Thank You for your educated review. Its so important that our culture is reviewed & analyzed thru an unbiased lense.. Very rarely do we get honest interpretations....you are greatly appreciated. You've just taught me not to view my own vernacular as negative, but more creative. As a black woman born in America, I have to constantly remind myself not to view myself thru the eyes of those who deem themselves "superior". Thank u, sir🫡🫡
I question the reliability of much of this as a skeptic. My default English is black, but close to half of the info imo is wrong. Other half is spot on. I appreciate the effort into explaining the nuances, however I think he may need to speak to some more people that actually grew up talking "black". Some of the complications and therefore sophistication is wrong (ain't right 😂). All love though, thank you.
@@alexanderd.9460That’s the part I’m trying to figure out. It’s like some of these “Black” people in these comments are JUST now realizing their own speech is valid (because a White guy in a YT video said so). Black English can’t be studied because it’s so heavily nuanced, localized and can vary depending on location; even some of his examples are quite dated. While I’m not saying I don’t appreciate the attempt, Black people can’t be studied on a cultural, social and spiritual level by someone non-Black. I guess for some people it takes a Caucasian to say the same thing we’ve been saying for years, in order for anyone to pay attention.
@@getinloser666 it does seem like a white guy patronizing blacks for clout, but I also want to give him the benefit of the doubt that he is acting with honor even though he is plugging his book that is probably very flawed still.
@@alexanderd.9460There is no such thing as “speaking Black”. Poor English and slang is poor English and slang-period! Don’t buy into this! This is White Liberal garbage!
Also, as a Black woman, it bothers me how much our AAVE / Black English is being termed as “Gen Z Slang” cause no its not. They copied it from us, something we *been* using ☺️
I saw some little Gen Z girls tryna say "Gyat...!" was an acronym for "Girl, yo' ass thick!" And all it did was piss me off. Ay, yo... Check this out, Gen Z... Stay out our shit. Smh.
Funny.. you act like it's an honor to be responsible for bastardizing the English language and being the original uneducated ones. Young people should by no means copy your culture. Your sad excuse of a culture is the incarnated version of the movie "Idiocracy" being carried out in real life.
That's true about so many aspects of culture in addition to language. The "new, cool" trends in fashion, music, etc. are things that Black people have been doing for a decade or two.
This is really interesting because whenever I hear someone misuse Black English grammar, it feels the same way as when someone misuses Standard American English. I guess it was just my brain picking up on the grammatical rules of both systems.
Agreed. A white friend once got frustrated that I wasn’t messaging her back fast enough (I’m guessing), so after like 10 minutes she messaged me “Why won’t you fuck with me!” I was confused. I now believe she was meaning it as a variant of, “I fuck with her,” and she wanted me to interact with her… because she didn’t know that it’s a general mood of being cool with someone and not a specific interaction? It sounds weird even as I type.
This dude should be telling you there's no such thing as Standard American English! At least, that's what he told me - I mean, he's wrong, but still, that's what he said.
"You coulda been gone there" = you could've traveled to that place long ago. "You been coulda gone there" = you've had access to that place for a long time
"Du hättest dahingehen können" "You hadded theregoing can/ "Du hast dahingehen können" "You had theregoing can" somewhat similar structure in german tbh😂 funny how similar the structure is, although you would always add an adverb so the meaning is more clear in german and the meaning isnt transported by the position of the "be", but by the past tense with the conjunctive. so the conjucative with the plusquamperfect says that you could have done something in the past, but now its over (this you also have in latin: "Si tacuisses, philosophus mansisses"). And the the other form means you were able to go somewhere for an interval and can probably still do it. (usually used together with "die ganze zeit" "all the time" -> "Du hast die ganze Zeit dahingehen können?" "You could have gone there all the time?") Its interesting how we still have the grammatical structure but we dont really use it to carry much meaning as we nearly always use adverbs. but the meaning is the same without adverbs, its just not as clear. its interesting how much simpler its to use the word position of the "be" to indicate that instead of a very complicated grammatical contruction.
@@aaa-hs3itits not about being able to “speak the real thing” you clearly didnt grow up around the type of people who use it or why its used in the first place (explained in the video). If u grow up in a hispanic household that only speaks Spanish what do u think you’re going to do? speak russian to them😂? Also very ignorant to assume people who speak this way cant speak classroom english. Diversity in schools is a good example. My schools were always very diverse when it came to the students. Of course people hang with who they’re comfortable with and usually who they can relate to in some way. A big way being culture. language is part of culture. Aae is not just a surface level thing because of ignorance. I dont bash jamacians for how they speak because it’s their own language and has its own meaning the same aae does and every other language on earth. Id rather learn how to speak jamacain than complain that i dont understand it and call them out on a false intelligence accusation😂
(Coming from a non-native English speaker) To me it sounds like most of the dialect is just simplified English but bases the exact meaning off of context instead of specifying words. It isn't more complex, it's just a different approach to conveying meaning than "standard" English that allows spoken sentences to be more simplistic It's very hard to compare complexity anyway since it's subjective.
I always thought …. “If it’s so lazy and simple for simple people then why can’t you do it? Why do YOU sound so stupid trying to imitate it… incorrectly?”
I’m a 25 yr old black man from Louisiana and the fact that a white linguist is deciphering the language of me and my friends is really trippy to say the least lol
Lmfao, been thinking I wanted to make a video myself like this as a black man, but if bro is accurate and has a platform then it’s a start. Does the validity of the subject matter at hand depend on the ethnicity of the speaker?
@@brainsanitation imo it kinda does but in a positive way… I for one have been advocating for creole/ebonics for years but now it’s being recognized by academics as a legitimate dialect, the fact that said academic happens to be white makes it more palatable to non black people
@@brainsanitation I say this respectfully as a linguist on the other side of the globe (North Africa): ethnicity does not matter one bit. Speaking a language and studying the inner workings of it are two entirely different things. Noam Chomsky revolutionised the study of linguistics, but he wasn't comfortable/fluent in any language other than English. Linguistics is a descriptive science, and as such, linguists do the necessary field work (i.e. talking to people who actually speak the language they are studying) before writing anything about it. The scientific method is the same whether you're talking about a language you're fluent in, or a language you do not speak at all. I'm working on AAVE myself, and I am THRILLED that it's getting more recognition!
non-exploitative? Do you really believe a person of color could write that book with 95% of the publishing industry being white? And news flash many so called black books are written by white or white with black pen name authors. This is exploitative especially since he’s writing a new on the basis of European American reclassification of Indigenous people calling us African when we are not African.
