Careful, They Are Watching

Image from The Bioengineering Institute

Have you ever wondered what the rest of the world thinks about us? While some media conglomerates try and lead you to believe our "news" is “fair and balanced” and maybe even informative, media and citizens in other countries often times have a little different perspective. To find out what the global community thinks of the US, check out watchingamerica.com. Here is their mission statement:

WatchingAmerica reflects global opinion about the United States, helping Americans and non-Americans alike understand what the world thinks of current issues that involve the U.S.

The website claims that they do not seek out favorable or unfavorable articles, but unfortunately (but not unexpectedly)we’ve found that most of the postings are quite negative. For those non-linguists, the site offers translations for the articles posted. So put away your pocket translator.

As a sampling of the fun you can find on this website, we have included a segment called, “1984 and Bush's Unsual Dictionary” from an article by Mario Diament. Enjoy!

La Nacion decided to publish a "Dictionary of republicanisms". Some of their definitions are impossible to translate, but others not as much. Here are some examples:

Patriot Act: the pre-emptive strike on American civil liberties in order to stop the terrorists from destroying them first.
Bankruptcy: punishable crime when it is committed by poor people, but exemptible when committed by corporations.
Compassionate Conservativism: poignant concern for the very wealthy.
Democracy: a product so extensively exported by the United States, that the domestic reserves have been exhausted.
God: main adviser of Bush.
Fight of classes: any attempt to increase the wage minimum.
Electoral fraud: when the minority goes to the ballot boxes in unexpected numbers.
Liberal: supporter of the antichrist.
Free trade: Halliburton no-bid contracts at the taxpayers expense.
Laziness: when the poor do not work.
Free time: when the rich do not work.