The Butchering of the English Language.

by Low-Key Lysmith 68 Replies latest social current

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  Low-Key Lysmith

  I am disturbed by the recent trend in the media in America that encourages the butchering of our English Language.

  I'm talking about examples of film titles like "She Hate Me", "How She Move", & "Baby Mama". Does it really take that much effort to add an "s" to the end of a word?

  Now, before I am decried as a racist, please note that nowhere in any of my statements have I isolated any particular race. It seems that many AMERICANS are adopting this sort of speech. In my opinion, it makes people sound uneducated & lazy. The worst part is, this type of speech is being encouraged.

  Are other countries that speak English as their official language experiencing the same thing?

  Just curious.
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  mrsjones5

  I think you would like this radio show: A Way with Words http://www.waywordradio.org/

  A Way with Words is a lively hour-long public radio show about the English language. Co-hosts Martha Barnette and Grant Barrett take calls from listeners about linguistic disputes, grammatical pet peeves, the origins of words and phrases, and curious regional expressions.
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  Low-Key Lysmith

  Thanks mrsjones! I'll check that out.

  Am I just being cranky? Or does this bother anyone else?
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  snowbird

  I am a Black American and I cringe when I see commercials where this substandard English usage is glorified. A particularly obnoxious one is Nextel's Where You At?

  What is the purpose of pumping millions of dollars into the educational system if not for proper education?

  Race shouldn't have anything to do with it.

  Sylvia
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  mrsjones5

  You're welcome

  I have my issues too, can't stand ebonics, and for some reason this irks me too - a man says that his wife left him for another woman or a woman says her husband left her for another man. What does that mean? That the man is a closet woman or the woman is a secret man? Should it be said like "My wife left me for a woman" or "my husband left me for a man"? Why include "another". Maybe I'm being petty.
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  Layla33

  The butchering of the English shouldn't be a race issue because all races are guilty of it. There is casual speech and then there is proper english, in casual speech people speak in a variety of ways depending on their background. I have spoken with people from different parts of the country who speak a different slang that I can barely understand. If you go to other countries, there is a slang that is spoken with each other, but when in business dealings and such, they speak the proper language. What happens in this country is that somehow slang becomes supported in media and in other venues and that's why we have these issues. I also blame the education system.
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  Gopher

  This butchering of the language has been a gradual trend over the last few decades.

  The now-retired newsman Edwin Newman wrote two books in the 1970's protesting this trend: "Strictly Speaking: Will America Be the Death of English", and "A Civil Tongue". I loved those books!

  He argued that he wasn't being picky about it, but rather that people should learn to think about how they speak so that everyone will be able to understand each other.

  http://www.amazon.com/Strictly-Speaking-America-Death-English/dp/0672519909/ref=pd_bbs_2?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1209489101&sr=8-2
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  Leolaia

  I can has cheezburger? It has a smell and I are hungry.
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  compound complex

  http://englishplus.com/grammar/00000374.htm

  Standard English

  Standard English, also known as Standard Written English or SWE, is the form of English most widely accepted as being clear and proper.

  Publishers, writers, educators, and others have over the years developed a consensus of what standard English consists of. It includes word choice, word order, punctuation, and spelling.

  Standard English is especially helpful when writing because it maintains a fairly uniform standard of communication which can be understood by all speakers and users of English regardless of differences in dialect, pronunciation, and usage. This is why it is sometimes called Standard Written English.

  There are a few minor differences between standard usage in England and the United States, but these differences do not significantly affect communication in the English language.

  Please note that most dictionaries merely report on words that are used, not on their grammar or usage. Merely because a word appears in a dictionary does not mean that it is standard. For more on this see Is Your Dictionary Descriptive or Prescriptive?

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  5go

  Considering the origins of English ( butchered Saxon-French) I don't really care.