@@JeanAvantif that’s the case you still haven’t. He’s not in the Black American culture, he has experience with it yes but he’s not in it. A lot of what he said was incorrect at that. He gave you a more than normal educated white perspective. 😂
i’m not black but grew up speaking Black English w my peers - the example that came to mind is fixing something. “i’m tryna fix this thing” could mean both “in the moment i am attempting to repair it”, and “i have intention down the line to fix the thing”.
@@Very_Okaywhen you make a suggestion to a friend and they respond “I ain’t fixin to do sh*t” and you all burst out laughing is a staple when communicating in black. I grew up hearing that on the west coast with family and neighbors from the south.
@@theinvisiblewoman5709 I also know of white speech examples of "fixin' " to do something. It meant more like I'm planning on doing something, either in the near future, or at an indeterminate time. But I don't think I ever heard it in the negative.
I am deceased 💀 thinking about you playing scrabble with folks using AAVE vocab! I do speak AAVE, and write some of it on social media in blk spaces, but it never occurred to me that AAVE or Ebonics was showing up in scrabble games! 💀
🤣 I use to play scrabble with my grandmother, that was her favorite game and she would use words of Louisiana Creole, AAVE and standard English and I _swear_ she would be making up words if she was starting to lose. 😂
"I been told you that = I told you that a long time ago, dummy" On point 100% lol Love the "dummy" part cause it adds the frustration we feel for that thing that was told not being recognized/remembered.
@@funkrates4778I been done told you that means something different from I been telling you that. I been done told you that implies that you are tired from repeating yourself. So listen carefully this time. I been telling you that. Implies that you are glad they finally understand.
this is how i feel explaining caribbean languages to my foreign friends. ebonics is seen as lazy but is vastly complex and diverse, also constantly evolving.
@@dfredankey word, I'm Dominican. Just started kicking it with folks who came to the states and found out all my slang been outdated for a whole decade
This 👆🏿 & often labelled with derogatory terms like "Broken English" when they are Creoles that even carry grammatical inflexions from African languages! Nothing can be broken about a language!
black english uses A LOT of energy and emotion in it. it's not something you can just understand without spending time with them and think about this. have you ever noticed all these new slangs are mostly black slangs? finna, cookin, bussin, etc white kids *are not* coming up with this lol
I was the only AA in my accelerated Teaching program. When I told the professor that my mom made us speak standard English at home and at our Catholic school, but we spoke vernacular outside of the home, he said, so you're bilingual. I was so tickled inside because my classmates were SO uncomfortable. 😂
that's not what being bilingual is...I could claim the same thing as I can speak both American and British English. Dialects are not the same as languages. And in case you are wondering, I do speak 2 other languages
@@JonZiegler6 well, as of now there are no "countries". forget that. having a global banking system and the system of global information distribution makes the term obsolete. maybe with one exception, which is the country of the ethnicity the author of this qoute belonged. en.wikipedia.org/wiki/A_language_is_a_dialect_with_an_army_and_navy
Last year I don’t know if you remember the news that a local meteorologist said “Fo shìzzle my ńìzzle” live on the air. She was responding to her colleague and she got fìred
@@SizondThis is bonding for us. You can't truly speak our language by learning facts on paper so knowing this tidbit means nothing if you're not already connected to the culture. But the funny thing is I feel like some of them already have a sense of what I'm getting at based on the few times I've responded "You good" when they've genuinely said "My bad" after some minor thing happened with no ill intent on their part.
@@AK_7906 I agree why not give lessons lol they are the ones who are always trying to make us feel bad or stupid about talking naturally, so next time they try that bs that can't say we didn't explain it to them.
This video was food for my soul. As a black American in STEM, from college through 15 years in the private sector, I have seen bright and capable young men and women be looked on as "slow" for not being able to express themselves a narrower band of English "code-switching". thank you for the work that you do and I am looking forward to your book.
Code-switching is literally a part of life for EVERYONE in the US under 50. We do it with our kids, our communities, our professions etc. It's not a bad thing as it forces our brains to constantly reevaluate a situation and come up with the most appropriate response. Anyone who doesn't "code-switch" has by nature a very insular life.
Attempting to teach everyone how to speak the language in a way (the "correct" way) in which we can understand each other (regardless of where we grew up) is only logical. Remember, English isn't only an American language, it's spoken throughout the world. There are many ways to speak English and they are all understandable if you learn them. Local dialects are not only officially incorrect (and sometimes less clear or less efficient), their differences from mainstream English are useless or counterproductive if you are trying to communicate with someone outside of your local group.
To OP: I'm a Black Nigerian American (born here in the US with Nigerian immigrant parents) in computer science and math, tho I've only been in my working career for just over 5 years so you have about 10 years on me. That's awesome to hear from your perspective!! I'm heavily involved in orgs like NSBE and have an idea of that you're talking about, a lot of very smart young people who maybe just haven't had as much exposure to the corporate / professional world and just need some guidance on how to navigate it. Keep doing your thing! What field of STEM are you in?
I used your dissertation in my Undergraduate thesis and now i'm getting my PhD in Linguistics at University of Michigan! THANK YOU SO MUCH and I'm glad to see sociolingusitic content on youtube dispelling the many myths surrounding African American Language. Your work is very appreciated!!
my high school English teacher gave the class a whole rundown on this too when someone was saying that rappers don't know how to use English. was a good day that day
Black English is mostly about being cryptic in order to avoid the law it's complexities are the primary feature. It's not complex because of higher standards it's complex due to a necessity and as soon as a whitey figures out the code it's changed. Black English is overly complex to the point of being useless outside of its own microcosms. Black English isn't good for communicating vital technical information it's mostly good for scoring drugs or getting prostitutes. It's not an engineering language is the language of a criminal. Aye dawg where u at im tryna come tru and take a flight. White translation I'm trying to come over so I can drugs with you and get High
Shake it like you tryna get paid Make that ass clap Work it like you tryna get a raise Make that ass clap Them niggas throwin' ones we throwin' hundreds Make that ass clap Came in the club straight stuntin' Make that ass clap We don't stand around we make it rain Make that ass clap Bitch this ain't no check, this Just some change Make that ass clap Baby you the baddest of them all Make that ass clap Somebody give her a round of applause Make that ass clap
As a 40+ Black man born in MS and raised in MI and have lived in IL, GA, TX, and currently CA, this right up my alley! "You coulda been gon dere" indicates what you probably should have already done, while "You been coulda gon dere" indicates the ability to go that spot has been present for a long time and isn't necessarily present now! One is a statement of what was expected but not achieved, the other is a question about why it wasn't!
And this is a base level example. Because depending on our mood, how we say it or given the situation when we say it; the phrase, question or statement can take on a whole other meaning. And this is what most outsiders don't understand...! 😂😂 It's like we have a code within a code within an code.
