okay, i already put up something one of my professor's said (about cellphones killin' love)...
now, i have a question about something another one of my professor's said...it's my Speech Phonetics professor...
she says that people are in error when they correct others for saying such terms as "conversate" (instead of "converse") is incorrect...
she says she HATES when people do that, and if you've ever done it, you basically weren't right in what you did....
why? because every word we use, period, had to have been made up at one point or another anyway...and just because a term such as "converse" is the more common and well-known way of expressing that thought AND just because it's in Webster's (lol) doesn't mean it is the only correct way...
she said since language is a system of common symbols of which more than one person agrees or is used to, one could argue that if people wanted to use "conversate" instead of "converse," who's to say they are actually wrong...as long as they all agree upon it's meaning?
she says now "converse" might be more appropriate in certain environments because not everyone agrees on using "conversate"...
she said she'd be more than willing to debate with anyone who disagrees with her about that....
she ALSO said she can't stand when someone says someone doesn't speak "proper English"...she says there is NO SUCH THING AS "PROPER" ENGLISH....there is Standard American English, but again, just because one is not completely grammatically correct doesn't mean he or she does not know how to speak "correctly"....
personally...i feel her on both points and now have a new outlook on both situations....i'll still use "converse" instead of "conversate," but i see how she says either way is technically correct....
how do ya'll feel about her points....?
The way I see it, if you can understand thye words that come out of my mouth and what the subject of my speech is, then there should be no problems with the words I use.
There have always been informal versions of language. This isn't a new thing, nor is it limited to English. In ancient Rome, regular citizens spoke an entirely different dialect of Latin than the upper classes. Why would modern English be any different?
These differences are a part of American culture. What would happen if you went up to your man and said something like...
Good day, Michael. Would you like to go smoke a blunt and listen to my new 50 cent cd?
The big thing is knowing when and where to use textbook English, and when and where you can chill. Holla!
There have always been informal versions of language. This isn't a new thing, nor is it limited to English. In ancient Rome, regular citizens spoke an entirely different dialect of Latin than the upper classes. Why would modern English be any different?
These differences are a part of American culture. What would happen if you went up to your man and said something like...
Good day, Michael. Would you like to go smoke a blunt and listen to my new 50 cent cd?
The big thing is knowing when and where to use textbook English, and when and where you can chill. Holla!
yep, true...
we learned this as being called "code-switching"....how you speak w/ your family might not be how you speak with your professors...how you speak w/ your professors may not be how you speak w/ your friends...how u speak w/ your friends may not be how u speak w/ your boss...etc. etc. etc....
some people don't know how to code-switch, that is just so sad...they're like "YO YO YO" w/ everyone...& the world just doesn't work like that...
