#First-Generation American

[carsthatnevermadeitetc]

Rambler American Super Station Wagon, 1960. The first generation Rambler American was something of a breakthrough model for AMC with sales helping AMC achieve 7.5% of the U.S. market and total Rambler sales of 485,745 placing it in third place among domestic US brands.

[wlwgang]

I know we all like to rag on TikTok but watching everyone on that app say goodbye and put together last messages of art and music as a swan song to the platform before censorship from the us government literally makes it go dark is fucking surreal

[knight-says-nanana]

Gotham’s Oswald Cobblepot makes me so so ill

Wdym his last name was supposed to be Kapelput. Wdymmm it was marked down as Cobblepot on his birth certificate anyway bc his mom was a young Hungarian immigrant without a job?? With no father present???

And he never changed it bc people got it wrong anyway??? I’m going to scream

For my own sanity I hc that fuckin Mr. E, Ed Nashton Nygma, introduces him to the wonderful power of a legal name change for the low low price of $250

[nordleuchten]

Idk if you’ve already answered this but how much English did Lafayette know before he came to the colonies? Did he practice English when he came to the colonies outside of being surrounded by English speakers? Did he speak French while he was in the colonies?

Dear Anon,

thank you for the question!

La Fayette spoke very little English before he came to America. At this point in time and in his circles of society French was the universal and cosmopolitan language and therefor the need never arose for him to learn English, unlike for many of us today. He certainly met British officers in France, and he also spent a few weeks with his uncle-by-marriage in London – said uncle was the French ambassador to Great Britan. It is reasonable to assume that La Fayette caught on to some expressions and phrases but nothing that could be called a substantial understanding of the English language.

He was however determined to learn English as soon as he decided to embark for America – as he told Washington, he came to learn and not to teach and understanding English was vital for getting along with the locals, the troops he hoped to command and his fellow officers – it was also a sign of respect since many French officers who came to America never bothered to learn English.

It took approximately six weeks (depending on weather, the type of ship, etc.) to cross the Atlantic Ocean at that time and La Fayette (after his seasickness abated) used the time to learn English. Therefore, when he finally arrived in America, his English was still very much a work in progress, but he could hold simple conversations. He and his party arrived in America on June 13th 1777, and this is an example of his English skills on August 13th:

Idzerda Stanley J. et al., editors, Lafayette in the Age of the American Revolution: Selected Letters and Papers, 1776–1790, Volume 1, December 7, 1776–March 30, 1778, Cornell University Press, 1977, p. 103.

This is the earliest known letter that La Fayette wrote in English, and it is believed that he had help in writing it. For comparison, here is an excerpt from his first letter known to George Washington from October 14th:

Give me leave, dear general, to Speack to you about my own ⟨business⟩ with all the confidence of a son, of a friend, as you favoured me with those two so precious titles—my respect, my affection for you, answer to my own heart that I deserve them on that side as well as possible—Since our last great conversation I would not tell any thing to your excellency, for my taking a division of the army—you were in too important occupations to be disturbed—for the Congress he was in a great hurry, and in such a time I take my only right of fighting; I forget the others—now that the honorable Congress is settled quiete, and making promotions, that some changements are ready to happen in the divisions, and that I endeavoured myself the 11 september to be acquainted with a part of the army and Known by them, advise me, dear general, for what I am to do—it is not in my character to examine if they have had, if they can have never some obligations to me, I am not usued to tell what I am, I wo’nt Make no more any petition to Congress because I can now refuse, but not ask from them, therefore, dear general, I’l conduct myself by your advices. consider, if you please, that europe and particularly france is looking upon me—That I want to do some thing by myself, and justify that love of glory which I left be known to the world in making those sacrifices which have appeard so surprising, some say so foolish[.] do not you think that this want is right? in the begining I refused a division because I was diffident of my being able to conduct it without Knowing the character of the men who would be under me. now that I am better acquainted no difficulty comes from me—therefore I am ready to do all what your excellency will think proper—you Know I hope with what pleasure and satisfaction I live in your family: be certain that I schall be very happy if you judge that I can Stay in america without any particular employement when Strangers come to take divisions of the army, and when myself by the only right of my birth should get in my country without any difficulty a body of troops as numerous as is here a division

“To George Washington from Major General Lafayette, 14 October 1777,” Founders Online, National Archives, https://founders.archives.gov/documents/Washington/03-11-02-0515. [Original source: The Papers of George Washington, Revolutionary War Series, vol. 11, 19 August 1777 – 25 October 1777, ed. Philander D. Chase and Edward G. Lengel. Charlottesville: University Press of Virginia, 2001, pp. 505–508.] (01/02/2025)

You can read the letter just fine and understand what he wanted to say but there are still mistakes and especially when compared to his letter to Hancock.

