[OSM-talk] [Tagging] nomoj de internaciaj objektoj / nazwy obiektów międzynarodowych / names of international objects

stevea steveaOSM at softworkers.com
Sun Feb 23 23:27:27 UTC 2020


On Feb 23, 2020, at 3:01 PM, Tomek <tomek at disroot.org> wrote:
> 
> ...a sam promujesz jakiś nielogiczny twór promujący tylko jeden naród - Anglików.
(...you promote some illogical creation promoting only one nation - the English.)

This simply is not true.  The "creation" is perfectly logical, as the origin story of OSM beginning in England is repeated / explained yet again to positive effect, and it does not promote "only one nation," rather, it promotes one language.  A language spoken as a second language in more countries than any other:  what might be called a de facto lingua franca around the world, although I and others certainly recognize how this might be seen as hegemonic and / or even more offensive, as in "language imperialism" (it isn't, but many recognize how it is easy for many to see it that way).  What is meant by "de facto" is that it is "in fact" used so extensively:  well over half the countries on Earth, with over 1.2 billion speakers — 1 out of 6 humans and easily the most spoken and widespread language on the planet.  (That is simply a fact).  You might say Mandarin and Cantonese are spoken by about as many, but really, largely speaking only in China, and so not nearly as dispersed all over the globe as is English.  (This may change in the future with China's apparent 21st-century ascendency, but let's not get ahead of ourselves).

Tomek, it should be as clear to you now as it is to many of us here that your use of Esperanto and Polish, as well as your insistence that widespread usage of English in OSM diminish to your specification has failed to gain traction.  May we ask you quite directly to cease with this campaign of yours, please?  I agree with Alan M. that it has become tedious, if not actually beyond that.

SteveA


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