[lit-ideas] Re: Pirots refudiate elatically
- From: Mike Geary <jejunejesuit.geary2@xxxxxxxxx>
- To: lit-ideas@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
- Date: Mon, 2 Aug 2010 00:29:47 -0500
Ah ha! One of my favorite topics: The Language Police. Of course, you, JL,
being an Anglophile, probably don't share my contempt for proper grammar and
pronunciation and haute-couture accent. No doubt you were well pleased to
hear Eliza Doolittle conquer her Cockney culture and speak the King's
English as properly as 'enry 'iggins could. Me? The play, the movie
infuriate me. But then I'm an American Alfred Doolittle. I do like him
with his faith in a little bit of luck. God intended that I be born into a
very wealthy family, I'm sure. I probably was, but knowing my luck, I'm
convinced the hospital screwed up and I got put into the wrong nursery
crib. There was a wonderful French movie in the 70's, I think, wherein two
male children are born in a small town on the same day and the nurse, for
reasons that I can't recall, purposefully swapped the children. One was of
a Gypsy family, the other from aristocratic stock. Many years later, when
the boys were in their adolescence, the truth became known and all hell
broke loose when each family tried to reclaim and welcome their true child.
The value systems just didn't fit the new circumstances. It was very
funny. I, of course, thought that the Gypsy raised kid was best. Does this
movie ring a bell with anyone?
A few years back there was that much ado about nothing called Ebonics. It
was an attempt to present the African American speech patterns as just
another dialect in hopes that white people would not use black speech
patterns as stigmas of ignorance. But, of course, accent, dialect, even
entire languages have always been markers of class superiority and
inferiority. Ironically, Southern whites generally have no idea how
ignorant they (we) sound and thus come-off to most English language
speakers. Now approaching my twilight years, I don't give a fuck anymore,
but I do still hate snobbery. Especially language snobbery. However, I
don't mind ridiculing Sarah Palin's misuse of language.
Mike Geary
Memphis
On Sun, Aug 1, 2010 at 11:00 PM, <Jlsperanza@xxxxxxx> wrote:
> Muslims should refudiate that mosque.
>
> One of the neat things about English is that it has evolved over time and
> has no governing body. Unlike France, which has some sort of commission to
> rule on what's proper French and what's not, the English language simply
> evolves. People make up new words every day.
>
> If Sarah Palin says "refudiate" is a word, then it's a word.
>
> Not that I'm a supporter or Palin.
>
> Speranza, Bordighera
> -
>
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