Won't have Savvy

[janet hakeney]

I am a great fan of the Parelli groundwork. Since I sold a horse to one of the Parelli lot last year I have discovered what it is they do and stand for and I have great respect and admiration for Pat and what he has acheived in setting it all up. I think there are still a few holes in his rider training programme but I think that he will address those before too long the way the organisation is going and inovating. I have one big problem which may be just a personal hang up but......I can't stand the word 'savvy':( :( :( . The American bible belt evangalist style of delivery doesn't go down that well in the UK anyway and when it is accompanied by 'that word' I just cringe. I think I need counselling.....help guys???

[Peace]

The word gets on my nerves a little, too - sounds so pidgin, doesn't it?:)

But I guess that's because it probably is - I believe it's an Anglo-American corruption of the Spanish "saber," which can be used for "know-how."

As for bible-belt evangelists:eek: Can't swing a dead cat around here without hitting two or three. Count your blessings you only have to put up with the one!:D

[Wally]

I think it's a word that's been used to death.

I have read the book and like the ideas ......in part, but Pat Parelli is just a bit too pleased with himself for me to take seriously, just a trans- Atlantic attitude translation failure.

[mikka]

That's interesting, Peace. I thought it came from savoir faire.

[Peace]

Hi, mikka:

You might be right! I'm just making a guess.:) I thought of the Spanish word only because it seems to be more common in the regions of the US where you'd expect an Hispanic influence.

[virtuallyhorses]

I must admit I cringe even at the term 'natural horsemanship' and as for Parelli's 'spanking' :)

But then I have to admit I'm a language snob :(

why have we lost the 'ist' from terror ? ....the 'ation' from corporate? I find myself screaming - its a goddamn adjective not a noun! at the telly or radio whenever they talk about 'the corporates' .....why has nuclear become new-cu-lar?....when are we going to spend more money on education than weapons? then per'aps we'll have more gooder learnin' of english :D ;)

[mikka]

Viv, I'm with you. Though you'd never know it from my posts, I, too, am a terrible language snob - one who turns (in)to instant white trash the minute she starts screaming at the TV about some small grammatical error a news announcer (or president: nuc-u-lar) has made. I'm in the Jerry Springer league of language snobs...no one is beneath my contempt!

But, I truly enjoy the words of anyone who can make a point with sincerity and a lack of pretention, no matter the grammar. I think I gripe over the people who *should* know better rather than the ones who don't.

Mikka

[kelsey]

I used to be more of a language snob when I was a self-satisfied graduate student. Since then, I have found that some of the most successful people that I have met (not only in a monetary sense, but also in the sense of having interesting, passionate lives and great families) do not possess the greatest language skills merely because they did not have the luxury of an advanced education. I doubt whether they would even care if someone expressed reservations about their grammar.

[Mehitabel]

(puts linguistics geek hat on)
savvy, savoir and saber all come from the same root - sapientia, which is latin for wisdom. being primarily an american term, it's more likely that the immediate source was saber, since america has more spanish influence than french.

(takes linguistics geek hat off again).

[Nickie]

ooooohhhhhhhh smarty pants alert! :D

:rolleyes: :D :rolleyes: :D :rolleyes: :D :rolleyes: :D

[mikka]

Es, this may be a discussion that's insoluble - only because I'm not convinced that linguists can point to a place or moment at which "savvy" came into common usage. But surely one can assess its French or Spanish heritage, loosely, upon its local value. Although it may be assumed that "savvy" would be a pidgin form of "sabe" in the lower realms of settled NA, has its geographical region been absolutely delineated? You must remember that much of northern NA was French-dominated from the 1700's onward. Have you linguistic texts that show this to be?

I'm not meaning to be provocative in an unfriendly way - just want to open up ideas. If I'm wrong, then mea culpa. (No one should have a problem with those words!) If the Spanish root is correct, then I shall tell my (Hispanic) children that they've even more to be proud of...

[Mehitabel]

to be honest, i wasn't thinking that specifically! it isn't an area i know an awful lot about - i did french stuff more than english or american. but either way, whether savvy comes directly from french or spanish, it's the same end root as they both come from the latin anyway. i had forgotten about the french influence in southern NA though - my tutor would be shocked with me!