[Ads-l] Twerk the night away

[Z Rice]

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

Or, better yet, Eastern/Western European is not synonymous with Cajun.

On Fri, Jun 26, 2015 at 11:30 AM, Z Rice <zrice3714 at gmail.com> wrote:

> ---------------------- Information from the mail header
> -----------------------
> Sender:       American Dialect Society <ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU>
> Poster:       Z Rice <zrice3714 at GMAIL.COM>
> Subject:      Re: Twerk the night away
>
> -------------------------------------------------------------------------------
>
> 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=
> > ."
> > >
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