Karmenu Vella and the Labour Party clearly don’t understand the nuances of a certain kind of British English
Il-Guy: “Even their consultant said our plans are ambitious.” Yes, Guy, that means they’re impossible.
Well, I’m sure there are a couple of people in the Labour Party who do, but they’ve either not bothered to put the rest straight, or they’ve taken a decision to carry on deceiving people whose knowledge of English is even worse than theirs.
This afternoon, the English security risk consultant who spoke at the PN press conference said of Labour’s plans:
“To suggest doing this in two years is very, very ambitious.”
In this context, ‘ambitious’ is not praise. Nor is it admiration. It is the opposite. It means ‘crazy’. Translation into Global English/Globish: “You can’t do it in two years. It’s impossible. You’re out of your mind.”
Then I heard Karmenu Vella at the ‘answer-back’ press conference, saying with pride and satisfaction that even the consultant brought over by the PN described Labour’s plans as “ambitious”. He was terribly pleased.
I read an article in The Spectator some months back about the catastrophic errors in communication between native speakers of British English and speakers of Globish (international, global English, learned as a second or third language). It was potently illustrated today.
This sort of British English (the kind spoken by better-educated people) uses a sort of code of understatement and reverse emphasis. It leads to some spectacular misunderstandings and confusion in meetings and negotiations, when speakers of Globish fail to pick up what native speakers of British English (or those who have smartly learned it along the way) are really saying, what they truly mean.
An American will say: “You’re out of your mind. That’s out of the question. Impossible.”
A certain kind of English person will say: “Well, that’s extremely ambitious.”
And people like Karmenu Vella and Konrad Mizzi just don’t get it – for roughly the same reasons that they rarely pick up the tone and nuances in what I write. They can read the words and understand them literally, but the rest is a foreign language and they just don’t understand it.
But I like it that way. Let them fester.
“Even their consultant said our plans our ambitious.” Excuse me for a minute while I break out into a giggling fit.
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The “UK Expert” surely is not an expert in fashion and body language. He was baffling and most of his questions were unaswered.
[Daphne – He was baffling because you speak English as a foreign language. I don’t, so I found him more comprehensible than many Maltese politicians, because I use the same idiom. Fashion and body language have nothing to do with it. Super One and Joseph’s Labour have led you to confuse image and content. A woman must wear a thick coating of make-up but it doesn’t matter if she can’t think. A man – ditto, sans the make-up, though. None of his questions were unanswered. He did not ask any. They questions were put to him by others. They were not HIS. Your English is terrible. No wonder you couldn’t even get the gist.]
He also confirmed that LNG is better than Heavy Fuel Oil and that he doesn’t know of any LNG explosions.
[Daphne – He did not say that he doesn’t know of any LNG explosions. He said he has no experience of any.]
You should ask the question whether the UK expert has any conflict of interest and whether he was given consultancies to Enemalta in the past. Again, today, the PN came out less credible. They are trying hard. They look desperate.
[Daphne – It’s actually the people who see the approach of an incompetent Labour government who are desperate, Luigi, but you just don’t get that. It is really, really desperate and frustrating knowing that no matter how good the PN is, and no matter how bad Labour, 45% of the population will still blindly vote Labour and eventually, gather some others to their side. The inability of people to deploy common sense, or to allow their narrow and opportunistic interests to override that common sense, is the stuff of despair.]
That ‘very very ambitious’ was a murmured ” you don’t know what you’re talking about!”
They only needed to translate the term ‘ambitious’ to ‘ambizzjuz’ in Maltese, which as we all know, is generally used in a sarcastic manner, to truly understand what the learned expert was on about.
But Labour’s propaganda machine would rather use any information that could be misconstrued in their favour, of course.
Can someone tell Coconut that one can find shirts with shorter sleeve lengths if he wants to look more bizniz-like.
‘fester’? The idiots will think you mean Uncle Fester of the Addams family. Nuance they know not.
He also pointed out that there is a difference between “doable” (in the sense that yes, it can be built in possibly 4 years) and “feasible” (in the sense that it makes financial sense)
I’m building a time machine.
All they need is to read the two great books Yes Minister and Yes Prime Minister, but then they probably wouldn’t understand them either.
Daphne, I refuse to believe that there is nobody in the Labour Party or its various acolytes that do not understand proper British English.
What il-Guy and all the rest of them are doing is a massive fraud on a nationwide scenario. Nothing to lose for them, and what if they really pull it off?
They are just driven by shekels and greed, using naive and keen sacrificial lambs like this Konrad specimen.
I mean, who in the world would ever believe that, after all the hard work and hassle, this Konrad Mizzi will be actually made a minister for energy in the nightmarish eventuality of a Labour victory?
Hemm xi hadd li jekk jitla l-labour ikollu il kuntratt lest u iffirmat biex jibda jahdem u addio mepa u addio it-tenders u addio kollox basta l’progett jibda u min qed jiffinanzja l-kampanja elettorali tal PL jithallas ghax dik hija il verita kollha.Forsi min jaf ghad narraw xi ambaxxatur jifrah ukoll ghax il progett tkun haditu kumpanija min pajjizu.
The consultant also described some of the more bizarre aspects of the Labour proposal as “highly unusual”.
Every professional body is saying the contrary of what the PL speakers are saying about this project.
If I am not mistaken, even Lino Spiteri stated that this project does not make sense and this is exactly the same as the Vat issue in 1996, but the former PL leader who is very close to Joseph Muscat at the time ignored what Lino Spiteri was sayimng and behind his back he introduced a new taxation system which was a total disaster to our economy.
All the PL representatives speaking about this project are also disregarding and contesting what the KPMG are saying.
As if a professional company like KPMG who employ thousands of economic experts around the world are going to twist the facts and tarnish their reputation worldwide because of Joseph Muscat or Laurence Gonzi.
