Nope, never seen it before now. It does seem to be a variant on the "If [x] hadn't done [y], you/we/they would all be speaking [z] by now." motif, which I have heard fairly often in different contexts.
I sometimes wonder what we'd have ended up speaking if Drake hadn't defeated the Spanish Armada, Nelson hadn't triumphed at Trafalgar (one might add Wellington winning at Waterloo to that as well, if only because it alliterates well), and if the Germans had won either of the World Wars.
I further wonder whether it would be at least as accurate to suggest that if Harold had beaten William in 1066, we might actually be speaking English right now, rather than the bizarre Franco-Norman/Saxon hybrid that we have evolved since then!
Not only that, but if the Islamic advance into Spain hadn't been checked, and arguably middle-eastern expansionism diverted by the Crusades and the Mongol Invasion, maybe we'd all be speaking Arabic. Unless the Roman Empire had hung on, in which case it'd be Latin of course... unless Hannibal had won the Second Punic War... then we'd (Heaven forfend!) be speaking Welsh!!!
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I sometimes wonder what we'd have ended up speaking if Drake hadn't defeated the Spanish Armada, Nelson hadn't triumphed at Trafalgar (one might add Wellington winning at Waterloo to that as well, if only because it alliterates well), and if the Germans had won either of the World Wars.
I further wonder whether it would be at least as accurate to suggest that if Harold had beaten William in 1066, we might actually be speaking English right now, rather than the bizarre Franco-Norman/Saxon hybrid that we have evolved since then!
Not only that, but if the Islamic advance into Spain hadn't been checked, and arguably middle-eastern expansionism diverted by the Crusades and the Mongol Invasion, maybe we'd all be speaking Arabic. Unless the Roman Empire had hung on, in which case it'd be Latin of course... unless Hannibal had won the Second Punic War... then we'd (Heaven forfend!) be speaking Welsh!!!