A lot of communication with us is all about tone and inflection and you know what’s meant based on our collective experience, like Keke giving her one word “Rose” as the clue for “Titanic.” 😁😶
I didn’t realize how much I used AAVE until I moved to Korea because my non-US friends were constantly asking me what I was saying. I specifically remember telling a friend “She shoulda been done that 🙄” and my friend was like “huh? Is that even English” 🤣 living there definitely made me appreciate our culture and variety of English more
man, you killed this! you clarified things in our dialect that i knew instinctually but never considered trying to explain. your handle on tenses is ridiculous, i heard there's 36 tenses or something like that, i might speak them all but couldn't label more than like 4. lol. first, i smiled every time you said a sentence in this dialect and it flowed outcha mouf like u been speakin this. the respect feels good.
@@CHASIN_A_BASS”say no mo” and “say less” are actually different 😅 The former is an agreement with the words previously spoken. While the later is an acknowledgement of understanding the context of a situation without further explanation, usually it indicates advice is to follow. I.e “say less, so watchu gon do about it”
As a black man with two college degrees and a grandmother who was a school teacher, I was able to master both, the “King’s English” and “Ebonics”. My favorite term in AAL is “iight now” or “alright now”. Can be used as a warning, a congratulatory praise and a couple other different interpretations. To understand which one is being used requires context of the situation at hand. Those of us who have the ability to use both traditionally use one or the other depending on the environment, hence the term “code switching”.
Stop giving away secrets! LOL Context, Tone and even age can determine what some words "saying" mean. Truly, has cultural and generational significance. No 🧢
lol You are so right I'm 22 and use "Yah Hurd meh" and "alright now" the second one can also be used as a greeting or to show that you are listening or agreeing with something.
It’s cause people yell when they speak (obviously not everyone, but in general they speak louder). I see why it can be bothering to others. It can feel like the person talking doesn’t care or is not thinking about the people around by talking loud and making their presence felt by everyone, even if they don’t mean to portray this. So this over comfortableness makes other people uncomfortable. Same thing when a junky starts talking loud or yelling in the street. It’s uncomfortable unless you are used to it. People around get intimidated even though you’re just being “over expressive”. If somebody sees a person who is very expressive, one assumes that any emotion can burst at any time, being unpredictable, which is what people don’t like. We northern Mexicans go through the same because our accent it’s also loud and rough so people think we are angry all the time.
Black people speak melodically. We bend the language to our personalities and use words differently based on situations and are not limited by the dictionary
Kpop stars are supposed to be hiring americans for their lyrics? Yikessss😅 but Koreans make a lot of mistakes in English anyway cause they have such a different native language than us
I would be super interested in a book about Black English’s impact on Standard American English. Too many people have this stuffy idea that language is some pure, unchanging, God-given thing that is either right or wrong, and more people need to understand that different dialects or forms of communication are not only perfectly valid, but often influence each other
Thanks! Another issue I see a lot is the treatment of AAE like it’s some qualitatively different thing. It’s a language variety, and we do a tremendous disservice by pretending it’s not a linguistically normal variety that is unique in the ways that all language varieties are
@@languagejones6784 It's inferior, less precise, imperfectly learned and imperfectly used English. Try as you might, you can never make your case. You're just that type of white person. What you're doing is actually racist, but you think it's the opposite of racist.
@@languagejones6784 It's of no value. It's funny how a certain type of white person, well-meaning, maybe, wants to elevate imperfectly learned English. Similar to Singlish, where I can't imagine an American or European learning imperfect Mandarin and mixing it with English because learning the real language is just too hard.
A study conducted at King's College London determined that over the last 100 years, African Americans are responsible for expanding the English language more than any other group. The group that has done the most damage to English? Conservative White Americans. Mostly by appropriating words and changing or distorting their accepted meaning, but also by gaslighting and declaring words they couldn't manipulate to their advantage invalid and/or stigmatizing their usage.
As a white person who was raised to appreciate "proper English" all through school, who knows the difference between you're and your and there/their/they're and even it's and its and am always slightly annoyed when they're used incorrectly, I'll admit and appreciate that your channel and other similar linguistic sources are absolutely changing my viewpoint on the purpose of language in society, on the richness of AAVE and other cultural dialects, and on how language changes over time. Thank you for helping to educate me.
As a black dude, I’ve really come to appreciate one thing about America. That’s bringing us all together. Didn’t care as a child, but as an adult now, I love being around white, Asian, Latino & other black folks etc. always something to learn.
that's not unique to America, broski. Most major ports all over the world had multiple groups of differing ethnicities. But I share in your particular "glimmer" (opposite of "trigger") when it comes to being around a variety of people. But I love being around MY people most.. it's lit.
@@lexxlucreAmerica is obviously on a completely different level though when comes to ethnicity’s, growth and coming together. Life quite literally wouldn’t be the same if we never did. It doesn’t get better then having unity in one of the most united countries on earth. Those are *my* people
@lexxlucre Except America was founded on the idea that we could all come together as different people to create a better world. To me that is a beautiful goal
I used to frequent a Błack website FULL of impostors pretending to be Błack. 😞 It was so obvious. They sounded so ridiculous and their reactions to things that happened in the news were clearly off. RealBłack people didn’t care about half the stuff they were responding to. It was so so ridiculous 🥴
And their responses to things. We know how Błack people generally tend to think. They start off their statement with “As a Błack person, I think.... ...” and here we go with the lies.😂😂 “As a Błack person I say everyone should be arrested for parking next to a fire hydrant so we can clean up our communities.” 🤔🙄arrested? chile please. Trust and believe NOBODY Błack thinks that 🙄🙄....with as long as we’ve been dealing with excessive polîcïng, please know we see you, “Błack person.”
It feels so weird to hear the standard way I talk broken down like this 😅 .... I don't think about anything that I or other black Americans say, I just understand it depending on tone and context. At this point, I don't really notice when I "code switch" either until I've already finished talking with whoever it is that I switched for. I accidentally said "what you finna do after " to a white friend at work and he was lost, so I cleaned it up by asking if he had plans lol
Facts!! I kept having to pause and think when he would say "this doesn't mean this, it means that," because I'm like, it literally means that, but it also can be used to mean the other thing he said. However, as a black person you would just know that based upon the use of "mood" as he called it so I never really had to think about it intellectually, not to mention he wasn't saying it with the right intonation/mood. Had me shook for a sec, like do I really not understand what I think I know? Lmao!
A white friend of mine heard a BW say, “I went off on him.” She asked me what that meant and I told her. The next week she told me that she, “went off” on her husband. I laughed on the inside 😂
This is why I love battle rap from a lyrical stand point. Theres so many nuances and entendres based on the way things are phrased and placed. So cool.
