It was only a matter of time for a bilingual blog like mine to pick up a myth shrouded in legend like the one we’re looking at today. Here’s the thing: According to stories that a lot of German teachers tell their students, German lost out to English in a vote on the official language of the United States in the 1776. Time for the myth-busting Philipp to check whether German really nearly made it as the official US language.

Is it true that we could have had the term VSA (V for vereinigt) instead of USA (U for united) on today’s maps?

So, before we look at the background story of this myth circulating among people familiar with skills in both languages, I have to ask you. Have you ever heard of an allegedly official vote on this official language and do you buy that story that might be a blend of historical facts?

My last question kind of hints the answer. The myth of course is a really good myth (a true core does that to myths), however, it is not true that there ever was a vote on the official language of the United States that had German miss the privileged language title of English by just one vote. Being precise (as we always are, cuz that’s how we roll here) I have to mention that there is no such thing as an official language in the country of the unlimited opportunities* also known as the US of A.

1795 - There was a vote on language matters indeed.

Admittedly, there seems to be an item in the US history that has been fueling this myth’s survival for years. In 1795 (that frequently is changed to the momentous year of 1776 for credibility reasons, I think) there was a vote on language matters indeed in the state of Virgnia, but this vote was only dealing with the question whether or not to translate laws and official documents into the German language, but was refused since a faster integration in a united America (one language, one nation) was guaranteed by offering services in only one single language. Assimilation, that is. English flyers and leaflets were distributed for free for example, so the German population asked for this service in German too.

In fact this vote took place in Virginia unlike common believes that speak of Pennsylvania where a third of its population consisted of German immigrants. This is one of the reasons why the myth lives on since this very state is known for its high percentage of German Neuweltlers (new worlders).

Let’s blame it on the Nazis?

Historians today blame the Nazi-influenced German American Bund to be responsible for the attempt of pushing up and polishing the importance of the German language in history. Apparently they succeded in spreading the rumours and myth for a long time: Now it would be interesting if this kind of myth already existed long before the Nazis were around. Is that just another “yeah, let’s blame it on the Nazis”? Well, I don’t know, but it sounds reasonable to me, but, you never know unless you ask people who lived before 1930ish.

Plus, here a fact that makes this whole myth look like a fairy tale grannies tell you before going to bed: The percentage of German immigrants never exceeded 10% of the US population.

Want to read more details on this myth about English or German and German immigrants, please read through “The German Americans - English or German?” pages.

I hope you enjoyed busting this myth. Wouldn’t it be a great to pick up language myth and discuss them?

* This is slightly off-topic, but since we cover the connection of the English and German language in today’s blog entry, I am unable to refrain from commenting on this frequently used phrase “unlimited opportunities” in context with the US. Mockingly a lot of people (mostly from Europe, I wonder why, haha) say limited impossibilities (1) instead of unlimited opportunites (2): Das Land der begrenzten Möglichkeiten (1) vs. Das Land der begrenzten Unmöglichkeiten (2). This rephrasing is called anti-proverb in linguistics, FYI.