View Message

This is a reply within a larger thread: view the whole thread

Re: Middle names in Greece
...and you know what the real bummer is? Greek missed out by only a handful of votes to becoming official language of the USA when it gained its independence!!!
vote up1vote down

Replies

I didn't know that! I know that Greek revival architecture was all the rage in the U.S . right after the War of Independence, but I had no idea that people were actually proposing we all speak Greek.Do you know who it was who proposed this, P.L .? And who voted for it, as well? I'm going to guess that Ben Franklin may have been on the Greek side.-- Nanaea
vote up1vote down
An urban legend????The story that Greek was almost voted as an official language in the US is so widespread here that I took it for granted. Tried to find some support though a web search, but -- bummer! -- I didnt find any :(
http://www.urbanlegends.com/books/the_story_of_english.html
vote up1vote down
Found a book...I'd honestly never heard of this before, but I was intrigued enough to use my librarian's skills to track down a book which covers this:*O Strange New World; American Culture: The Formative Years*, by Howard Mumford Jones (published 1964)The book is apparently out of print now, but I'll see if I can snare it via interlibrary loan. Sounds like interesting reading!-- Nanaea
vote up1vote down
Nice to see you two, today. :) I guess you really do learn something new everyday. I'm glad I have the chance to talk with the regulars on this board. I learn so much, and that's really good! I know my brain won't go dead on my little college break!!:)
vote up1vote down