From: Brad Shur <mr_utamaro-AT-hotmail.com>
To: <puptcrit-AT-puptcrit.org>
Date: Thu, 18 Mar 2010 14:53:36 -0400
Subject: Re: [Puptcrit] the changing tides of language



I'm going to speak out in favor of a changing language... to a point.

Widespread use of "proper" English was a historical flash in the pan. In Shakespeare's day, the intelligentsia took great pride in having a great number of ways to spell a given word. A lot of the rules and spellings we now use were only introduced by Webster less than 200 years ago.

Even now, "Ebonics" as an example, is actually just as codified and rule based as "proper English". It can even convey many subtle ideas more succinctly then "proper English". The same can even be said for the creeping menace of text-speak. For instance, I can convey in a single short acronym "tl;dr", a somewhat snarky but real impression that would take a full sentence with proper grammar. No meaning is lost, and it isn't substantially different from the way my middle school English teacher used "sp?" as a shorthand to alert me to a spelling mistake on a graded paper.

There are issues with these variations in language. If you're writing in "Ebonics" or text-speak to an audience who doesn't understand it or who views it as a sign of lower intelligence, then both your clarity and standing have been compromised. But the same can be said of speaking "proper English" in a setting where that is less respected and understood.

There are a few degradations that are objectively damaging. The use of "like" or other filler words makes it too easy to speak without expressing much of anything. The overuse of superlatives crowds out more meaningful adjectives and decreases the amount of meaning conveyed. The same could be said of profanity of other nonspecific words like "thing" or "stuff" that obfuscate specific meaning and allow one to talk without saying anything.

To the extent that changes in language are different, or sloppy, I say let it change! As long as students are taught to understand their audience. Right now, there are a few job interviews a recent graduate could go to where "proper English" would be a liability. As the language shifts, within the next few decades, many of us will be in situations where lack of familiarity with newer modes of language will put us at a disadvantage over the younger generation with their more "flawed" communication.

B. Shur




> From: simon-AT-illustrated-history.net
> Date: Thu, 18 Mar 2010 14:13:40 +0000
> To: puptcrit-AT-puptcrit.org
> Subject: Re: [Puptcrit] the changing tides of language
> 
> Degeneration of the English language? I came across this just  
> yesterday, a Punch and Judy performer talking about his art:
> 
> "The great difficulty in preforming (sic) Punch consists in speaking  
> with this call in the mouth-cos it's produced from the lungs; it's  
> all done from there, and is a great strain, and acquires suction-and  
> that's brandy-and-water, or summat to moisten the whistle with.  
> 'We're bound not to drink water by our purfession, when we can get  
> anything stronger. It weakens the nerves, but we always like to keep  
> in the bounds of propriety, respectability, and decency. I drinks my  
> beer with my call in my mouth, and never takes it out, cos it exposes  
> it, and the boys (hang 'em!) is so inquisitive. They runs after us,  
> and looks up in our face to see how we speaks; but we drives 'em away  
> with civility."
> 
> Shocking grammar for a purfessional! Oh, hold on - no, that's from  
> Henry Mayhew's "London Labour and the London Poor," 1851. Seems like  
> the poorly spoken are always with us...
> 
> "Protecting" the pure baby of language from the bath water of reality  
> is, and always has been, a pointless exercise. Let the baby play and  
> it will grow.
> 
> Judy: Where's the baby?
> Punch: (In a melancholy tone) I have had a misfortune; the child was  
> so terrible cross, I throwed it out of the winder.
> 
> 
> 
> Simon Palmer
> Illustrated History
> +44 (0) 161 611 0739
> +44 (0) 7944 804414
> www.illustrated-history.net
> www.doodleblog.co.uk
> 
> 
> 
> 
> On 18 Mar 2010, at 13:39, Simon Palmer wrote:
> 
> > Hey Robert, no biggie, just chillax!
> >
> > Simon Palmer
> > Illustrated History
> > +44 (0) 161 611 0739
> > +44 (0) 7944 804414
> > www.illustrated-history.net
> > www.doodleblog.co.uk
> >
> >
> >
> >
> > On 18 Mar 2010, at 13:18, Robert Rogers wrote:
> >
> >> Whether puppeteers use a little or a lot of spoken dialogue in our
> >> productions, we should be concerned about the deterioration of the
> >> English language and try not to succumb to its lazy seduction.
> >> After all, when we work in front of the public, and very often, in
> >> the schools, isn't it our responsibility to communicate correctly
> >> with our audiences and students?  Sadly, I hear many certified
> >> teachers making mistakes; read mistakes in newspapers, and hear
> >> terrible errors on TV newscasts and talk radio shows.  We
> >> puppeteers should not follow the crowd.  Here are some observations:
> >>
> >> The word "an" has largely replaced "a" when used before the word
> >> "historical."  It is now becoming correct to write the awkward
> >> sounding "...a historical occasion" instead of "...an historical
> >> occasion."
> >>
> >> On puptcrit, I often read "I'm going to work on a sculpt," instead
> >> of "sculpture."  Or, I'm in the middle of a "build," instead of
> >> "I'm in the middle of building something."
> >>
> >> I hear this all the time: "...he disrespected her," instead of
> >> "...he was disrespectful of her."
> >>
> >> Or this violation: "...if every person would pick up their
> >> coat..."  when it should be "...if every person would pick up his
> >> or her coat..."
> >>
> >> Here's another all too common mistake: "Me and John went to the
> >> movies."  No.  It's "John and I went to the movies."
> >>
> >> Another one: "I know a woman that works in a store."  Sorry.  It's
> >> "I know a woman who works in a store."
> >>
> >> Finally, a word usage, that to me is the equivalent of fingernails
> >> across a chalk board: "Sorry, it's my bad."
> >>
> >> Yes, the popular vernacular changes, and phrases come and go.  But
> >> as we live in an age of incredible scientific achievement and
> >> discovery, so must we not throw correct grammar to the wayside.
> >>
> >> Robert Rogers
> >>
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