Crazy you say that; Me and my brother have always said the reason why people don't like actual HIP HOP is because they literally can't understand it , due to the way how we structure our bars and stanzas. You see metalhead reaction videos and a lot of them SIMPLE don't understand, I remember watching one where they were watching 'Shook ones' and literally didn't know what 'Shook ' meant, I was appalled.
My son sent this to me because I have a tad of a reputation... mild grammar freak. I loved this! Great explanation of Black English. No, it's not the same as bad grammar. I can't wait to see more of your videos. Also, ya won me over when you played my morning motivation jam!!
I remember my little brother called this white girl “cold”. He thought she was fine. She was so confused when we told her that. She was like, “he said I’m cold because he thinks I’m hot?” Always cracked me up.
Sure. To say "cold" means someone or something is very cool, or awesome. It could mean something really good or amazing. It could mean top tier. @@andyarken7906
I'm interested in your book that you've mentioned within the first few minutes of this video. Also, awesome content being discussed on this video. I look forward to listening to more!
Racism and anti-blackness has placed a perpetual blinder on everyone's perspective on AAs. We are incredibly innovative and creative people, but the blinders are so strong that everything we do is downplayed or diminished by the entire world.
Downplayed and diminished by the entire world yet imitated by the entire .... and I do mean entire world. Everything we do has made the entire world wealthy. Kids in [name a country{ have never even seen a Błack American in person yet are raking in millions imitating them. But continue downplaying and diminishing ...
SulminatiBoss - it’s because language is the easiest and most no-cost way to steal from a culture. Anybody can start speaking another way today. It’s not like basketball where they want to do what Błack players do on the court. Those players literally changed the game and they want to do it but they can’t. They don’t have the moves, rhythm, speed, agility or strength. Can’t see the court. Or music. They can’t just start improvising and playing by ear or dance the same or sing the same. That all requires talent to steal and duplicate. But language? Language is up for grabs. Just steal and say, and it’s “yours.” This is where we are
@@noble604 our language was never up for grabs, stealing like usual and putting your face on it, we don’t want or need ppl validation, you only saying that because you think it’s beneficial for you like usual but it don’t work like that
I didn’t realize how much people who don’t speak it really don’t understand it. It shows how little they’ve exposed themselves to the culture, how much separation there has been between the two worlds.
The origin of "Black Language," counter to your beliefs, is very well known. The language is the language of the Cracker/Redneck culture brought to the US South. The Crackers/Rednecks emigrated to the US South from the Scottish Highlands and the far northern reaches of the UK. It was never a pidgin and is not a creole. It is the continuation of the emigrated peoples language. Black Culture in the US is Cracker/Redneck culture. You are obviously a professor, not a doctor, and are not in anyways close to an expert on the subject of the video. The video's substance is completely created by you and contains zero truths. You're a sad phony.
This is FANTASTIC work, and YOUR voice is so necessary to give credence to these arguments and observations. I am a journalist, writer and former Technical Writing teacher (at a local college) and I love, love, love writings from the greats such as Langston Hughes and Zora Neale Hurston because they often wrote in BLACK vernacular. It is NOT an easy thing to do! If I, as an African American woman were to say EXACTLY what you’ve just said in this video 👉🏽VERBATIM👈🏽 I would be disregarded and accused of making everything about race. 🙄 So big up yourself. Your work truly helps the culture. After seeing this video … what?!… I’m interested in reading ALL yo books yo. ✊🏽WORD 😝😝😝
I'm black, but my Mother was a high school English teacher at a continuation school. Naturally, I was corrected 24 hours a day when I attempted to bring the language me and my friends used into our home 😂 I was always aware of the latest slang, and able to "code-switch" to some degree, I was definitely one of those black kids who "talked white" Iykyk 😂 What's wild is, my 19 year old son doesn't code switch at all. He is his 100% authentic self, even around other black people. He doesn't adopt a more "black" manner of speech to better fit in. Which is fine. I'm proud that he in confident in who he is. Anyway, great video. I subbed and look forward to more...
It’s funny when people say, “talk white”. When it’s just proper English. We dumb ourselves down by claiming proper is white, when anyone can speak properly
It not supposed to be to show how smart you are jackhole, its so your understood!!! If you can't talk properly i will assume its due to some sort of defect on your end. If you dont want to be "disrespected" then communicate properly.
@@dadegixxer But why SHOULD anyone want to speak like a public school teacher, or a newscaster, or what have you. That way of speaking isn't "proper" in any deep sense, it's merely what has been deemed proper (due to complicated historical-especially cultural, economic, and racial-reasons) by the group in power at some specific point in time. And it is NOT easy to speak that way naturally, because the whole point of declaring a specific way of speaking "proper" (which happens in part without conscious design) is to use it to erect social and economic barriers, to mark out those who can't master the dialect's subtleties the way the in-group can.
@@dadegixxer Right. But as MOST black kids will already know, "talking white" was a real thing growing up. I'm 47...so I have no idea what language js doing these days. I imagine most kids are talking "tiktok" now haha... But, at least in the 1970s and 80s...you definitely got that label thrown your way if you spoke "proper" english.
I grew up around folks who spoke Black English (at the time popularly called Ebonics). It was pretty obvious to me from a young age that the people who called it "bad English" were just showing their ignorance. I'm glad you're tackling this issue. Relatedly, one thing I noticed while studying Latin is that there are actually grammatical constructions in Black English that are doing the same thing that classical highly educated Latin authors were doing, but contemporary Americans were acting like it was unsophisticated. Sigh.
@@BacchusLumen the thing that really blows my mind is when Black folks started naming their kids things like Marcus it just tainted the name for white Americans. The mainstream really hates black folks more than it likes classical antiquity
You're full of shit. English had Latin grammar grafted on to it. "Black English" might, through the inability to learn this more awkward grammar, might be accidentally using an earlier form of English grammar - but it couldn't possibly be anything like Latin.
@@quicksilvertaint An example would be omitting the "to be" verb. For example, it's common to hear something in Black English like, "He crazy!" In Latin this was also common. "Ille insanus est!" would roughly translate to, "He is crazy!" in English. But if you were a native speaker of Latin, even if you were writing for a very sophisticated audience, it would be very common to say, "Ille insanus!" and just omit the "is" from the sentence. Which translates roughly as, "He crazy!" in English.
@@languagejones6784 , I agree with that wholeheartedly, and it's such a common example that it makes the point nicely. Relatedly, there are so many great classical names like Cesar or Marco or Julio or Aurelio that were also more common among my Latino classmates and friends growing up. It seems like there's a small resurgence of classical names among people who see themselves as counter-cultural right now, but it's hard to know if that will grow. Hopefully someday Μάρκος/Marcus will be mainstream again.
