[lg policy] More on 'Ghetto Grammar'

[Ann Anderson Evans]

I'm not British, so I'm making some assumptions here, but it seems to me
that the very thing that these young people want to do is to overthrow a
corrupt and worn out system.  Why wouldn't their rebellion extend to their
language use?  Language sleeps nightly with politics, and this is one of
their children.  Reacting to crises like wars or political breakdowns is one
of the ways in which language changes quickly, though it usually changes
gradually.

They have a point -- the young rioters' lives have been degraded by a
powerful cadre of people who have ignored their needs and wishes and become
rich beyond our imagination in doing so.  Why would they want to talk like
them?  Maybe we should applaud their language -- it is one way to revolting
without destruction, while at the same time annoying the heck out of the
people they want to overthrow.

Ann

On Sun, Aug 21, 2011 at 9:26 PM, Gareth Price <gareth.price at duke.edu> wrote:

> The real-life dulcet tones of Lyndsay John from the London Evening
> Standard (of 'Ghetto Grammar' fame) can be heard in this audio
> interview with the BBC, along with one of his mentees (I won't get
> into his use of that word here).
>
> Favourite Freudian slip (3:40): 'I always  try and teach the young
> people I work with: Weapons! ... er ... words are the best weapons in
> the arsenal of life"
>
> The link is here:
> http://news.bbc.co.uk/today/hi/today/newsid_9568000/9568228.stm
>
>
> --
> Dr. Gareth Price
> Visiting Assistant Professor
> Department of Slavic and Eurasian Studies
> 316 Languages Building, Box 90259
> Duke University
> Durham, NC 27708-0259
> USA
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-- 
*Ann Anderson Evans*
*Writer and Adjunct Professor, Montclair State University*
*(201) 792-6892 or (973) 495-0338
*
*www.linguisticsintheclassroom.com*
*www.annandersonevans.com*
The Abortion Wars:  Is a Truce Possible?
on Kindle ebooks.
*
*
*
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