American?

I was speaking with a very lovely lady that I know. She had been on the phone with a customer services representative from a large well-known corporation. She commented that she could tell the person wasn’t American.

I didn’t want to start an argument, so I let her comment go. But, I was curious. How did she know the person wasn’t American? A thick accent? Poor English?

I have some very good friends who were born in another country. They came here legally and they have accents, but they are now American citizens. I have 2 co-workers who were also born in other countries. Both came legally to this country. Both have accents. Both are also now American citizens.

You can’t tell by voice alone who is American and who isn’t.

This country was built by immigrants. Many didn’t speak English when they first came.

I have ancestry from many countries. People who came from Germany, Scotland, Ireland, Sweden, England, etc. All seeking a better life.

One of our beloved Founding Fathers had some rather nasty things to say about the influx of those different from him. To quote Benjamin Franklin, “Those who come hither are generally of the most ignorant Stupid Sort of their own Nation…and as few of the English understand the German Language, and so cannot address them either from the Press or Pulpit, ’tis almost impossible to remove any prejudices they once entertain…Not being used to Liberty, they know not how to make a modest use of it…I remember when they modestly declined intermeddling in our Elections, but now they come in droves, and carry all before them, except in one or two Counties...In short unless the stream of their importation could be turned from this to other colonies, as you very judiciously propose, they will soon so out number us, that all the advantages we have will not in My Opinion be able to preserve our language, and even our Government will become precarious.”

To further quote Franklin, “Why should Pennsylvania, founded by the English, become a Colony of Aliens, who will shortly be so numerous as to Germanize us instead of our Anglifying them, and will never adopt our Language or Customs, any more than they can acquire our Complexion.”

There are many things wrong with his statements, not the least of which is that Pennsylvania was already settled by the Erie Tribe, the Seneca and Oneida tribes of the Iroquois Nation, the Lenape Tribe, the Munsee Tribe, the Shawnee tribe and the Susquehannock tribe.

But I’ll address Mr. Franklin’s concerns about language with a little quiz. How many of the following words are English and how many are German?

Alzheimer's disease
Angst
Aspirin
Automat
Blitz
Bratwurst
Cobalt
Concertmaster
Dachshund
Deli
Delicatessen
Diesel
Doberman pinscher
Doppelganger
Doppler effect/Doppler radar
Edelweiss
Fahrenheit
Fahrvergnügen
Fest
Flak/flack
Frankfurter
Führer
Gauss
Geiger counter
Gestalt
Gesundheit
Glitz/Glitzy
Glockenspiel
Hamburger
Hamster
Hertz(Hz)/Gigahertz/Megahertz
Hinterland(s)
Kaput
Kindergarten
Kitsch/Kitschy
Knockwurst
Kris Kringle
Lager
Lederhosen
Levi's®
Liverwurst
Neanderthal
Nickel
Poltergeist
Quartz
Reich
Rottweiler
Rucksack
Sauerkraut
Schnapps
Schnauzer
Schnitzel
Spitz
Strudel
Uber
Umlaut
Verboten
Waltz
Wanderlust
Wiener
Zeppelin
Zinc



Ready for the answer?








Did you really think about it?








All of them are German.

Next time you get mad that you have to press 1 for English, remember every time you say “I wish I had a nickel” – you are speaking German.

Yeah, we Germanized the English language. I think we made the country better for it.

Auf wiedersehen!