[Ads-l] Twerk the night away

[Z Rice]

In regard to my "scholarship" statement, I am obviously not referring to
Yahoo News as "scholarship". (Though, undoubtedly, in the future, that
article *will* be referenced as evidence of the history of this dance and
the term itself.) I am referring to the individuals and institutions that
they use as references for the definition and history of this cultural
artifact. The article DID attribute the dance to M. Cyrus, and the OED
entry that is on my computer does not provide the definition that you
provided.

Regardless, the OED definition (that you provided) still leaves *much* to
be desired. Again, it removes the terms Black (American) or
African-American (especially) from the narrative. Saying that it is
"generally considered to be West African" in origin - again - removes the
group to whom this dance belongs from the definition and the narrative.
They are not "West African".

The idea that "West African" means "African-American" is already
problematic. Clearly, East Germany is not synonymous with Pennsylvania
Dutch.

On Fri, Jun 26, 2015 at 2:43 AM, Gordon, Matthew J. <GordonMJ at missouri.edu>
wrote:

> ---------------------- Information from the mail header
> -----------------------
> Sender:       American Dialect Society <ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU>
> Poster:       "Gordon, Matthew J." <GordonMJ at MISSOURI.EDU>
> Subject:      Re: Twerk the night away
>
> -------------------------------------------------------------------------------
>
> A Yahoo news article (from AP) is not scholarship. The OED entry for
> "twerk=
> " (in the dance sense) reads:
> "In early use, associated with =91bounce=92, a style of dance-orientated
> hi=
> p-hop originating in New Orleans, although the dance itself is generally
> co=
> nsidered to be of West African origin." Also D.J. Jubilee is credited with
> =
> the first citation of the verb in this sense.
>
> ________________________________________
> From: American Dialect Society [ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU] on behalf of Z
> Rice=
>  [zrice3714 at GMAIL.COM]
> Sent: Thursday, June 25, 2015 6:40 PM
> To: ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU
> Subject: Re: Twerk the night away
>
> Yet again, the population with whom the dance has its origins is completely
> removed from the narrative and the definition. Time and time again, when I
> look up a word that has cultural significance to African-Americans, they
> are no where to be found in the "official" definitions, nor the
> "mainstream" narrative. Years later, they are completely erased from any
> discussion of their own cultural artifacts, and "scholars" spend their time
> debating the origins of the artifact and feigning ignorance as to its
> origins. This is getting old.
>
> The Yahoo "article" itself makes absolutely no mention of the words "black"
> or "african-american". It *does* attribute the *dance* to Miley Cyrus. It
> attributes "the *word* as a description of *a dance*" to New Orleans. This
> is "scholarship"??
>
>
>
> On Thu, Jun 25, 2015 at 2:04 PM, Jonathan Lighter <wuxxmupp2000 at gmail.com>
> wrote:
>
> > ---------------------- Information from the mail header
> > -----------------------
> > Sender:       American Dialect Society <ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU>
> > Poster:       Jonathan Lighter <wuxxmupp2000 at GMAIL.COM>
> > Subject:      Twerk the night away
> >
> >
> -------------------------------------------------------------------------=
> ------
> >
> >
> >
> https://www.yahoo.com/music/s/dictionary-editors-twerking-goes-back-almos=
> t-200-years-230322174.html
> >
> > JL
> >
> > --
> > "If the truth is half as bad as I think it is, you can't handle the
> truth=
> ."
> >
> > ------------------------------------------------------------
> > The American Dialect Society - http://www.americandialect.org
> >
>
> ------------------------------------------------------------
> The American Dialect Society - http://www.americandialect.org=
>
> ------------------------------------------------------------
> The American Dialect Society - http://www.americandialect.org
>

------------------------------------------------------------
The American Dialect Society - http://www.americandialect.org