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Language and Personality

And Personality A friend of mine[0] told me of the time he had one of his cars[1] in the workshop and the mechanic dropped a spanner. It bounced off the fender, clattering to the floor, and the mechanic quickly picked it up, gave the fender a wipe, and said (in German): "No harm done." Victor drew himself up to his not inconsiderable height (six foot two?) and said (in German): "That is not for you to say!" Then he thought to himself ...

A friend of mine[0] told me of the time he had one of his cars[1] in the workshop and the mechanic dropped a spanner. Next he found some self-identified bi-lingual English/German speakers, and asked each whether they considered English or German as their primary language. Victor found that about half his subjects showed a clear and measureable shift in personality when changing language, and I find that fascinating.

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