Trafficking Words
Bibliographic Data
| ID | 23488012 |
|---|---|
| Authors | Margaret Bridges (0000-0002-7727-6780, corresponding author) |
| Year | 2007 |
| Pages | 45-62 |
| Publication date | 2007-01-01 |
| Peer Reviewed | Yes |
| Open Access | Yes |
| Type | CHAPTER |
| Venue | Fiction and Economy (SOURCE_BOOK) |
| Publisher | Palgrave Macmillan UK (PUBLISHER) |
| DOI | 10.1057/9780230223110_3 |
| OpenAlex | W4252441191 |
| ISBN | 9780230223110 |
| Language | EN |
| References cited | 7 |
As recently as 1977, British Airways published a tiny French phrasebook ‘for visitors to Belgium, France and Switzerland’. The editor’s foreword is explicit about the purpose of its ‘carefully compiled’ lists, which should provide ‘the tourist and businessman [sic]’ with ‘the appropriate phrase for every situation’ (Harvard 1977, v). Needless to say, its bilingual lists of commodities and ‘useful phrases’ speak volumes about the commercial activity in which non-francophone British travellers were expected to engage. Items of clothing, fabrics and haberdashery not only construct a scenario in which the visitor desires to acquire ‘nylon stockings, gloves, scarf’ ( des bas de nylon, des gants, un foulard ) but also imply that this acquisition is negotiated in terms of linguistic politeness: ‘may I try this on?’ ( puis je l’essayer? ) They moreover assume that the buyer is in a position to determine which commodity is desirable — ‘have you anything more sophisticated, more floral toned?’ ( avez-vous quelque chose de plus raffiné, d’un ton plus naturel? ) — and to state, politely of course, the amount of money he or she is prepared to spend: ‘This is too dear. Have you anything cheaper?’ ( C’est trop cher. N’avez-vous rien de meilleur marché? ) These keywords were added by machine and not by the authors. This process is experimental and the keywords may be updated as the learning algorithm improves.
Art · Business · Chose · Commodity · Humanities · Linguistics · Phrase · Political science · Visitor pattern · African history and culture studies · Computer Science · Law · Linguistics and Discourse Analysis · Multiculturalism, Politics, Migration, Gender · Philosophy
| Citation velocity | historical |
|---|---|
| Highly cited | No |