STRICTLY ON THE UP AND UP

Jan 10, 2011 Features / Columnists, Tony Deyal column

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First there was Spanglish and its newly created words blending Spanish and English like “imail” for “email” which in Spanish would be “correo electrónico”, “el rufo del bildin” for “el techo del edificio”, and “lonche” (lunch) for “almuerzo”.  I like the way Spanglish shortens Spanish expressions like, “Ya me voy a get up.”
Chinglish (Chinese/English) and Hinglish (Hindi/English) followed and while there were some concerns among the language purists, the one that seems to be making waves is Denglisch, the combination of the German words “Deutsch” and “Englisch”.
Peter Ramseur, the German Transport Minister, has stopped his staff from using more than 150 English words and expressions that have crept into everyday German.  In an article headlined “English Now Verboten”, Journalist Tony Paterson writing in “The Independent” says, “His aim, which was backed by Chancellor Angela Merkel, was to defend his language against the spread of ‘Denglish’ – the corruption of German with words such as ‘handy’ for mobile phone and other expressions including ‘babysitten’ and ‘downloaden’.
As a result, words such as ‘laptop’, ‘ticket’ and ‘meeting’ are verboten in Mr Ramsauer’s ministry. Instead, staff must use their German equivalents: ‘Klapprechner’, ‘Fahrschein’ and ‘Besprechung’ as well as many other common English words that the minister has translated back into German.”  Perhaps Mr. Ramseur should watch the way some people pronounce “Deutsch” as “Douche”.  This will ensure that his country’s currency would not be called “douche-marks” or some items of handicraft called “douche-bags”.
The Germans are not the only people thrashing English.  Lake Superior State University recently came out with its annual list of “banished words” or “terms so overused, misused and hackneyed” they deserve to be sent to a permanent linguistic limbo.
Reuters reports that “Viral,” often used to describe the rapid spreading of videos or other content over the Internet, leads the list for 2011.  Second and third went to “epic” and “fail” which are “often twinned to describe a blunder of monumental proportions” and “cliched terms such as ‘wow factor,’ ‘a-ha moment,’ ‘back story’ and ‘BFF’ (Best Friends Forever) rated highly.
The very au courant use of ‘Facebook’ and ‘Google’ as verbs got a thumbs down as well.”  I would have recommended that “thumbs down” should be included in the banned list but voters went instead for “the banning of ‘Mama Grizzlies,’ used to describe right-wing female politicians in the mould of Sarah Palin, and “man up,” famously used by Nevada Republican Senate candidate Sharon Angle in a testy debate with Democrat Harry Reid and a favorite Palin expression as well.”
Ben Zimmer in the “On Language” column of The New York Times sought to explain “man up”.  Zimmer cites an incident involving baseball pitcher Francisco Rodriguez (a.k.a. K-Rod) who is out of action for the season.  Zimmer claims, “But really the Mets lost him to two simple words: ‘man up.’
According to the New York Daily News that’s what Carlos Peña, the father of Rodriguez’s girlfriend, told him outside the Mets clubhouse, inciting an altercation that led to K-Rod busting his thumb and getting arrested on third-degree-assault charges for good measure.”  Zimmer explains that not too long ago, man up was simply an alternative to the verb man, in the sense of “to supply with adequate manpower”.
Now the phrase is not just “fighting words” but “Advertisers courting young male consumers are spreading the manly message. The Web site for the ‘No Fear’ energy drink smacks the ‘Man Up’ slogan across the screen, accompanied by an aggressive rock soundtrack.  Meanwhile, Miller Lite has been running television commercials featuring a voice-over that growls, “Man up, because if you’re drinking a light beer without great pilsner taste, you’re missing the point of drinking beer.”
The Urban Dictionary (UD) has some interesting examples of the power of “man up”: “A reminder, usually to a man, to maintain or resume his assigned place within (the) patriarchy” or “never to show uncertainty, express feelings or emotion, display lack of skill, give any indication of empathy, give voice to pain or suffering, or otherwise act like a human being rather than an automaton”.
For example, an Army Sergeant says to a Private, “Kill those people.”  The Private replies, “But they’re all unarmed civilians – mostly women, old people and children.”  The Sergeant responds sternly and loudly, “Man Up, Private!” “Yessir,” says the Private and opens fire.
“Woman up” is a little bit different. The UD defines the term as “Be a courageous and strong mature woman by appropriately taking action and responsibility”; “Don’t inappropriately play the victim card by cowardly passing off your faults on others. Work to fix what you messed up”; “Check yourself, admit when you’re wrong, apologise, and show that you are truly sorry instead of focusing on winning an argument”; and “Pay your own way and stop freeloading off guys and your female friends, acting like someone owes you something just because you showed up.”
The best “woman up” example is the story of the CIA recruitment test for assassins.  They finally came down to three finalists – two men and a woman.  For the final test, the CIA agents took the three candidates to a large metal door and handed each a gun.  The first one was told, “We must know that you will follow your instructions, no matter what the circumstances. Inside this room you will find your wife sitting in a chair. You have to kill her.”
The first man said, “You can’t be serious. I could never shoot my wife.” He was rejected.  The second man came back crying saying, “I tried, but I can’t kill my wife.”  He, too, was history.  Then the woman was told that her husband was in the room and she had to kill him.  She went in.  Shots were heard, one after another followed by screaming, crashing and banging sounds.  After a few minutes, all was quiet. The door opened slowly and the woman came out. She wiped the sweat from her brow and said, “You guys didn’t tell me the gun was loaded with blanks. I had to beat him to death with the chair.”
*Tony Deyal was last seen saying that when it comes to “woman up” Nancy Reagan was right in declaring, “A woman is like a teabag.  It’s only when she’s in hot water that you realise how strong she is.”

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