sentences

Boy   Sun Oct 08, 2006 4:25 pm GMT
Hi

Goodspeed : First time I came across this word in one of JW's posts here on the forum but today I was watching a sitcom on the telly and it was spoken by an actor. It was spoken without a sentence so I am guessing It was sort of a greeting. Can anyone tell me what it means.

"You are a walking cliche!" what does this sentence imply for?

When a native American says "America is not for everyone." what he or she is implying?

Thanks a lot for your help.
Boy   Sun Oct 08, 2006 4:27 pm GMT
Please neglect my typo: "Goodspeed" should have been written as "Godspeed".
JW   Sun Oct 08, 2006 6:48 pm GMT
I believe "godspeed" is an anachronistic phrase that means "may god speed (prosper) you." Here is a good article on the meaning and history of the word: http://www.randomhouse.com/wotd/index.pperl?date=19980129

"You are a walking cliche" simply means "you do and say a lot of cliche things."

I think "America is not for everyone" means "not everyone likes America, its values, its way of life, its laws, its customs, etc."
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Just a few nit-picks that I hope will help you.

1. "What does this sentence imply for" is not good English. Simply say "What does this sentence mean."

2. "When a native American says." This is okay. Most will understand what you mean. But be aware that "Native American" usually refers to an American indian. It's a sort of polite, politically correct term that in everyday conversation most people would consider prigish. There is a lot more information here: http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/native+american
Boy   Sun Oct 08, 2006 9:22 pm GMT
JW

Thanks for your explanation. It helped me a lot. Also, thanks for pinpointing my mistakes. I usually write what you suggested above when I ask for meaning of a particular sentence but I have seen/heard "imply for" sentences in standarized tests like TOEFL. So for a change I tried something different and unconciously went for bad English.

I never delved into the origin of the term "Native American" and what were its implications as a term for people. Personally I follow my own specific formula: Native + Nationality e.g Native Australian, Native Canadian...etc when I mention someone who comes from that particular country. I don't know if it is wrong. When I said a native American, I was actually referring to someone who was born and bred in the USA.

Please kill me for not understanding the meaning of terms like "politically correct" or "politically correctness." I came across them very frequently but I had never understood their literal meaning.

Let me have a wild guess. The politically correct terms are those terms that are not preferred to use by the majority of local population but are coined by (politicians or experts or linguists??) for not to offend other foreigners.

For example, Afghanis come to Pakistan after crossing the border without a visa or proper documents then they are called "illegal immigrants" but in a politically correct term they are called "undocumented immigrants." so that they can not be offended by a term like "illegal". Is my understanding correct?
Boy   Sun Oct 08, 2006 9:27 pm GMT
JW

Not to be a nit-picky but why did you write "God" with a small g? It was written as "Godspeed" through out in the article that you just provided above.
JW   Sun Oct 08, 2006 9:38 pm GMT
You are very welcome. I understood what you meant by "native American" as would most people who encountered the phrase in that context. But just to be safe you might want to start saying "native-born American" or something similar.

And you have a very good understanding of what politically correct terms are. They are, as you said, terms intended not to offend. Go to this site for a more thourough definition. Examples include...
Native American for American indian
African American for black U. S. citizen
homosexual for fag or queer
hearing-impaired for deaf
etc.

Go to this site for a more thorough definition:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Political_correctness

And this site for an account of the history of the word:
http://www.randomhouse.com/wotd/index.pperl?date=20001114
JW   Sun Oct 08, 2006 9:40 pm GMT
And as for my use of the small "g," it was simply my mistake.