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Talk about Newspeak! On page 131 of the September 2002 issue of Bon Appetit magazine, there is a description of the Modern Cafe in Minneapolis, Minnesota. This interested me, as I will be in Minneapolis for the General Convention of the Episcopal Church in less than a month. In the description, the following appears: "When the owners took over this space, formerly occupied by a long-standing nabe fave, they preserved the old 1940's look but updated the classic American meat-and-potatoes fare with French techniques and local ingredients." When I read this sentence, I am ashamed to admit that I actually understood what the author meant by "nabe fave."
Somebody call Merriam-Webster and tell them to stop the presses.
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Well, you might have understood it, Father, but apart from fave presumably being a (surely not particularly new) short form of favourite, I'm at a loss.
Bingley
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Sorry, your Poo-Bah-ship, I should have included the translation.
Nabe fave = Neighbourhood favourite
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And why would understanding this be a cause for shame?
Bingley
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"Words rise and fall in popularity, as the needs of daily life change, and also as the hip try to sound different from the dweebs and graybeards." ~Steven Pinker
"Look at the... deterioration which our Queen's English has undergone at the hands of the Americans! Look at those phrases which so annoy us in their books and speeches, at their reckless exaggeration and contempt for congruity!"
~ Henry Alford, Dean of Canterbury (1863)
"The American language is in a state of flux based upon survival of the unfittest."
~ Cyril Connolly
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Pishtosh! (she said delightedly, merrily crossing threads)
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I found the quote (on-line), but it didn't say who wrote it; I'd been wondering whether the writer was US or British. Anyway, thanks for the translation, FS, but why were you "ashamed" of knowing it?
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I really hate to participate in the devolution of the language.
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Really Father Steve, do you, in normal converstion, say
"god be with you", or do you say "good bye"? i am sure some were scandalized by such flippent usage somewhere in the distant past.
neighborhoods are changing.. they are no longer just geogprahpical area, they are places like this.
languages change too! you don't have to use the words, just as you most likely elect not to use any other number or words. but you should know them.
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Dear Helen ~
Of course language changes. This is not to say whether it changes for the better or for the worse.
Were I to glibly adopt expressions like "nabe fave", I would do significant damage to my hard-earned reputation as a linguistic curmudgeon.
Father Steve
PS: We pretty much begin every liturgy with the greeting "The Lord be with you." It may be an anachronism in some linguistic neighbourhoods, but it has currency in our own.
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