[davidw]

> It's very much a British (actually English) idea that countries are eternal and inviolate.

France is pretty nationalistic too, no? They're one of the harshest countries in Europe in terms of minority languages, if I recall correctly.

[kiuyhjk]

But only since about 1880. Before that 'France' was only about 20% of the country and only about 20% spoke French.

There was a huge effort to create a single nation, similar to the unification of Germany and Italy around the same time.

Their attitude to the language rather shows that - nobody in England thinks English needs 'protecting'.

[jacquesm]

English is 'open source', French is 'the cathedral'.

It shows in their proliferation patterns too.

[kiuyhjk]

Whats the quote?

Other languages borrow foreign words - English lures them into dark alleys and goes through their pockets for any grammer they might have.

[waqf]

The original quote is:

The problem with defending the purity of the English language is that English is about as pure as a cribhouse whore. We don't just borrow words; on occasion, English has pursued other languages down alleyways to beat them unconscious and riffle [sic] their pockets for new vocabulary.

ref: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/James_Nicoll