I’m so happy to have found this. As a Black woman who grew up in predominantly white neighborhoods and spaces, it’s difficult to explain all this to folks and their weird uncles at family gatherings. I definitely need the book!!
Same! I understand Black English, but don't really speak it since I grew up in mostly white areas too, and my parents are African, so we didn't use it at home. I'd love to read this book and learn more about it.
So, Black dude here and I can say you know ya shyt. At first, I thought this was gonna be lame, but it turnt out to be informative. If there was a book coming...I would probably be, some what interested in getting a peek at it. Cool vid btw! Big ups to you taking a deep dive and trying to explain it to others, and soon as they start to understand a little...we most likely switch it up again!😅
Isnt it really the same thing. No matter when they did it. They still did it. “Been came out” for black people is also 3 days ago not a long time like a year ago .. people are just on different times and im black
He's very observant true...I would even say too observant 👀🤔 We're always under a microscope and I don't like it. What's understood don't need to be explained.
@@Rebecca23434 idk i think this applies to every “broken language” being English isn’t our native language.. 80% of communication is non verbal so ignorance go the properness of that language means most words actually have a non verbal side to it. Less past tense words and more action words. Saying “ i been done that” isnt more effective than saying “ i already did it” because theres no room for confusion or double meanings. But cool video
It is so cool hearing how I talk around my friends and family broken down in such a scholarly way. It’s super affirming, and I really appreciate this. Im sending to all my friends and family right now! I’m interested in the book!
Black English is becoming a lot more accepted in academic circles in recent years, particularly between linguists! If you want more videos like this breaking it down, I’d highly recommend @etymologynerd. He used his linguistics knowledge to break down speech patterns in modern English, which include Black English :-)
I'm black but I grew up in the suburbs so I had to do a lot of code switching to get by. What I've found is that Black English requires you to listen with empathy to the speaker while classroom English does not. Like, what you didn't even get into with this is how different inflections of the words can also drastically change the meaning of the what is being said. That misunderstanding leads a bunch of ignorant people to believe that black folk are more emotional in our speech but our emotion is literally intertwined with our dialect.
I never thought about that until you brought it up, but that makes more sense to me now! Might explain why I had some hiccups growing up with my family!
I never thought about that until you brought it up, but that makes more sense to me now! Might explain why I had some hiccups growing up with my family!
Exactly. A simple phrase like "that's cute" could mean "it isn't cute at all", just as easily as it could mean "it is indeed cute". Inflection plays a major role in our language; it is often overlooked just as often as it is mocked.
My high school was very diverse (I'm talking representation from every corner of the planet), and one day my white friend looked outside and blurted out "It's mad raining outside", which made all of the black kids in the class burst out in laughter. He didn't realize that "mad" in this context specifically means "a lot of" or "very" ("There were mad people at the party", "That guy is mad dumb") and he was basically saying "It's a lot of raining outside" or "It's very raining outside", which is sort of nonsense. "There's mad rain outside" or "It's mad wet outside" would've made more sense
maybe a specific "mad rainin" event was currently going on outside? a clash and mixup of cowboy talk and black grammar maybe resulted in reverse underestimation. I'm now doubting every word I write.
@@jamessanders6788None of NYC college classmates would say mad raining. They *may* say "it's mad brick outside," but adding that -ing makes someone sound like an outsider or like they're an old person trying to speak the dialect.
"You coulda been gone there". Means you had the opportunity to go in the past and you were arware of it. Generally used in response to missing an opportunity, like you wanted to buy something but now its sold out. "You been coulda gone there" is letting someone know they had access to the location but wasn't aware. Like someone waiting for permission they didn't need.
9:45 white boy from white suburbia, but I think I get the nuance? The first I interpret as "you could've gone and been there a while ago". The second feels more "you've had the opportunity to go there this whole time" Def interested in the book btw!
Exactly what I thought, I think growing up in the South (Deep South they call it Southwest, it’s Texas) as he _veeery_ briefly touched on does help tho tbh cuz this video made a ton of sense
Here's a theory not based on nothing, e.i. based on something. A language used by people heavily involved in trade with speakers of other languages has pressure to simplify and be transparent. It will do so at the cost of compactness and subtlety. A language used by a group with insular interests will grow in complexity, subtlety and compactness for the benefit (as perceived by the group) of social isolation. The cockney stall-keeper in a Dickens era London market does not want the police to understand that he is avoiding taxes or dealing in contraband items, for instance. At the other end, the British upper class was notorious for speaking indistincly a) as a social flex, that is, you have got to pay more attention to me than vice versa, and b) if my command is ambiguous, then I can lay the blame on my subordinate any time it doesn't turn out to my liking and c) "shibboleth" or whatever identifies immediately who has my upbringing and who doesn't. I teach English as a second language. One standard is all I can teach at a time. Once a student asked me when we were going to cover more African American English, as he was interested in rap lyrics. I was sy.pathetic but stated that it was not part of our program of study. Code-switching happens all the time, and sometimes it is done so that a third party isn't even aware of the code switch. Think of teenagers planning a beer bash back in the day of one telephone per household. If one asks about a possible code switch and gets a straightforward explanation, then no problem. But recently, asking for detail about the term "safe and effective" was considered an act of bad faith. I'm not worried about how "bye, Felicia" was misinterpreted. I'm more concerned about phrases like "follow the science" or "horse de-wormer." These are phrases designed to mislead, and should be named as code switching, because those in the know know exactly what they're doing.
Thank you. Im from Midwest moved to Utah @15... My English teacher had me sit in front of her to write to be sure no one else was writing for me. She said my speaking and writing didn't match. 😂😂😂😂 Little did she know I was getting paid to write at least ¼ the classes essays.
If you could write perfectly good English, why dumb it down when speaking? (I just realized... Dumb question. It's peer pressure / the need to fit in with other students. Kids can be mean to kids that are different from them.)
As a Black woman, I been knew this. I stoopped code switching like 5 year ago, having the privilege of owning my own business that is specific to me being and speaking as naturally as I possibly can or want to. However, I am interested in seeing the book you spoke of and would love to know when it is published.
I feel u code switchin is annoying it happens automatically for me im trynna stop it especially workin in the office and being basically the only black person there
Code switching: I hate this new term. We all read our audiences. How I speak among my parents is different from friends, teachers, boss, CEO, cousins. People who grow up with families from multiple groups will speak differently to fit within because this is natural and we have been doing this before code switching is now so talked about.
