Language is slipping :(
 

Sadly I have noticed that the English language is starting to become obsolete in the wake of ebonics (black people who are too damn lazy to speak right) and slang terms and shortened words (See Kyeruu' posts for this example). This frightens me a lot because I don't want to type like kyeruu or ailis and I don't want to speak like some dumbass who lives in the poor part of a big city.

Somebody please save humanity...PLEASE!

In all seriousness though we need to take action against this I don't want the Gideon incident again...

In before MJ.

But I've never had a problem with how people speak. Each person has their own way of typing though.

We should do like the French and make laws to regulate what words can be used in music and TV, and websites hosted in our country, and . . . yeah right.

Well language like Kyeruu's is only on the net really, people just don't talk like that in the real world, for the most part.

As for ebonics, like Grav said, most black people (and some white people) are quite capable at speaking normal english but chose not too. They have that freedom in America.

EDIT: Just an added note, I'm more worried about hispanics myself. More and more come here every day, and more and more Americans are forced to learn spanish so businesses can get that consumer base. Before long, everyone in America will speak spanish because it will be majority hispanic(if it isn't already, I don't know the numbers all that well.)

I haven't the foggiest what this "Gideon Incident" is... but I can say that Chavs can't speak for toffee. It's all:

"Like, in'nit, well 'aaard, y'know, fuckin', yeeeahhhh"

And they actaully write in text speak. You need a dictionary to read one of their essays.

Exactly. I've had a number of people come into the store speaking only Spanish and I only tell them I don't speak Spanish.

Yes I hate the fact that we have to learn another countries language even though WE aren't the ones moving, they are thus they should our language.

BTW half of the words you normally use today are french words due to the fact that the normans took over england and forced people to use french.

Examples: William is really a Norman(French) word. Hatchet is a french word. I could go on but since about 60% of our language is a type of french it would take too long.

They didn't "force" people to use French.

After William the Conqueror became King the language used in official things such as court proceedings was French. The rest of the English spoke English.


Not really half. English has over a million words (compared to a few ten-thousand words such as French and German) - the majority of them taken from other languages, not just French.

The original Celts had their own language (probably Gaelic, as Scotland and Wales - where they were forced by the Romans - traditionally speak Gaelic).

Then the Romans swaggered over, and had everything official done in Latin.

Then the Saxons came over, and the Vikings after them. Words such as "cunt" are Germanic words brought over by the Saxons and the Vikings. Many English town and city names are derived from the original Roman, Saxon or Viking names.

The Normans came next, and they brought over French.

Over about 2000-and-a-bit years, English has evolved and grown. Modern day English has words from Latin, the Romantic Languages (such as French) and many from the Germanic languages (like German).

Yeah, uhm, I want to be an English major when I go to college, so I'm quite aware of the evolution of English. I can even read Old English.

Yay! You can tell me what I got wrong in my little summary, then. :p

And here's a question that I've never known the answer to:

Why was an f used in words istead of double s or an s at the start of the word in the 16th/17th/18th Century?

I am quite aware of the devolution of English.

I only know a basic outline of the history of English. But I saw nothing wrong with your summary, going off my knowledge of English.

And I too have often wondered about their use of the f instead of double s or simply s.

Ah well... looks like it shall be an answer lost in the annals of time.

I'll tell ya what: when I learn why they did that, I will tell you.

:) Yay!

You do that KG, you do that.

The reason for that is business.

Say there's a company whose consumer base is 30% hispanic. They need employees who speak both english and spanish or else they lose 30% of their business. This business is not going to force their customers to learn english, they're going to force their employees to learn spanish.

Now that just sucks but I am not talking about companies specifically I am talking about Immigration laws, they need one that makes you learn English.

That's unconstitutional. You can't force someone to learn your language just because they want to live here.

I'm just as much against it at anyone else, but it's a fact that we can't do anything about.

It'd be much more efficient to employ one translator per small store (2 if there's a night shift), or 3 per giant store.

Rather than force all your employees to learn a whole language, or go on courses to learn said languages.

How is it unconstitutional to someone who isn't an american yet KA? That made little sense once again I am going to have to ask you to study something before you make claims. It is people like you who destroy would be great countries...with your half assed political expressions.

The Contitution only applies to citizens of the USA, not to wannabe citizens who can't speak anything but their home language and what I am proposing is that they not just make them know it but try to teach it to them.

