That's nothing, his ass can speak four different languages and is fluent in Esperanto.

Tags for this video have been changed from 'new drugs, attack, bacteria, illness' to 'new drugs, attack, bacteria, illness, bacterial esperanto, standing o' - edited by calvados

Humans don't seem to cope well with invented languages. There needs to be some sort of cultural identity tied with a language for it to thrive, it seems.

For example, take two (relatively) well known artificial languages: Esperanto and Klingon.

Esperanto was invented to be the kind of ideal language implied by the video -- simple rules to make it easy to learn. Klingon on the other hand, was designed by a dorky linguist who's a fan of Star Trek, and it is supposedly an incredibly difficult language to learn, since the linguist packed it with obscure traits from obscure languages to make it "seem alien".

Which language is used more often? Klingon, by far.

So to those of you who propose adopting an artificial language, remember to make an artificial culture for it, to make it popular.

Esperanto for everyone!

>> ^Farhad2000:
I used to take French and actually lived in Quebec, until I realized French/Quebecan people don't want other people speaking French.

>> ^Payback:
They don't even want people from other French-speaking countries speaking French. As do all the other French-speaking countries, especially France.
They all have run away from wars started over mispronunciation.


Come on guys. Quebec, although only a province, is one of the biggest supporter of the International French Community (la Francophonie), both in manpower and money. It's our only protection from the English Commonwealth of Nations since most of us detoxed from all the wine and bread of the Catholic Church in the 1960s. It helps to keep us sane in this cold and anglicized "North of North-America" climate. I'd guess the reason why Farhad felt unwelcomed though is because he's Uzbek as there are (too) many xenophobes in Quebec. It goes with the whole assimilation thing the English tried to pull on us. We are also not immune from islamophobia, so everyone that looks middle eastern is taken as a Muslim-potential-terrorist. There are many french-speaking Muslims from Northern Africa and it's not the fact that they speak French that's scaring the unwashed masses both in Quebec and France! On the other hand, most francophone countries agree to say that France and the Académie are too protective of "their" language. Ironically, France is one the worst offender when it comes to official usage of anglicism and English-loanwords-with-perfectly-acceptable-French-equivalents in mass media and governmental publications. They also have the most americanized Head of State the whole world 'round (except maybe North Korea).

As for me, I see myself as a citizen of the world. What would I be doing here otherwise? I speak French and English, Japanese, German, a little Esperanto and Mandarin. I read some Ancient Greek and Latin, as little as I can get away with really. Next I need to learn Spanish, Arabic and some Sanskrit. I'd also like to speak better Mathematics (yeah I consider that a language of its own). I have always been fascinated by all human languages, though I've not always put much effort into learning them fully.

Great sift, and thread as well. Ah, where's Westy when you need him?

Whenever I hear people say between you and I, irregardless, or it's instead of its, I am constantly resisting the urge to correct them. Of course, we can all be a language Nazi, but words and their usage will always evolve, as Ferdinand de Saussure first noted; he classified language study into two groups—the static (a snapshot of a language at a given moment in time, which we call a dictionary) and the dynamic (the fluid usage of words, which changes so quickly that it's impossible to put into a dictionary). Unless you are working with an artificial language like Esperanto or mathematics, where its definitions are clearly explained from the outset, every word's etymology will be a Frankenstein to some degree. For instance, when should we use "that" instead of "which"? There is no One True Answer, only a messy history of usage which we must dig through to agree one usage is better than the others because... well, because we like the sound of it.

Still, it's frustrating. Why do we bother learning grammar and spelling rules if it's okay to suddenly not follow them? Here's a poem I wrote about exactly that:


Ode to Our Mislaid Apostrophes

O wonderful, mischievous, slippery mark:
I want to punctuate, but youre location is stark.
My meanings are loose, my intentions skewed—
my editors pens could leave me quite screwed!
They often complain that theyre English is good
while my typewritten words barely understood
If only Id divine when its was not it's
they just might be able to keep all there wits
Or not mistake they're when it really is there,
or swap out a your when you're is somewhere...
I find it so silly. Cant you understand my thought?
Is my english so bad that new laws must be wrought?
I suppose who and whom can go fly with the dodo
for who really cares, but Gandalf and Frodo
In fact, I will drop all punctuation at once
and no one around will suspect me a dunce
for they too will know what I mean with my word
so why need I try its so pointless absurd
lets assassinate all grammer and speling as well
im sure every school kid would love to us tell
how much they hate engish and other dim arts
no need to learn standards when its old pompous farts
insisting they bend to the will of those rules
like all human beings are grammatical mules
o wunderful mischevious slipery mark
i would use you if only i knew where you park
but no one cares now if youre lost to the wind
since apostrofe rules they wish to recind
its a simple mater of its usage you kno
wheter your is correct in your sentance flow
ah who cares no one maybe only a fyew
i do wish theyd speek up oh how I doo


P.S. And "Eats, Shoots, and Leaves" is actually "Eats, Shoots & Leaves". Normally, I wouldn't say anything, but in this case, the author's comma placement is explicitly intentional. Tee hee.

P.P.S. I also agree with oxdottir that neither the internet nor this forum is a formal medium; we are not paid editors and nobody is expected to write as if they are paid journalists (least of all those for whom English is a second language). So, sorry in advance to anyone if I reach out and tag you. Westy, of course, is exempt.

Tags for this video have been changed from 'shatner, esperanto, horror, incubus' to 'shatner, esperanto, horror, incubus, trailer' - edited by firefly

excellent. My save isn't up for a bit, but I'll put this one back in the queue then. Thanks

In reply to your comment:
“don't forget to add this to yer shatman playlist
http://horrorshow.videosift.com/video/Incubus-Finale-Shatner-Emotes-in-Esperanto”

don't forget to add this to yer shatman playlist
http://horrorshow.videosift.com/video/Incubus-Finale-Shatner-Emotes-in-Esperanto

Ask and ye shall . . .

http://www.videosift.com/video/Incubus-filmed-completely-in-Esperanto-starring-William-Shatner

Nice work! BUT -- how could we have nothing from the masterpiece known as INCUBUS?

If you don't know INCUBUS, you must rent it for a dose of early Shatner -- all in Esperanto.

Shit, I'd learn Esperanto to have a twirl with Jamie Lee!!!

I went looking for it as soon as I saw this. I must have it. Shatner, horror, cheese, and Esperanto to boot. I found it on DVD for 6 USD on Amazon.

Ni amas Katamari!! ("We love Katamari" in esperanto)