I think code switching has a negative connotation when in reality it’s not. We do it on a daily unintentional. Even when speaking to other blk ppl you code switch to better understand each other. (Ex: blk person from the suburbs speaking to a blk person from the city. Or an AA speaking to a Caribbean persons.) you code switch when you speak to cashier and the list goes on. It’s not a bad thing it’s just more associated with blk ppl entering work space that are majority white. Code switching is just a form of communication for the other party to understand you better. Imo you’re not changing who you are to fit into a space (unless that’s what ppl usually do but I’m not one of them) you’re just switching for better understanding of a conversation. Bc as a Caribbean girl raised in the suburbs, went to a majority white school, and was in majority AA spaces outside of school your girl code switches all the time! I cnt speak to my AA friends like I speak to my family bc they wouldn’t understand. Same when I went to school etc. Which imo puts in an advantage in some cases because I’ve noticed just like how white ppl cnt understand AAVE, black ppl cnt understand the undertones what white ppl mean when they say or do certain things. I had to explain to a friend of mine the other day. So it’s okay to code switch, you learn a lot from the different spaces you’re in. It’s like knowing several languages! When you change your view abt code switching you’ll realize it’s not a negative thing. Just always be yourself and you won’t feel some type of way abt it ❤
I swear the internet is ruining it,.......i use to be able to get good mileage out of a word for a few years before changing up. now it takes a few months before every edgy internet troll is using it.
The internet granted other people access to our secrets. We didn’t care to know more about them. We already were immersed in what they do but they can’t get enough of knowing more about us. Never could figure out what we do to our hair. This doggone internet😡
I don’t speak Black English, but I told my African American coworker that I was “about to” fall asleep and she was like, “no! You can’t fall asleep! You’ll get in trouble” and then I said “I’m not gonna fall asleep. I’m about to” and we went back and forth. Then I concluded that “about to” in Black English has an implication of intent, whereas in academic/white English “about to” means on the verge of. So the point is: subtleties, sophistication and RULES!
@@mikeburris3427 for a lot of people I interact with “finna” is imminent but no longer denotes intent, whereas boutta may denote intent, and tryna always denotes intent, especially around conditionals. “I’m finna fall asleep if he keeps droning on…” is fine, but “I’m *tryna fall asleep…” is semantically marked if not outright ungrammatical. “I’m boutta go to sleep” I would definitely parse as intent, but that may vary regionally
You just told me something new. I always thought that something that was about to happen was going to happen any moment now. So I may have reacted with worry similarly to your coworker if presented with that statement, even though I wouldn't have thought that you intended to fall asleep - just that you probably felt like you couldn't help it. (I'm not a native speaker of English, but I was under the impression that I was pretty fluent)
@@theimaginatrix7625 I’m writing away. Agents have had a hard time seeing the appeal because it doesn’t fit the exact niches a lot of language books or a lot of social science/sociology of race books fill
@@languagejones6784would you consider self publishing if the publishers don’t get it? I’m applying for an MA in literary linguistics, and ultimately I want to do a PhD on how language and literature uphold and dismantle systems of power. I think this would be a great springboard for me to understand black English better (I’m British and our MLE is quite different)
That scarecrow is Michael Jackson in The Wiz, not to be confused with the Wizard of Oz. It has all the same characters except it's told from an "urban" viewpoint. I remember when they announced on national news that kids in California not testing well wasn't because of the teachers, it was because kids were too stupid to understand basic English. That's how it was implied. They were saying since proper English wasn't spoken at home kids found it difficult in school. I was a child myself, living on the East Coast and when I heard that, it hurt my heart, it still does, because I can clearly remember the news talking about them naming it Ebonics. People don't seem to understand when it comes to American Black Culture when people talk about a group of us, we know they're talking about all of us. Because we are hardly ever seen as individuals. Thank you for taking the time to make this video.
I have learned that it is impossible to learn the languages of any group of people you hold contempt for! You cannot speak someone's language if you cannot think of them as your equals, or your peers. Learning a language requires a level of empathy, listening, and learning that racists do not possess. Contempt precludes learning!
@@Name-ps9fxunfortunately being black in America means that you don’t have the option of not interacting with the dominant society and understanding them is literally how black people have survived for these past 5 centuries. No other group of people understand the dominant group and their racist subset more than black people. It’s because of the black person having the greatest genetic potential to erase the phenotypical features of a white person’s offspring when mixing dna with a white person that is at the root of their deep seated hatred of black people.
That's literally where our word for barbarians came from. Greeks looking at those savages living out north of them and saying, "Those dumdums over there are so stupid. They don't even speak a language, they just say barbarbar over and over. We should call them barbaros because they're so dumb and primitive."
Definitely interested in your book. I teach Phonetics, Child Language Development and Linguistics. I like to continually add tools to improve my teaching.
My favorites are “I’m already knowin, child please, I’m dead, I’m weak, I ain’t gone hold you, say less, this is a fact, put ya foot in it, fly in the buttermilk, you ugly for that, run and tell that, played in your face, down bad, cuz why would you step like that?” And many more ☺️
@@moneyboy2k it means something seems weird or off, out of place. Something seems like it shouldn’t be present or be the way it is. It can apply to the way somebody acts around you, or your own intuition about a daily situation. It comes from a famous black author James Baldwin writing during a time of high racial tension in his story, a black boy had to attend an all white school, entering a school where the boy is not wanted or is made to feel out of place. In Ebonics it’s the white equivalent of “something smells fishy” we use the saying to mean “something ain’t right” it’s been interchanged with “somethin ain’t clean in the buttermilk”
I watched a video where a man drove around America recording black ppl speaking their versions of AAVE, and it was so diverse, even to the point of being impossible to understand in some areas. And this is coming from someone who grew up on AAVE. But the comments were so NASTY, they were filled with white people calling the boys ignorant and dirty for the way they spoke and where they lived. They were also misunderstanding what the black boys were saying and calling them "Jacka**es", but they doubled down and got defensive when i tried to correct and inform them about what was actually being said. The video was fairly normal, but it got an awfully disproportionate amount of hate. So thank you for this, and helping to spread the message that AAVE just has a different set of complex rules. It's just as valid as ANY OTHER dialect of English whether its Country, Australian, or from the islands, AAVE is simply just another dialect. Also we formed our own dialect because they didn't want to integrate with us until recently, now we get harassed for it. I swear we can't win with them.
