LL-L "Idiomatica" 2008.01.07 (04) [E]

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L O W L A N D S - L  -  06 January 2008 - Volume 04
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From: Elsie Zinsser <ezinsser at icon.co.za>
Subject: LL-L " ? "

Hi all,

I've heard the 'hey, yo, whassup' in the US but am perturbed to read on the
SABC TV announcements the supposedly catchy line "Msanzi fo sho" (South for
sure) and in a country where English on TV is the prime introduction of
English as a second or third language to a multitude of poorly skilled
English speakers.

Is this kind of shoddy language usage happening elsewhere in public
broadcasting?
Elsie Zinsser

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From: R. F. Hahn <sassisch at yahoo.com>
Subject: Idiomatica

Elsie,

Of course, as you know, "public broadcasting" is a rare and endangered
animal here in the US, and it is considered relatively "high-brow." Most
broadcasting is in the hand of private enterprise. So let's talk about that.

"What's up" and "Whazzup" as greetings are now commonly heard in casual
broadcasting, though rarely coming from the hosts or moderators, more from
"cool" guest, typically younger males, thus "cool dudes." You'll hear it
more the more "cool"-male-oriented a program is, typically in contexts of
sports and the like. It's a show of "cool" masculinity. "What's up, man,"
"Whazzup, dude," etc. are becoming very common place in casual contexts. Men
don't address women that way, of course, but they will use "What's up" and
"Whazzup" then, which simply means anything like "Hi!", "Hello!", "How do
you do?", "Nice to meet you," etc. You'll hear "What's going on(, dude)?"
also. Mind you: none of these are questions to be answered. And mind you
also: these are displays of masculinity and "cooldudeness" (or is it
"coolduditude"?), would sound strange coming from females and mostly also
coming from older, more "distinguished" males.

I do occasionally say "Whazzup" to guys that talk that way and perceive it
as friendly, as opposed to "How are you?" or "How're things?" which sound
distant. I don't use "dude," rarely "man." Coming from me, people might
perceive it as forced, condescending and the like.  You'll definitely hear
"man" from older men, also from some women, especially from less mainstream
people, stereotypically from "matured hippies": "What's happenin', man?",
"Far out, man!", "Right on, man!" etc. I've even heard people address women
that way, showing that this "man" is not to be taken literally or just means
"human." This "What's happenin'(, man)?" is simply the older equivalent of
today's "Whazzup up(, dude)?" and "What's going on(, dude)?" -- again not
questions but greetings. I've even heard people address women with tagged
"man," showing that this "man" is not to be taken literally.

In some section of society "dude" seems to be taking over from "guy" in the
sense of "man" (e.g. "They paired me up with a dude," "He's into dudes").
Once considered demeaning, "chick" for "young woman" seems to have made a
come-back and is now normal in such modes of speech. So you have "chicks and
dudes." "Girl" for the same, however, is still considered demeaning and very
old-fashioned. "Gal" for any woman is very old-fashioned, too, but it's
considered acceptable if used by women, rarely being used by younger women.

"Bro" and "bra" or even the full "brother" seem to be on the increase,
having gone way beyond Hawaiian and African American varieties. I only
occasionally use them "for effect," to make a point, to surprise, and then I
might also use "sister," for instance in "I hear you, brother/sister," which
suggests closeness and signals shared experience or opinion. Or you could
use it to soften expressions (e.g., "Cool it, brother!"). You have to be
careful with this one, though, especially if you are not African American
and address African Americans, when it may take a wrong turn, because
"brother" can be used as meaning "African American male," and "sister" may
mean "African American female" in "Black" talk that has been partly adopted
by others (e.g., "She's going out with a brother"). Things can be touchy
that way, easily derail and come across as patronizing, ridiculing or
otherwise inappropriate. Our Arthur often addresses me with "brother," and
that is perfectly fine and safe, and, yes, friendly.

Non-verbal greetings, too, have been adopted from African American culture,
especially certain kinds of more or less elaborate handshakes among younger
men, again displays of masculinity. Probably related to this is what I call
the "new hug" between males: a touching or bumping of right shoulders. This
seems to be spreading to not so young men.  And, no, women are not involved
in this.

Another, probably African-American-derived, custom is for men to call each
other "babe" or even "baby" once in a while -- when the context is "safe,"
of course.

Not so long ago, most people considered all of the above vulgar (even
"gang-related"), often offensive, and not fit for the media. This has
changed.

On TV you hear and see them particularly at stations such as MTV and (the
sports channel) ESPN, anywhere where youthful "coolness" and masculinity
displays are considered in order. Occasionally I've even heard the not very
new greeting "How's it hangin'(, man/dude/bro)?" This is strictly among men,
of course, and may be on a par with Dutch "De ballen." However, apparently
nowadays it's by many not considered vulgar enough that they can't say it
when women are present or to say it in certain media interactions.

I heard these speech modes used in Evangelist Christian TV broadcasts aimed
at appealing to younger people (complete with ministers dressed up as "cool
dudes").

Remember: all of the above is within the contexts of the United States of
America.

In other words, standards are changing, and vulgarity gets washed out of
expression. I'm pretty sure that for instance "guy," "Bye!" and "Hi!" were
once considered vulgar and offensive.

Regards,
Reinhard/Ron

•

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