Another Historical Inaccuracy

Clive James, Anglo-Australian bien-pensant and man about town, committed an error in the Times Literary Supplement of April 4, 2003 that I have often heard over on this side of the pond. He mentioned in passing, I guess to show off his erudition, that "When the Founding Fathers were addressing the question of a national language, German and Hebrew were both considered."

All together now: This Ain't True. Why this is such a popular myth over here is, to be sure, slightly more interesting. But let's just settle on all realizing that it never happened.

Ah, you doubt me? Be so good as to consult Willi Adams, The German-Americans: An Ethnic Experience (Indianapolis, 1993), especially Chapter VII, "German or English?".