[ RadSafe ] Radsafe rules and SOME people's conduct

[RuthWeiner at aol.com]

In a message dated 2/11/2005 7:27:58 AM Mountain Standard Time, 
Floyd.Flanigan at nmcco.com writes:
They go hand in hand. Has anyone here got an in-depth understanding of why 
F.S. says some of the things he says? For that matter, has anyone asked? 
I cannot cite particular instances.  However, I am bilingual (German is my 
first language) and I recognize that people say things differently in different 
languages and cultures.  What we say in German tends to be more forthright and 
blunt, and also sometimes more colorful, than is common for native speakers 
of American English.    I just finished translating the German TV narrative of 
the recent drop test and fire test of the Constor SNF cask.  For example, the 
German TV announcer gave a much more colorful rendition of the  test 
circumstances than we would have done in America.  She said (literally) "the invited 
experts anxiously awaited the beginning of the test"  (in fact, to get the idiom 
right, it would be "were on the edge of their seats...")  An American 
announcer would just have omitted the anxiety of the experts, or any comment on their 
mental state, altogether.

A counter-example:  many years ago, when I was Dean, I sat in on several 
lectures of one of our faculty, a native of a Far East nation, because the  
recommendation for his promotion was in my hands.  I had told him beforehand that I 
would sit in.  Nonetheless, he was offended, and to this day I do not know why.

So chalk it up to cultural differences and differences in expressed idiom.

Ruth



Dr. Schoenhofer visited us in Albuquerque, and I can say without hesitation 
that he is a charming and delightful person


Ruth F. Weiner, Ph. D.
ruthweiner at aol.com