Hey Lenny say the American flag stands for death destruction hate and corruption and watch as no one can have you tried for treason...OMFG is it because he isn't American? Is it because the Constitution doesn't apply to him? OMFG I swear...everyone should know this after middle school.

To be perfectly honest, I couldn't care less if the American flag stood for a bit of nooky on the side every Thursday night.

You can't be tried for treason if you are not a member of the country. In which case they try you instead for terrorism and lock you up for years without really bringing charges against you.

And that's the way the 'civilised world' works.

I mangle the English language for fun sometimes...

Last night I yelled EL OH EL! when I found something funny. The people around me started laughing because they knew I spend too much time online.

I usaully yell 'w00t' or 'o noes!' depending on the situation.

And if being cornered and in deep shit, I sometimes scream, 'WTF, 1337 HaXorZ!!!'

And yet I can still speak proper English when need be.

On IM I can see where people, including myself, abbreviate words for the sheer reason they are a mediocre typist, and they want to get their little shout in before the 9 or so people in the chat room go yelling 'MOOOOOSE' and your reply to the above subject is forgotten.

thx

You have a problem with colloquialism? My suggestion is to leave the planet because that is the only way to avoid it. Ebonics is just as valid as any other dialect. It has a wide following of people who do understand it. If you can not, then that is your problem, not anyone elses. People who use ebonics are not incomprehensible to most people.

Alternatively, you can force everyone to learn lojban.

That's definitely debatable.

I like the way you do that right thurr right thurr

I bet that song must've cheesed you off. :haha:

The only reason people talk like that mj is because they want to be different and the desire to be different or to be the same is ultimatly what causes most of the worlds problems.

Throwing aside your politically biased views you really need to ask your self why should the law of this land apply to people in other lands? That is THE most pig-headed thing I have ever heard an American say and believe me you guys are bad when it comes to being Imperialistic, yet at the same time you can spout out an incredibly humanitarian view in the same post. If you ask me your a rather strange subject mj I can't pinpoint your views exactly but don't you fret I'm still going to study you :)

@ NonGayMan. I haven't heard of it samples?

Why is it called Ebonics anyways? I hear more white people talk like that than black people if anything I would say its Leblanconics or Wiessonics. In fact most black people I know hate that dialect. Mj the biggest reason I hate it is not because you sound like an idiot when you speak but because it is completely possible for an extremist group like the KKK or even some Neo Nazi group to make a dialect for white people, which would only create an even bigger gap between people than there already is. The worst part is that IF it gets that bad we might just have some kind of race wars and it won't end there because then white people would use the excuse of not understanding black people in court to get off of all the lynching charges...

I strongly disagree. If you ever met me in person, it is highly likely that I would talk in what is labeled "ebonics." This, for me, is not a conscious decision. I speak in that dialect because that is what I have grown up around. This is not because my parents speak in ebonics, they are probably two of the most eloquent speakers you will ever meet, however in the neighborhood I grew up in the use of ebonics is pervasive.

Yes, I have the ability to speak proper English, but in a natural, comfortable setting what comes out is "black" speak. This has nothing to do with the desire to be different. In fact, if I wanted to be different, I would talk the way I do on the forums in real life. You could argue that it has to do with the desire to be the same, but I disagree. The term desire implies a conscious decision. As far as I'm concerned, the accent and slang that I use is mostly a subconscious decision.

Perhaps I misunderstood your earlier post. I was under the impression that you were talking about permanent residents of the United States rather than people who are living elsewhere. KA seems to have been talking about immigrants, who do have certain rights in the United States, citizen or not.

You must not know the black folks I know. ;)

Dialects aren't usually politically motivated. They generally aren't created either, they evolve naturally. I would say that there is a white (and by white, I mean country) dialect, especially if one comes down to Texas. In my opinion, the folks who use the redneck dialect sound just as ridiculous as those who use ebonics. In fact, the English language has so many rules and is so ambiguous in places that I wonder if it is possible for anyone at all to know and speak 100% proper English. Once again, if you want to ameliorate ambiguity in the way people speak, I reccomend forcing everyone to learn Lojban.

The United States cannot force someone to learn english just to come to the US. Prove to me that they can and I'll believe you, until then you're full of shit.

It's not even something I'm going to debate with you, if you seriously think that we can force people to learn to speak english then there's no point in arguing with you.

Also, I don't believe USA has an official language.

We don't.

^_^

I've always wanted to use that one, but never have.