I know exactly what video you’re talking about! That video was so incredibly fascinating and made me learn so much about the diversity of Black English. Shame the comment section was a mess. I feel like creators who make content about marginalized communities if they have the time should censor hateful, bigoted comments that don’t contribute to public conversation :/
It was hilarious to hear this example. I don’t even know how I feel about the incorrect adoption and use of black English in mainstream English and by people who don’t know what they’re saying. I guess a mixing of cultures isn’t a bad thing but listening to people misspeak so confidently just rubs me such the wrong way. Like you’ve seen this verbiage before but don’t actually speak to or interact with the people who it comes from…
I'm a Black person that had to grow up and go to an HBCU to learn this lesson, which is just a testament to the racism DEEPLY rooted in our education system and general way of thinking.
Attempting to teach everyone how to speak the language in a way (the "correct" way) in which we can understand each other (regardless of where we grew up) isn't racism. 🤦♂ And remember, English isn't only an American language, it's spoken throughout the world. There are many ways to speak English and they are all understandable if you learn them. Local dialects are not only officially incorrect (and sometimes less clear or less efficient), their differences from mainstream English are useless or counterproductive if you are trying to communicate with someone outside of your local group.
@@NEatopMtHyjalwell, what about the southern American accent that white Americans use? Also British English. Colleges teach general American English. A forerunner who learned English in the UK will struggle in America. Every area has local dialects, especially the the UK. Teaching a language isn’t wrong, but AAVE is spoken all throughout America by black people. A black person who grows up in an area who speaks that dialect, someone could struggle and I agree they should know general American English it wouldn’t hurt to teach or help people who speak differently to understand.
@@Ezana001 There's a big difference between an accent and a dialect; but yes, to the degree that people in the Southern US or the UK are speaking using dialects... those are not helpful for broader communication. "AAVE is spoken all throughout America by black people" - That isn't true, if you want to hear it from someone else... just watch the video we're posting on. Furthermore, I can't speak using any English dialects, but I find most to be understandable with just a small amount of effort. Given my experience, I have to assume that any decent attempt to learn the differences (or even just being in a community who speaks a dialect) will easily result in a firm grasp. I would also assume the reverse is true; if you speak an English dialect and need to learn "proper" or "correct" or "mainstream" English, it shouldn't be very difficult. It's just a matter of effort, time, exposure.
You coulda been gone there: You could have completed going there a long time ago You been coulda gone there: You have had the opportunity to go there for a long time
I studied creative writing and Black studies at Columbia, and have a deep interest in linguistics, semiotics, etc. so that book idea sounds amazing, I really hope you’re able to publish that asap
"You can't win, you can't break even, and you can't get out of the game," is a fairly famous way of stating the laws of Thermodynamics. I would definitely buy that book!
Thermodynamics? No! What this line is saying is: no matter how hard you work, even if successful, you still lose. If you work hard, and do just enough to get by, you still lose, and you can't get out of the game, because the deck is stacked, the rules are rigged, and they will ALWAYS change to ensure the OPPRESSOR wins. It's really not that hard to figure out. Thermodynamics, stop! Just another white person trying to fix the game.
Thank You for your educated review. Its so important that our culture is reviewed & analyzed thru an unbiased lense.. Very rarely do we get honest interpretations....you are greatly appreciated. You've just taught me not to view my own vernacular as negative, but more creative. As a black woman born in America, I have to constantly remind myself not to view myself thru the eyes of those who deem themselves "superior".
Thank u, sir🫡🫡
I question the reliability of much of this as a skeptic. My default English is black, but close to half of the info imo is wrong. Other half is spot on. I appreciate the effort into explaining the nuances, however I think he may need to speak to some more people that actually grew up talking "black". Some of the complications and therefore sophistication is wrong (ain't right 😂). All love though, thank you.
@@alexanderd.9460That’s the part I’m trying to figure out.
It’s like some of these “Black” people in these comments are JUST now realizing their own speech is valid (because a White guy in a YT video said so). Black English can’t be studied because it’s so heavily nuanced, localized and can vary depending on location; even some of his examples are quite dated.
While I’m not saying I don’t appreciate the attempt, Black people can’t be studied on a cultural, social and spiritual level by someone non-Black.
I guess for some people it takes a Caucasian to say the same thing we’ve been saying for years, in order for anyone to pay attention.
@@getinloser666 it does seem like a white guy patronizing blacks for clout, but I also want to give him the benefit of the doubt that he is acting with honor even though he is plugging his book that is probably very flawed still.
Two VERY privileged and entitled white ppl "question" this😂😂😂
@@alexanderd.9460There is no such thing as “speaking Black”. Poor English and slang is poor English and slang-period! Don’t buy into this! This is White Liberal garbage!
You good = are you ok
You good = leave me alone
You good = don’t worry
You good = You are good
I actually read it with a different tone each time 😂
You good?
YOU GOOD?!
you good.
You good!
Lol, i broke it do2n to the ways we would say it by the description..@@w..j..2605
Eeeh, limitations of writing. They're really
Yew good?
Y'Good?
Yuh good!
Yeh gooood.
Nah stop it. That's the best you can come up with? Try ratchet east coast to west coast
Basically we Talk so yall can't understand us. Then we change it when u do.
This is the best answer.
Best answer indeed!
For shizzle
The long of the short of it 🤣
Chuuuuuch
Also, as a Black woman, it bothers me how much our AAVE / Black English is being termed as “Gen Z Slang” cause no its not. They copied it from us, something we *been* using ☺️
I noticed that so much of what they say now, we used decades ago.
I saw some little Gen Z girls tryna say "Gyat...!" was an acronym for "Girl, yo' ass thick!" And all it did was piss me off.
Ay, yo... Check this out, Gen Z... Stay out our shit. Smh.
Drag queens have also stolen a lot slang from blacck women and now people say that blacck women copied from the drag queens. 🙄
Funny.. you act like it's an honor to be responsible for bastardizing the English language and being the original uneducated ones. Young people should by no means copy your culture. Your sad excuse of a culture is the incarnated version of the movie "Idiocracy" being carried out in real life.
That's true about so many aspects of culture in addition to language. The "new, cool" trends in fashion, music, etc. are things that Black people have been doing for a decade or two.
"Excuse me, stewardess. I speak jive."
ahhh what movie was this again???
@@marcwillard Airplane
Jive is an actual dialect within AAVE. Sounds much different from standard aave
Great movie
😂
And when outsiders catch on, we come up with all new slang and dialects 🤣🤣🤣
Ong 😂😂 💯
Facts...... When they catch up they are already behind
Its been evolving even faster with social media😂😂😂
Right? Gotta keep the game rollin
Lol you sholl kno what to say
This is really interesting because whenever I hear someone misuse Black English grammar, it feels the same way as when someone misuses Standard American English. I guess it was just my brain picking up on the grammatical rules of both systems.
