Ax or Ask: One Teacher's Highly Controversial Mission (millionaire, high school, million)
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Pronouncing "ask" as "axe" was a characteristic of an old form of cockney dialect (according to Peter Ackroyd's "London: The Biography") and African-Americans in the slavery era would have picked that up from whites who spoke that dialect. That pronunciation would disappear in England in about 1800 but managed to survive in the US.
Sometimes when I talk to Americans of any color it sounds to me as if most of them said 'exetera' instead of 'etsetera' for etc.
Gee, I wonder if it will be a controversial Mission to get people to quit saying "warsh" instead of "wash"......somehow I don't think so...
If saying 'warsh' instead of 'wash' was a common feature of either whites, browns, blacks, men, women, young and old, it would be interesting to discuss.
This Mcclendon guy takes a lot of heat for arguing that blacks should say 'ask' instead of 'ax.' If you take the time to examine English, teaching journals, you'll see ax vs. ask is somewhat controversial.
Not a gigantic issue compared, to war, the economy, child abuse, etc., but it's worth learning about to some of us.
If saying 'warsh' instead of 'wash' was a common feature of either whites, browns, blacks, men, women, young and old, it would be interesting to discuss.
This Mcclendon guy takes a lot of heat for arguing that blacks should say 'ask' instead of 'ax.' If you take the time to examine English, teaching journals, you'll see ax vs. ask is somewhat controversial.
Not a gigantic issue compared, to war, the economy, child abuse, etc., but it's worth learning about to some of us.
I agree--at the end of the day, not a big deal.
Unfortunately, it's a big deal to the people who don't hire folks because they say ax instead of ask.
The whole point of this thread, as it is with the numerous anti-Black threads that are generated daily, is for non-Blacks (specifically some Whites) to assert their self-appointed "superiority" over Black Americans.
Sooo, the black dude in the YouTube video, what do you have to say about him?
Sooo, the black dude in the YouTube video, what do you have to say about him?
I have no problem with the Black man in the video. It is obvious that his intentions are benevolent. It is the usual chorus of anti-Black posters with whom I have pointed out as the problem.
The real issue is that the main people posting in this thread (as with all of the Black bash threads) don't give a damn about whether or not Black people who speak AAVE are able to correct specific phonological errors or if they are able properly code switch. They see an anti-Black thread and pop on in to add their bigoted viewpoint to the discussion, nothing more.
If saying 'warsh' instead of 'wash' was a common feature of either whites, browns, blacks, men, women, young and old, it would be interesting to discuss.
This Mcclendon guy takes a lot of heat for arguing that blacks should say 'ask' instead of 'ax.' If you take the time to examine English, teaching journals, you'll see ax vs. ask is somewhat controversial.
Not a gigantic issue compared, to war, the economy, child abuse, etc., but it's worth learning about to some of us.
That's interesting...but I see you're new. ..probably haven't seen the "history" of this forum and all the "Blacks do this.." Blacks do that.." threads...all started by arrogant posters who seem to think ONLY black people have faults or cause problems. It's a form of racism...very insidious......trying to make it look like a intellectual discussion is baloney...
Why do so many people fixate on the sociocultural dialect differences for African Americans yet ignore them with other groups?
If you are saying "ax" rather than "ask," it doesn't make any difference whether you're black, white, or green with purple stripes. You're either ignorant or lazy--it's possible to be both, I guess--and you need to be corrected.
I've got a bunch of co-workers who believe the holiday that falls on February 14 is called Valentime's Day. And who would've imagined--they think I'm crazy when I correct them. (The word "February," of course, is an entire issue unto itself.)
If you are saying "ax" rather than "ask," it doesn't make any difference whether you're black, white, or green with purple stripes. You're either ignorant or lazy--it's possible to be both, I guess--and you need to be corrected.
I've got a bunch of co-workers who believe the holiday that falls on February 14 is called Valentime's Day. And who would've imagined--they think I'm crazy when I correct them. (The word "February," of course, is an entire issue unto itself.)
That's not a matter of laziness because both "ax" and "Valentime" are just as hard to articulate on the tongue as "ask" and "Valentine". It's just a matter of variation in pronunciation.
The stigma behind nonstandard dialects runs so deep, people can't even see their own bias.
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