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vijayjohn wrote:I wonder whether there are constraints on how much linguistic quackery it's possible to get away with. I mean, there are obviously some (some kinds of linguistic quackery, at least, certainly wouldn't pass here so easily), but does it vary by culture? Is there any group of people who would accept the notion, for example, that English was merely a dialect of German?
vijayjohn wrote:My understanding is that it's supposed to be relaxing or whatever, but isn't it also pretty culturally exclusionary?
Is it really necessary?
Aurinĭa wrote:vijayjohn wrote:My understanding is that it's supposed to be relaxing or whatever, but isn't it also pretty culturally exclusionary?
How is it culturally exclusionary?
vijayjohn wrote:Yeah, but my point is that it's just South Asian restaurants and stores, whereas Western music is always playing not only in American stores and restaurants but also in public restrooms, in dentist's offices, at train(?) stations...and also at the airport and at bars, and that's not even an exhaustive list.
linguoboy wrote:vijayjohn wrote:Yeah, but my point is that it's just South Asian restaurants and stores, whereas Western music is always playing not only in American stores and restaurants but also in public restrooms, in dentist's offices, at train(?) stations...and also at the airport and at bars, and that's not even an exhaustive list.
Dude, you are IN THE WEST. What exactly do you expect?
vijayjohn wrote:linguoboy wrote:vijayjohn wrote:Yeah, but my point is that it's just South Asian restaurants and stores, whereas Western music is always playing not only in American stores and restaurants but also in public restrooms, in dentist's offices, at train(?) stations...and also at the airport and at bars, and that's not even an exhaustive list.
Dude, you are IN THE WEST. What exactly do you expect?
But you won't hear Indian music in literally any of those settings in India. You won't hear it in any kind of public restroom, you won't hear it at a dentist's office, you won't hear it at a station of any sort, you won't hear it at an airport, and you won't hear it at any establishment that serves alcohol.
linguoboy wrote:Americans fear quiet.
vijayjohn wrote:linguoboy wrote:Americans fear quiet.
Interesting, that's honestly news to me, but I guess that makes sense. My surroundings are usually much quieter than I guess most Americans' are. (Right now, for instance, literally all I can hear is the sound of myself typing and maybe my computer's low hum).
linguoboy wrote:vijayjohn wrote:linguoboy wrote:vijayjohn wrote:Yeah, but my point is that it's just South Asian restaurants and stores, whereas Western music is always playing not only in American stores and restaurants but also in public restrooms, in dentist's offices, at train(?) stations...and also at the airport and at bars, and that's not even an exhaustive list.
Dude, you are IN THE WEST. What exactly do you expect?
But you won't hear Indian music in literally any of those settings in India. You won't hear it in any kind of public restroom, you won't hear it at a dentist's office, you won't hear it at a station of any sort, you won't hear it at an airport, and you won't hear it at any establishment that serves alcohol.
That's amazing! It's almost like the USA and India are homes to COMPLETELY DIFFERENT CULTURES or something.
Music in these locales isn't universal in "the West" either. My German friends tell me it isn't usual to have music in dentists' offices, for instance. Americans fear quiet.
Car wrote:Honestly, you can't go to the loo without having to listen to music?
Car wrote:Honestly, you can't go to the loo without having to listen to music?
That sounds weird at best.
Aurinĭa wrote:Unless it's an attempt to mask other sounds.
Belgium seems to be more like Germany than the US. My dentist plays (Western classical) music, my GP doesn't. Supermarkets don't, clothing shops and the like often play pop music. Train stations don't, metro stations do. Interesting fact about that: they had a problem with youth loitering late at night in the metro stations in Brussels, making individual travellers uncomfortable. So in the evening they switched from playing (Western) pop music to playing (Western) classical music. And it worked, suddenly there were no more people loitering in the metro stations, only travellers passing through.
vijayjohn wrote:Huh, interesting! So young people were hanging around the metro stations to listen to the music?
Aurinĭa wrote:But apparently they disliked classical music so much that they stopped hanging out there, much to the relief of individual travellers late at night.
vijayjohn wrote:The annoying thing is that I swear it's always the same ten fucking songs on repeat, too.
vijayjohn wrote:Aurinĭa wrote:Unless it's an attempt to mask other sounds.
IME they play it too softly for it to mask other sounds. If anything, it's the other sounds that mask it. Given what linguoboy has just revealed to me about Americans being afraid of noise, I think it's actually the opposite: They play music in case there aren't any other sounds (so people don't have to experience silence and get scared).
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