It’s a huge pet peeve of mine when English words and expressions are completely hijacked, stolen and incorporated into the Maltese language and rattled off as a matter of course, in a way that eventually makes them sound more Maltese than English. Off the top of my head, I can think of a few – ‘feedback’, ‘as such’, ‘relaxed’, ‘cozy’, ‘nice weekend’.
Never in their wildest dreams did GonziPN imagine Labour would do their homework and come up with an energy plan- Michela Spiteri
Perhaps I sound like I’ve lost the plot. It works both ways you see. I spent most of my life on the receiving end, getting grief about my school, my accent and the way I pronounced certain words.
So, now I feel entirely comfortable throwing it back. Oh and I’m equally irritated when people borrow Maltese words and attempt to Anglicise them. It’s equally cringe-inducing. Both scenarios make me want to scream blue-murder.
As a result, there are some words I no longer feel comfortable using – precisely because of the way they’ve been bastardised, corrupted and ruined as far as I’m concerned. And since last Monday, there’s another I can add to that ever-growing list of words – gimmick.
Every time I hear the word, pronounced in that inimitable Maltese way, so that it sounds more like gimmeek, I want to dive straight into the television and shake it out of the person saying it.
And I am fast losing count. Everything is apparently a gimmick. It’s the new buzzword on the mouth of every Nationalist MP and his best friend. Tonio Fenech is also partial to his little fairytale – Alice or Elice in Wonderland – as he is wont to pronounce it.
That’s fair enough. I suppose I’m being petty and I must sound terribly snooty and dangerously akin to people I dislike and more appropriately to someone I am not. Elections aren’t won or lost on pronunciation or grammatical prowess –otherwise few of our MPs would stand a chance.
But I still think it’s interesting, from a purely anthropological or socio-political point of view. You see, being critical of the way someone pronounces certain words, of the way he holds his knife and fork or his choice of suits and ties was always the reserve of Nationalist acolytes.
It has always been perfectly alright and kosher to knock or take the mickey out of all things Labour. But we never really dared apply the same weights and measures to the other side. The Nationalists always got away with so much more than just bad pronunciation and cheap suits.
If Renzo Piano chose midnight, or one minute after, to unveil or launch his project, it might have been hailed by Nationalist pundits as the greatest thing since Gonzi’s Brazilian construction investment company – the biggest gimmick or midnight promise if ever there was one. And although I wasn’t particularly impressed by PL’s stroke of midnight launch, it has affected my life as much or as little as the new PL or PN party logos – the latter evidently copied lock stock and petal from the CNBC logo, supposedly an expression of unity in diversity. Yeah right – tell that to Franco Debono and Jeffrey Pullicino Orlando.
I write this on day four of the electoral campaign and unfortunately we seem to be stuck in a power struggle; quite literally in fact.
It appears that this election and whoever gets into power seems to be hinging purely on power stations and power solutions.
Never in their wildest dreams, did GonziPN imagine Labour would do their homework and come up with an energy plan, let alone one which has obviously been very well thought out and researched.
My old headmaster Edward Mallia, Malta’s number one green energy freak, endorsed the plan and dismissed Fenech’s critique as irresponsible and incompetent, while the Malta Employer’s Association was the first to come out with hefty applause. The Malta Developers’ Association gave it the thumbs up and said it was definitely doable.
GonziPN seem to be flapping and getting entangled in the web of lies they’ve woven. One minute the proposal is too good to be true, the next it’s irresponsible and life-endangering, and then suddenly it was their idea all along and they tell us the tariffs can be reduced after all.
Lest we forget, GonziPN were the ones who chose the BWSC and heavy fuel oil against all international advice, all public procurement protocols, and ultimately against the Maltese public interest.
On top of that, they just happened to whip Zaren Vassallo’s name out of the Yellow Pages. Now that the PL have disclosed their plan, which incidentally is more than the Nationalists have done, they suddenly scream foul and demand details of all documents, donors and meetings like they’re the bloody Gestapo.
It wasn’t even Fenech’s continuous interruptions which grated on me last Tuesday on Bondi + and in the days that followed. It was the smug arrogance so palpable you could cut through it with a knife and the way he talked down to Konrad Mizzi like he was something he had just found at the bottom of his shoe.
Never mind that Mizzi’s direct area of expertise is energy efficiency planning or the fact that he has been commissioned as a consultant by Castille on various occasions. Surprisingly Bondi did reprimand Fenech once or twice but stopped short of really putting him in his place. He saved that for Toni Abela the following Thursday.
I can’t stand the sort of attitude and behaviour frequently displayed by Fenech et al. It rubs me the wrong way and only serves to increase my newfound respect for people like Mizzi.
There’s a refreshing honesty, eagerness and decency about Mizzi. Even his imperceptible stammer is endearing. If he were a PN candidate, the media would be full of superlatives and words of praise. He’s the boy next door, the respectable and unassuming whizz kid you’d take to meet your grandmother. And I bet you he even says Alice.
michelaspiteri@gmail.com