If the PL economic experts are serrious and are sure of what they are saying they should table all the documents and make everythin available for the other experts and also the Maltese people to be able to scrutinise what their workings on this project are actually saying.
This is the way professional and serious people should act in such circumstances, as this issue might seriously jeopardise the stability and the good economic situation of our islands.
But this fact does not make a difference to Joseph Muscat and his team who with this project are evidently deceiving the Maltese people and this is critically dangerous an a high irresponsibilty by the PL in particularly their leader.
I am sure that being a diehard Labour does not mean that you will believe that Karmenu Vella, Konrad Mizzi and last but not the least Joseph Muscat are more clever, intelligent, and serious in this particular subject as the economic experts at KPMG and also others from whom the same Labour Party sought advice on this same project.
Well, do you expect better? He only understands ‘ambitious’ because it sounds so similar to ‘ambizzjuz’.
Even in Maltese, it’s often dripping with sarcasm, so maybe he’s simpy just out to deceive.
They ought to watch the episodes of Yes Minister and Yes Prime Minister and observe Jim Hacker’s reaction when Sir Humphrey describes one of his plans as ‘courageous’.
Is-sabiha hi li l-aktar kritika qawwijja u genwina mhux gejja mil-Partit Nazzjonalisti, izda minn esperi mgharufin mad-dija kollha.
Kif qatt tista’ tafdhom lil tal-Labour?
Dawn inbidlu ghax marru ghal ghar specjament fil-gideb ghax huwa car li b’dan il-progett qed iqarqu bil-poplu Malti u miskin minhu injorant u jemminhom.
Fucking hell, now I know where it all went wrong.
I just loved the way he put up his arms to his sides at the end, following ONE’s offensive.
I posted a comment on timesofmalta.com this morning pointing out the same thing, but for some reason it wasn’t published.
It is still not clear to me if the Labour proposal:
1. was designed by Labour after seeking advice from DNV Kema;
2. was designed by Labour and subjected to an audit by DNV Kema;
3. was prepared by DNV Kema on behalf of Labour.
Super One has repeatedly suggested that 2. is the case.
Can I get a reply through a ‘vox pop’ on this blog please?
Yep, il-Guy was always the Labour star candidate on th 5th district since the early 80s.
Does he remember the landfill in Wied Fulija (limits of Zurrieq)? It used to burn for days on end and when the wind blew from the sea towards land all of Zurrieq and nearby villages used to be covered with dark smoke and ashes.
How about that for asthma incidence?
Can anyone care to ask the residents of the hamlet of Bubaqra?
As always, it was a Nationalist government after 1987 that closed that landfill.
Way to go Karmenu Vella….way to go.
Yep, some lovely summer nights, windows closed and a red haze hanging overhead.
F’hamsa u ghoxrin sena ma’ taghlmu xejn hlief jigdbu u kif iqarqu bl-injorant.
Iz-zaghzagh fil-Partit Laburista huma ghar min ta’ qabilhom ghax anqas fl-oppozzijoni ma’ jisthu minn xejn ahseb u ara jekk ikunu fil-gvern.
X’disgrazzja kbira tkun jekk il-poplu Malti ma’ joqodx attent u jixpruna dak kollu li qed jigi offrut lilu ghal futur.
Fejn qatt konna nghixu f’din it-trankwillita’ il-gid u lussu f’dan il-pajjiz?
Kif qed jissugerixxi li jinbena dan il-progett tal-power station tal-Labour anke kontra ir-regolamenti tal-Ewropa jmur ghax ma’ tistax taghmel progett minghajr tenders.
Tal-Labour minn qabel ma’ jistghu ikunu fil-gvern qed jghidu li se jmorru kontra ir-regoli tal-Ewropa.
X’disgrazzja tkun jekk niggieldu ma’ l-Ewropa ghal dan il-pajjiz.
Il-gid kollu li nbena nitifuh f’sekonda.
Blame the PN for this one. They need to brief their experts to call a spade a spade.
Besides the reporter interviewing Mr Seaman on The Times’ clip didn’t impress me at all (in Globish: he was crap).
For a start, he should have asked the crucial question about whether Labour’s plans would lead to a guaranteed 25% lower price for electricity.
The answer to that would have been enough to sink their ship.
He wouldn’t have answered about tariffs.
Which is all PN is interested in. That’s why they’ll lose this election big time. Should have worked for Caritas, the whole bally lot.
Seaman’s a risk specialist.
With all due respect, Konrad Mizzi: you’re an idiot:
http://i.imgur.com/NTuww.jpg
He’s an idiot and a bare faced liar.
To expect Karmenu Vella to have a clue what the word ‘ambitious’ stands for in this context is to ask for the impossible.
The poor fellow struggles with basic Maltese.
And the Ministry of Misinformation (aka MaltaStar) turns it into a headline article: http://maltastar.com/mart/20130115-mizzi-pn-expert-confirms-projects-can-be-done
Even better, they managed to put a tv edit together : http://m.youtube.com/watch?v=c84n5H9XZj4
Incredible.
The noble Brutus hath told you that Caesar was ambitious; if it were so,it was a grevious fault and greviously hath Caesar answered it.
He must have scribbled ‘ambixjus’ on a scrap of paper while the English expert termed Labour’s plan as ‘ambitious’.
Had Mr Seaman acclimatized himself in the Malta scene, he would have realized that the Queen’s English is not quite practiced by a certain sector of the population.
Had he known that, he would have used the word ‘presumptuous’ rather than ‘ambitious’. It would have been a bit more blunt, but then there would not have been room for ambiguity.
I doubt whether they even know the meaning of the word “nuances”.
Maaaaa this is truly hopeless! F’hiex se nigu!