I could imagen that La Fayette used his convalescence after the Battle of Brandywine to further study English, but I have no hard proof to that. With Washington’s aide-de-camps, particularly John Laurens and Alexander Hamilton, he was surrounded by people who knew both French and English and were willing to help him and translate for him if need be. But by all accounts, being surrounded by English speaking people and very eager to learn (and having a talent for languages in general) La Fayette fairly quickly got the hang of it.

While in America, he also spoke French. He spoke French with some of the Frenchmen there (other officers, soldiers, his own staff) and famously translated for General Washington and General Rochambeau during the Conference at Hartford in September of 1780. He also still wrote some letters in French – there are for example a number of letters to Alexander Hamilton and Thomas Jefferson written in French even though the majority of La Fayette’s correspondence with these and other people was in English.

I hope that answered your question and I hope you have/had a lovely day!

[somedaytakethetime]

Joe Burrow's hands appreciation post?

Joe Burrow's hands appreciation post.

[heybiji]

Roshan walks with the two Potts, gazing around at the fields and forests painted in warm colors by the setting sun. He remarks, "It is a lovely view from here."

Gazing outward, past the broken walls he had put up 20 years ago, Arthund nods and says, "Forgot. Forgot how... how pretty it all is."

I recently finished running an original oneshot for some friends, The Reaching Woods. It was a story about a little village surrounded by a big wall and the nearby forest's sudden overgrowth threatening to crush it all. It was also a story about blame and guilt.

Arthund Potts, when we met him, could barely speak at all. Too many years spent drinking and weeping. If he was even conscious he was all grunts and sloppy gestures. The scene above was at the end of the oneshot (okay, eighteenshot), once the party returned from the dark, evil woods.

[lucabyte]

my bitching abt taking homestuck seriously as a text was apparently a prelude to me finally getting some coherent thoughts in order re: things im noticing this time around to do with The Time Period Of 2009 (an era in which i was. 10) . so that reread tag ive barely done anything with may finally get some use when i can make this into a semi-coherent point. not that i think im qualified to be saying anything about things but eh. might as well. but ill be curious to get opinions from people who Are better informed abt certain areas of pop culture

[aapireads]

Viewfinder by Jon M Chu

Long before he directed Wicked, In The Heights, or the groundbreaking film Crazy Rich Asians, Jon M. Chu was a movie-obsessed first-generation Chinese American, helping at his parents’ Chinese restaurant in Silicon Valley and forever facing the cultural identity crisis endemic to children of immigrants. Growing up on the cutting edge of twenty-first-century technology gave Chu the tools he needed…

[carsthatnevermadeitetc]

American Motors Javelin SST "Go Package," 1970. The 1970 Javelin was a one-year-only design featuring a new front-end design with a broad "twin-venturi" front grille incorporating the headlamps. The bonnet had dual air intakes and a functional Ram Air system with the Go-Package which came with either a 360 or 390ci 4-barrel V8 engines. This was the final year for the first generation Javelin

[poisoned-pearls]

Jamil’s got the soul of a mitski fan. The deep sense of sadness that you get in every movement is entirely expressed in her discography.

[natyvazquez]

My gofundme for college. I am a first generation Mexican American student in California who wishes to go to USC debt free but is struggling with finincial barriers because my mom is unemployed and a single mother.

[livelaughlovelams]

Why did the headcanon generator decide to get so hecking personal today!? hello!?

AND WE HAVE TWO (ABSOLUTELY CANON) ONES FOR LAFAYETTE...

[hififotos]

First generation Dodge Charger

[fazmid]

I am just so in awe of this post and I haven't stopped thinking about it since I took this screenshot a couple days ago. Because I realize this is the unstated assumption behind a lot of us politics posting on the internet already (that us politics are more important/real than anything happening in the rest of the world), but I still can't imagine explicitly typing out that threatening to annex your neighbours or participating in a campaign of literal ethnic cleansing in Gaza are distractions from us federal employees being fired or whatever the fuck is going on with elon musk, and not starting to smell that your head is entirely up your own asshole.

[aeolianblues]

Americans stop assuming everyone wants to talk to you Americans stop assuming everyone wants to talk to you Americans stop assuming everyone wants to talk to you Americans stop assuming everyone wants to talk to you Americans stop assuming everyone wants to talk to you Americans stop assuming everyone wants to talk to you Americans stop assuming everyone wants to talk to you Americans stop assuming everyone wants to talk to you Americans stop assuming everyone wants to talk to you Americans stop assuming everyone wants to talk to you Americans stop assuming everyone wants to talk to you Americans stop assuming everyone wants to talk to you

[hms-no-fun]

any thoughts on the pitt?

it was critically imbalanced and totally at odds with itself thematically. it's trying to create the impression of a desperate and impoverished situation where one side has a monopoly on violence, but it's way too easy to get a superpowered weapon really early on and that trivializes the entire experience.

i assume we're talking about the fallout 3 dlc