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From: R. Kovacs
Subject: Token naming and cultural bias
Date: 28 Av 5782
My grandfather (or perhaps it was his teacher, I cannot remember exactly) told a story about two merchants in Munkács. One spoke Hungarian, one spoke German. They did business for thirty years. Neither learned the other's language. They used Yiddish as a middle ground, a trading language, even though neither was a native speaker.
The Yiddish was not neutral. It carried its own history, its own assumptions. But it was neutral enough. It allowed the transaction to proceed.
Perhaps this is what we need. Not a perfect solution, but a vessel that is neutral enough.
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