wide array of death euphemisms

[Mark A. Mandel]

Grant Barrett scripsit:
>>>>>
  I'm a believer in one-pass email composition. It's faster and the
content is usually the same, despite typos. Also, the original email
we're talking about seems very readable by comparison, if you've ever
spent any time puzzling out the meanings of a 13-year-old writing in
Singlish. Even worse when they're also using Internet chat acronyms and
hip-hop slang.
  <<<<<

Singlish (Singapore English) is absolutely no basis for comparison. Its
speakers are not native speakers of English, any dialect. Singlish is
heavily influenced by their L1s in its phonology, its lexicon, and its
syntax. In 1998 at Dragon Systems we collected nearly 40 hours of Singapore
English. It was in all respects an eye-opener (ear-opener?). "Things could
always be worse" is no excuse.

This person is evidently a native speaker of English. She replied to me last
night:

#Subject: Re: wide array of death euphemisms
#i dont even care to respond to your message mandel get asense of humor

and a few minutes later added

#Subject: ee cummings
#one of the greatest american poets never used perscriptive grammar !!!!

(Both messages, of course, are quoted exactly as received.)

I replied to her off list, making some of the points that I have
subsequently seen others make in the digest that I have just been reading.

-- Mark A. Mandel
[This text prepared with Dragon NaturallySpeaking.]