are close enough, and that "Amigo" works either way.
Could we please just lock him in the basement of the White House for the next five months, or better yet send him to Crawford early.
Could we please just lock him in the basement of the White House for the next five months, or better yet send him to Crawford early.
Well, folks, Obama didn't say anything about learning Italian, remember? We're all supposed to be learning Spanish. Unfortunately, learning one language doesn't save you from the embarrassment Obama identified when you visit all the countries where they don't happen to speak the one you've learned.
Richard, If you actually see the Obama quote in question he begins with Spanish, because that is what he was asked about and then goes on to list other languages. It is pretty clear in context that his point was just that it would be better if we learned other languages like much of the rest of the world does. I don't remember offhand if Italian was among the languages he mentioned.
Ah, that reminds me of all those contestants on The Amazing Race who think that Spanish is the international language of getting the cab driver to go faster: 'Muy rapido, amigo! Vamos!' Though 'it's goodbye from the world's biggest polluter' was surely Bush's most embarrassing moment from that embarrassing summit during his year of embarrassment.
Lon, I don't think Richard intended his comments to be taken as part of a reasoned discussion.
Now that it's the G-8, and not 7, this graphic reminds me that Bush has a vital role to play in the current meetings: He can referee the G-8's game of Diplomacy. "Alright, everybody, settle down, now. Let's see here...My good friend Vladdy is ordering his army in...what is that, GAL-IKK-I-A? Gal-ees-ia? Okay, Galicia, into Serbia. Heh heh. And he's orderin' his fleet in the Black Sea to support that move. Mission Accomplished."
I certainly hope he did the "how you doing Silvio?" part in Jersey/Sopranos/Rocky Balboa-type English... "How YOU doin'?"
Many Italian-Americans came, as one might expect, from lower-class southern backgrounds. So if you are dining in Little Italy somewhere, you'll want to order "ma-di-gott" (i.e., voice the consonants, and drop the final vowel.) But your Italian professor will want to hear you say "ma-ni-cot-ti." I guess it's possible that Bush picked up some Italian, with a lower-class southern Italian accent, when he lived in New Haven, which has a substantial Italian-American population. More likely, he's just chattering: call the prime minister of one country "amigo," call the next one "homey" etc. He's obviously having a good time.
Many Italian-Americans came, as one might expect, from lower-class southern backgrounds. But is the Little Italy/Sopranos accent actually a Southern Italian accent? I thought it was just a NY/NJ Italian-American accent. If I ordered "manigut" in Sicily, would they understand?
"Could we please just lock him in the basement of the White House for the next five months..." He is. Cheney only lets him out for public functions like this. The real decision-making is done in Cheney's bunker in an undisclosed location visited only by oil and military-industrial complex company CEOs.
Well, at least he didn't call the Prime Minister, "Duuuude...." Small victories.
I don't know if a Sicilian/Neapolitan would recognize "manigut," but definitely both dropping the final vowel and voicing the plosive are common in those dialects. By the way, it's been years since I could say I really knew Italian very well, but is it true that Italian uses "amico" as an affectionate form of address like Spanish (or Spanglish?) uses amigo?
Italian does use amico as an affectionate form of address, yeah. "Bello" is also used among men in a similar way (being the masculine form of the adjective 'beautiful'). I found it weird at first, living in the country of overcooked machismo, where even nerdy, unlucky dudes could often pass (superficially) for top-tier alpha males in North America, to have other men saying "Hello beautiful" or "Bye, beautiful" to me several times a day. But that's just me translating too literally.
Actually it would be "amice" (from Latin "amicus"; "amici" for plural). But soit, c'est le ton qui fait la musique, n'est-çe pas? (which would be French). Of in 't Nederlands: laat die man alsjeblieft z'n mond houden! :-)
Actually it would be "amice" (from Latin "amicus"; "amica" for female, "amici" for plural). But soit, c'est le ton qui fait la musique, n'est-çe pas? (which would be French). Of in 't Nederlands: laat die man alsjeblieft z'n mond houden! :-)
Actually it would be "amice" (from Latin "amicus"; "amica" for female, "amici" for plural). But soit, c'est le ton qui fait la musique, n'est-ce pas? (which would be French). Of in 't Nederlands: laat die man alsjeblieft z'n mond houden! :-)
Actually James, it would be "amice" (from Latin "amicus"; "amica" for female, "amici" for plural). Still close, Spanish "amigo" is the same Latin. But soit, c'est le ton qui fait la musique, n'est-ce pas? (which would be French). Of in 't Nederlands: alsjeblieft, laat die man z'n mond houden! :-)
Sorry about this. I kept getting error messages, didn't think the comment was getting through. Sorry!!!
Does nobody see it? Bush was obviously afraid (for political reasons) to call anybody by the proper 'amico' name because of it's association in America with the former John Rockefeller holding, the American Oil Company (since acquired by British Petroleum...) So, instead, he smartly used the word 'amigo' to refer to berlesconi, who was actually humping a hot hispanic woman in that youtube video!! Thus, obviously he knew what it meant! So, all of yinz who don't like a man of the people like George W. Bush can go suck an egg!!
Does nobody see it? Bush was obviously afraid (for political reasons) to call anybody by the proper 'amico' name because of it's association in America with the former John Rockefeller holding, the American Oil Company (since acquired by British Petroleum...) So, instead, he smartly used the word 'amigo' to refer to berlesconi, who was actually humping a hot hispanic woman in that youtube video!! Thus, obviously he knew what it meant! So, all of yinz who don't like a man of the people like George W. Bush can go suck an egg!!
As for Dubya picking up Neapolitan Italian from his time in New Haven - he NEVER spent time in New Haven, kids! Come on, correct your memories! Good ol' George is from Texas, and he has ALWAYS been from Texas - not some New England college town full of egghead elitists and working class, union-loving goombahs. Hey, I'm from New Haven, I should know. To underline the new approved reality, there is no longer any big sign off the side of I-91 proudly stating that New Haven is the birthplace of President George W Bush. The Bushies didn't make New Haven take it down - it's never been there at all, get it? Now all we need to do is work on this 2+2=4 problem, and we'll be all set.
I'm assuming that the good folks on here suggesting that Dubya may have been saying "Amico, amico" with a Neapolitan accent are having a bit of a laugh. This man has been celebrating ignorance since the day he was born; the idea that he would stop to learn a word in a foreign language when he hasn't bothered to learn the basics of his own is too hilarious.
Comments closed July 24, 2008. |
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Heads in the Sand
In all fairness, it's "amico" in Italian, which is actually sort of close. Sort of.
Posted by James Gary | July 10, 2008 1:29 PM