assimilator

1. Physiology
a. To consume and incorporate (nutrients) into the body after digestion.
b. To transform (food) into living tissue by the process of anabolism; metabolize constructively.
2. To incorporate and absorb into the mind: assimilate knowledge.
3. To make similar; cause to resemble.
4. Linguistics To alter (a sound) by assimilation.
5. To absorb (immigrants or a culturally distinct group) into the prevailing culture.




I am an assimilator. If I find myself in a flock of chickens, before long I will be hunting and pecking with the best of 'em. I think this is just a natural response to being in a new environment, but others may see it differently. Some people behave with determined intransigence. You know: I am a duck, and I am going to continue to be a duck, no matter that I am surrounded by chickens. I am going to quack and I am going to look for underwater plants to eat.

Let's dig a into a few concrete examples. Driving on the left. Now that's one you better conform to, or you will be one dead duck. It's also one that no one has a problem with, as it is the rule of law. No one is going to say to you, why are you driving on the left, when that is not your custom? And you are not likely to ask that question of yourself either.

Then there are what I might call "useful" shifts – for example choice of language in situations to better convey meaning. These days I might say, "I am going to put some petrol in the car." Or I could ask, "Is there a petrol station nearby?" This is new talk. Chicken talk. Nor is it precisely necessary. If I ask for a gas station, I think people will get it. Nonetheless, everyone else asks for petrol, so I feel that I should as well. There may also be a cultural function to this, when I think about it. Nobody here has natural gas piped to their homes. Many Kiwi households use bottled gas to run the outdoor barbie. Others use bottled gas for heating. So you take your bottle in for refueling, and – possibly, I am not even sure about this – saying "gas" could be confused with this act, as opposed to "petrol" which is going in the car.

A lesser example of this is the common eyebrow-raiser for North American travelers – saying tomato sauce instead of ketchup. "Tomato sauce" definitely has higher recognition value, but neither are you in much danger of being misunderstood. You can ask for ketchup in a restaurant, and you will get it. There may be a slow blink as your listener makes the translation and - once you've seen that blink enough times - you may decide to save them the trouble. You make the translation for them, before you open your mouth.

At least some folks do. Others I am finding decide they will go to their graves saying ketchup. The word ketchup as cultural talisman? Which brings us back to the original question, who makes that change and who doesn't, and what does it say about you, if anything? There is no law compelling you to say tomato sauce, and there is no clear societal function to doing so.

What would you say?