Defending the language with bullets: If you can read this in English, thank a soldier

[Marc Velasco]

Should I thank the revolutionary soldiers who defended us against the
tyrannical forces of British English, or the bluecoats who defended us
against the excessive use of "y'all" and "ma'am" found in the Southern
dialect?



On Fri, Aug 1, 2008 at 12:19 AM, Dennis Baron <debaron at illinois.edu> wrote:

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> Sender:       American Dialect Society <ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU>
> Poster:       Dennis Baron <debaron at ILLINOIS.EDU>
> Subject:      Defending the language with bullets: If you can read this in
>              English, thank a soldier
>
> -------------------------------------------------------------------------------
>
> There's a new post on the Web of Language:
>
> Defending the language with bullets: If you can read this in English, =20=
>
> thank a soldier
>
> The bumper sticker on the back of a construction worker=92s pickup truck =
> =20
> caught my eye: =93If you can read this, thank a teacher . . . .=94
>
> This homage to education wasn=92t what I expected from someone whose =20
> bitterness typically manifests itself in vehicle art celebrating guns =20=
>
> and religion, but there was more: =93If you can read this in English, =20=
>
> thank a soldier.=94
>
> And there it was: a =93support our troops=94 bumper sticker that takes =20=
>
> language and literacy out of the classroom and puts them squarely in =20
> the hands of the military.
>
> It=92s one thing to say that we owe our national security and the =20
> survival of the free world to military might. It=92s something else =20
> again to be told that we need soldiers to protect the English language
>
> But according to this bumper sticker, any chink in our armor, any =20
> relaxation of our constant vigilance, any momentary lowering of the =20
> gun barrel, and we=92ll all be speaking Russian, Iraqi, or even Mexican.
>
> ..
>
> find out what else is wrong with the suggestion, read the whole post =20
> on the Web of Language
> ____________________
> Dennis Baron
> Professor of English and Linguistics
> Department of English
> University of Illinois
> 608 S. Wright St.
> Urbana, IL 61801
>
> office: 217-244-0568
> fax: 217-333-4321
>
> http://illinois.edu/goto/debaron
>
> read the Web of Language:
> http://illinois.edu/goto/weboflanguage
>
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