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[dzuunmod]

I know I'm a little behind the times on this one, but I love the story about the schoolchildren in Baltimore inventing a new pronoun.

In short, kids in (I guess) certain parts of Baltimore have begun using "yo" to replace "he" and "she". I just heard an interview with the woman credited with really documenting the phenomenon, and she - yo -

Comments

[wendykh]

I feel extremely old and uncool. My thoughts in order:

"Oh HELL NO."
"Mental note: never ever send children to Baltimore schools."
"Josh is totally fucking with us, right?"
"Is this the onion? Or an Onion wanna-be?"

It is extremely sad to read letters written by civil war soldiers, largely with even high school education, and see how verbose they were compared to "peep yo!" Good god.

/fans self.

[dzuunmod]

I'm a little surprised at you, Wendy. I woulda figured you to be the type to embrace this. And I'm the type to blog with words like 'woulda', so what were you expecting from me anyway? ;)

That said, I understand your point about how we're losing something as the generations go by, but people aren't saying different things, are they? Just finding different ways to say them. In the minds of these children, I'm thinking that they understand "Peep yo!" the same way we understand "Look at that guy!", so what's the harm?

[wendykh]

I guess I don't see it as evolution, I see it as pure and total laziness. The concerning thing to me is most ...shall we say economically disadvantaged.... children are not doing this because they need a new word, they're doing it because no one ever taken the goddamn time to teach them to speak properly. That's SAD. And "look at that guy" can be understood by most people's great grandparents. "peep yo!" WTF?!?! No one can understand that! Bah, I need a cane, clearly.

Keep in mind you are talking to someone who relentlessly hounds her children to not say things like "aynglish" and "shut teh door" and "open/close the lights" and works with them on the difference of the th sound in such words as "cloth" and "clothes."

God. Honestly, stuff like this makes me glad I am solely responsible for my children's English education. Da FUCK. "Peep, yo!" good god.

[dzuunmod]

children are not doing this because they need a new word, they're doing it because no one ever taken the goddamn time to teach them to speak properly.

Are you sure about that? I mean, I just refuse to believe that if there are linguists in the classroom observing them and interviewing them, that they don't know the difference. In the interview (I heard it on this program), the woman talked about how the kids were (for the benefit of the adults observing them, I presume) 'translating' their use of 'yo'. Like they know the other way to say it, they just choose to say it this way.

Also, what's wrong with 'shut the door'? Or are you patrolling netspeak with your kids and keeping them from using 'teh' instead of 'the'?

[wendykh]

I mean "teh" for that franco accent.
I'm trying to say my point about the demographics of these schools as nicely as possible. Let's put it this way: I sincerely doubt their parents are speaking anything resembling proper grammar either, showing it to be a value. You're simply not going to see college bound children speaking that way. College bound children come from homes where education and academics are valued. Children from homes where it's not valued aren't going to learn shit in school in general. In fact, they will probably be so obnoxious it would benefit the rest of the group were they not there.

/taught juvenile delinquents for a year
//has no dangerous minds romanticism
/// aside from a couple begging for a way out, most were uninterested, did not give a shit, and just wastes of educational time

[fuzzyila]

As a linguist, I can say what you're saying is not only incorrect but prejudiced.

Also, no matter how many times you "correct" your children's speech, it will not change their idiolect (personal dialect). They will react around you, possibly, but they will continue to do and speak as they please elsewhere.

As a good starting point, I recommend you read An Introduction to Sociolinguistics by Ronald Wardhaugh.

[wendykh]

considering I am the only person with whom they speak English I sincerely doubt they will speak it elsewhere.

[fuzzyila]

You're going to keep them in a bubble somewhere, with no tv or friends? Sounds like child abuse ;s

Regardless, it doesn't change brain connections. Especially if they already formed these "errors" in the first place. Science says those don't change. Sorry.