The Anglicisms present in modern Russian (and other) languages, by their very presence confirm that with all the wealth of the “great and mighty” in some cases it is not enough. And the matter is not only in the number of phonemes contained in the average phrase. There are nuances that need to be distinguished. In addition, our business vocabulary, due to historical circumstances, pretty behind the times. What is a tender? Why does the meaning of the long expression “trust company” easily fit into the short English “trust”?
The name of the famous Elvis Presley song “Love Me Tender” in the 90's was jokingly translated as “love me, tender”. Four English words, printed on dollar bills "In God We Trust", the Americans themselves interpret, too, not without humor.
God-fearing people
Everyone who knows a little English, or, in extreme cases, armed with a dictionary, can understand the meaning of this phrase. It’s not worth using an electronic “translator”, it can give out something completely unreadable, like “In God, we trust”. The content is, by and large, understandable. It is “assurance of faith” that the phrase “In God We Trust” expresses. The translation of the biblical phrase “We trust in God” is the closest in spirit and linguistically. To believe in English - to believe. “To Trust” means to trust (in other senses, to take care, to patronize), and according to the church, to trust. Printing such a slogan for money was a really good idea. Looking at the earned coins or banknotes, a believing and honest person should feel a sense of satisfaction and calmness, and a criminal or a bribe taker, receiving an unrighteous prey, may feel remorse. If she, of course, he has.
History…
In 1864, a coin was first decorated with this motto. “In God We Trust” is a line from the text of the American anthem of 1814, its appearance on the means of payment was intended to confirm the primacy of Christian values in the domestic and foreign state policy of the young country of the New World. How it was possible to realize this lofty goal, the question is complex and ambiguous, as are the answers to it, but the intention itself certainly deserves respect. For numismatists, the first US metal money is valued highly, some copies are very expensive, sometimes tens of thousands of dollars.
… and modernity
The tradition was continued, although it had opponents. The fact is that in America, apart from believers, there are also atheists who do not want to read the mention of God every day (this annoys them), but they did not listen to their opinion.
The last time a lawsuit on the legality of using the phrase “In God We Trust” as a state attribute was considered by the US Supreme Court in 1977. The decision was made conservative: leave everything as it is.
In 2013, after a long break, a new two-dollar banknote was put into circulation. The issuer was the Bank of Atlanta. In total, nearly 45 million copies were printed. Naturally, the money of the new sample is adorned with the same motto, “In God We Trust”.
