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When I took a week long trip to New York to stay with some family up there, I started to shift my speech to pick up the accent. When I spent time in North Carolina with family, the same thing happened. I watched a weekend long Monty Python marathon once and came away with not only a bit of accent but a lot of particular tempo and pausing in my speech. Mannerisms, I guess. If I read a book where I know that the characters are Irish and the dialog is written with a lot of deliberate "voice" then I might actually pick it up in my mental narration.
And when I was about 12 or so, and was in a school with a strong presence of black students who spoke in their own dialect, and I listened to a lot of music that was very popular at the time by black artists, sure...I imitated it. What one hears gets into one's head and comes out of one's mouth. Especially, I think, with young people.
Which as a survival mechanism for a young human being, a member of one of the most social species on the planet, only makes total sense. If a young human in certain points of history or culture is adopted into a new group, it behooves them to try and fit in and not be rejected, and speaking as the group speaks is a part of that.
It is only as we get older, in America, and we start to think about all of the historical-to-present issues of race here, then we begin to need to incorporate more nuanced thoughts, in how we feel about something like this.
I had a close friend in high school who was a black girl from Haiti and she was incredibly intelligent and spoke meticulous English with a trace of an accent. Her grades and extracurricular accomplishments were INTENSELY impressive. Other black students in that school, many of whom were from lower income families, were brutal to her, often attacking her for "acting white." Perhaps even more than they did the occasional white student who mimicked their dialect and mannerisms.
It isn't for me to tell anybody how to act. But I felt...I don't know. Disappointed, I guess? That she faced social hardship for being who she was in any kind of a way. Well, she would laugh it off and say that since those girls straightened their hair and she did not, they should look in the mirror and think about who is "acting white."
I have no judgment on the subject of the OP. I think that people should hopefully find social groups where they feel respected and where they experience kindness. Regardless of their appearance, wherever and however they find it. And I believe that it's only natural then, for them to adopt any forms of speech common to the group. I do not hear this kind of dialect and make assumptions about the speaker's intelligence or behavior. I try to assume the best about other people unless and until they show me otherwise, regardless.
Twitter quotes, Facebook posts, text messages, various online forums, communications I stumble upon through Google searches. Enough to where it’s not uncommon to see.
AND?
Texts use acronyms and shortened words that make it very convenient , so what! These social platforms are not formal places or work. If it’s not uncommon then it’s become the norm, much to the chagrin of the spelling and grammar police. You think text speak is new, military have been using acronyms and abbreviated words in their communications for years, it’s hardly a new phenomenon.
Texts use acronyms and shortened words that make it very convenient , so what! These social platforms are not formal places or work. If it’s not uncommon then it’s become the norm, much to the chagrin of the spelling and grammar police.
I wasn’t really referring to the occasional word that is shortened…I see multiple sentences — sometimes even paragraphs where people would have to intentionally try to sound a certain way with their grammar and spelling. It comes across as trying to sound “cool” — almost if sounding “correct” isn’t cool and shows you are on board with that learning stuff. This is just my observation and way of trying to understand it. I never see it on City Data, but I guess a forum like this appeals to a different crowd.
I think I get it. It's that "gangsta dialect". I've seen this on Dr. Phil.
If my kids started talking like that all the time, I'd change who they were allowed to hang out with. How do we expect our kids to talk proper English if their peers are idiots.
We have to correct our children. Expose them to higher calibre people.
Even some TV celebrities start talking like "dey in da hood". TV news anchors have terrible grammar, saying act positive instead of act positively, drive safe instead of drive safely.
Black folk say axed instead of asked. What's with that?
I think I get it. It's that "gangsta dialect". I've seen this on Dr. Phil.
If my kids started talking like that all the time, I'd change who they were allowed to hang out with. How do we expect our kids to talk proper English if their peers are idiots.
We have to correct our children. Expose them to higher calibre people.
Even some TV celebrities start talking like "dey in da hood". TV news anchors have terrible grammar, saying act positive instead of act positively, drive safe instead of drive safely.
Black folk say axed instead of asked. What's with that?
You need to read the whole thread, honey. Your assertion that high-caliber people only speak proper English will be disabused.
And your "ask" about "axe" will be answered in ways that might surprise you.
I think I get it. It's that "gangsta dialect". I've seen this on Dr. Phil.
If my kids started talking like that all the time, I'd change who they were allowed to hang out with. How do we expect our kids to talk proper English if their peers are idiots.
We have to correct our children. Expose them to higher calibre people.
Even some TV celebrities start talking like "dey in da hood". TV news anchors have terrible grammar, saying act positive instead of act positively, drive safe instead of drive safely.
Black folk say axed instead of asked. What's with that?
Being gangsta was the cat’s meow for a lot of people during my time growing up. Gangsta rap was peaking. Some kept part of the image/act they adopted as teens and I see some are just more playfully “gangsta” at this point. LOL.
(Sigh). But you keep coming back, don't you. Again...trying to shut someone else down cause you don't like what they're saying.
Quote:
Originally Posted by zentropa
It's worse than that. Veiled threats about summoning moderators in order to control the debate. I'm out.
Agree to disagree and let’s move on.
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