atw: Re: Youse
- From: Peter Martin <peterm_5@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx>
- To: <austechwriter@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>, <austechwriter@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
- Date: Tue, 2 Feb 2010 16:59:48 +1100
Rebecca Caldwell wrote:
> By the way, I wasn?t trying to
> discriminate or elevate the more articulate speakers over those who are not,
> just an
> observation on my part.
>
Sorry, Rebecca, but it did come out that way. It's a bit circular, isn't it ?
Aren't "well spoken" ones ones that would never say "youse"? So they're
"more articulate" ? (Speak better) Ergo when they don't say "youse" they
must be right.
Cause and effect ? This is more or less the same reason given by Norman
rulers of England after 1066 in laying down rules about why people shouldn't
use Anglo Saxon words. It's why we are "supposed" not to say "got" when it can
be a perfectly good word. It's why we're supposed to use such silly terms as
"coition" and all those other Latinate euphemisms for sex and all kinds of
other functions ("micuration" ? heaven help us!) instead of precise 4 letter
words that mean exactly the same thing, but take about 4 syllables less to say
it. We (and our teachers) were conned into believing that Latinate and
French terms were good, Anglo-Saxon ones (and pigs?) bad. Long words "sound
nicer"?
Try to outlive all that. If you're writing for people who say "youse", maybe
we should think about using "youse"?
-PeterM
peterm_5@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx
I like a man who grins when he fights. - Winston Churchill
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