Agreed. A white friend once got frustrated that I wasn’t messaging her back fast enough (I’m guessing), so after like 10 minutes she messaged me “Why won’t you fuck with me!” I was confused. I now believe she was meaning it as a variant of, “I fuck with her,” and she wanted me to interact with her… because she didn’t know that it’s a general mood of being cool with someone and not a specific interaction? It sounds weird even as I type.
@@mollygrace3068 This conjured up an image of you confused and typing back “But girl I do”😂
This dude should be telling you there's no such thing as Standard American English! At least, that's what he told me - I mean, he's wrong, but still, that's what he said.
Well black English is a European dialect but @@kendallwhite7002
ppl misusing black english fr be sounding like starfire
"You coulda been gone there" = you could've traveled to that place long ago. "You been coulda gone there" = you've had access to that place for a long time
"Du hättest dahingehen können" "You hadded theregoing can/ "Du hast dahingehen können" "You had theregoing can" somewhat similar structure in german tbh😂 funny how similar the structure is, although you would always add an adverb so the meaning is more clear in german and the meaning isnt transported by the position of the "be", but by the past tense with the conjunctive. so the conjucative with the plusquamperfect says that you could have done something in the past, but now its over (this you also have in latin: "Si tacuisses, philosophus mansisses"). And the the other form means you were able to go somewhere for an interval and can probably still do it. (usually used together with "die ganze zeit" "all the time" -> "Du hast die ganze Zeit dahingehen können?" "You could have gone there all the time?") Its interesting how we still have the grammatical structure but we dont really use it to carry much meaning as we nearly always use adverbs. but the meaning is the same without adverbs, its just not as clear. its interesting how much simpler its to use the word position of the "be" to indicate that instead of a very complicated grammatical contruction.
“You could have been there” is how we say it. And we hate the white term “Ebonics” 🤣🤦🏾♂️🤷🏾♂️
Bingo
"been gone"= left a little while ago.."been din gone"= left a long time ago
@Gr8Poseidon It's a black term, and it's spelled, Ebonyx. You know, like ebony, black?
Its so funny too cuz
"what he do?"
Is a direct translation of both "what did he do?" and "what does he do?"
who gives a fuck? It's broken English whether you think so or not. Maybe they should learn to speak the real thing?
@@aaa-hs3itits not about being able to “speak the real thing” you clearly didnt grow up around the type of people who use it or why its used in the first place (explained in the video). If u grow up in a hispanic household that only speaks Spanish what do u think you’re going to do? speak russian to them😂? Also very ignorant to assume people who speak this way cant speak classroom english. Diversity in schools is a good example. My schools were always very diverse when it came to the students. Of course people hang with who they’re comfortable with and usually who they can relate to in some way. A big way being culture. language is part of culture. Aae is not just a surface level thing because of ignorance. I dont bash jamacians for how they speak because it’s their own language and has its own meaning the same aae does and every other language on earth. Id rather learn how to speak jamacain than complain that i dont understand it and call them out on a false intelligence accusation😂
(Coming from a non-native English speaker)
To me it sounds like most of the dialect is just simplified English but bases the exact meaning off of context instead of specifying words.
It isn't more complex, it's just a different approach to conveying meaning than "standard" English that allows spoken sentences to be more simplistic
It's very hard to compare complexity anyway since it's subjective.
What he done did?
@@aaa-hs3it y=Careful, your mastery of English and intelligence is showing
I always thought …. “If it’s so lazy and simple for simple people then why can’t you do it? Why do YOU sound so stupid trying to imitate it… incorrectly?”
Too smart to speak lazy.
@@Aeimos Lazy is brillant. Why? Removes unnecessary verbiage.
@@jamessanders6788if no one was ever a little bit lazy then I don’t think a lot of inventions would have been invented
@@Aeimos sick of these people speaking "english" remember when we used to speak PIE like civilized people, distraughting to see how we've fallen
@@jamessanders6788 The extra verbiage is more intelligent and aligns with the grammar inherited from the Indo-European branch and is White.
Hahaha this made me realize when we "code switch" it's really a language switch! Soon as 5pm hit the "ebonics" is back 😩
Code switching runs much deeper... What you are talking about it's just about being professional at work
😂
All the Black professionals agree🤣🤣🤣
It’s more than language switching. But I won’t go into details in front of company.
Omg so true lol
I’m a 25 yr old black man from Louisiana and the fact that a white linguist is deciphering the language of me and my friends is really trippy to say the least lol
They study us so they can harvest and colonize our culture
Right lol
Lmfao, been thinking I wanted to make a video myself like this as a black man, but if bro is accurate and has a platform then it’s a start. Does the validity of the subject matter at hand depend on the ethnicity of the speaker?
@@brainsanitation imo it kinda does but in a positive way… I for one have been advocating for creole/ebonics for years but now it’s being recognized by academics as a legitimate dialect, the fact that said academic happens to be white makes it more palatable to non black people
@@brainsanitation I say this respectfully as a linguist on the other side of the globe (North Africa): ethnicity does not matter one bit. Speaking a language and studying the inner workings of it are two entirely different things. Noam Chomsky revolutionised the study of linguistics, but he wasn't comfortable/fluent in any language other than English.
Linguistics is a descriptive science, and as such, linguists do the necessary field work (i.e. talking to people who actually speak the language they are studying) before writing anything about it.
The scientific method is the same whether you're talking about a language you're fluent in, or a language you do not speak at all. I'm working on AAVE myself, and I am THRILLED that it's getting more recognition!
The way I cackled when you intentionally spoke it wrong? 💀Amazing breakdown. Thank you for this.
I’m so dead 😂😂
I appreciate the respectful, non-exploitative approach you took here. And, yes, I want that book.
non-exploitative? Do you really believe a person of color could write that book with 95% of the publishing industry being white? And news flash many so called black books are written by white or white with black pen name authors. This is exploitative especially since he’s writing a new on the basis of European American reclassification of Indigenous people calling us African when we are not African.
I want that book too. this is my first time hearing someone speak on black english or language from within black american culture
@@JeanAvantif that’s the case you still haven’t. He’s not in the Black American culture, he has experience with it yes but he’s not in it. A lot of what he said was incorrect at that. He gave you a more than normal educated white perspective. 😂
@@skandol8650This is your calling to write a book!
So "tryna" CAN mean "trying to", but you're right that we also use it a lot to mean "want to," "thinking about," "planning on, " etc.
i’m not black but grew up speaking Black English w my peers - the example that came to mind is fixing something.
“i’m tryna fix this thing” could mean both “in the moment i am attempting to repair it”, and “i have intention down the line to fix the thing”.
@@Very_Okay That's a good example because saying "I'm not tryna fix that," would definitely sound like "I have no intention of fixing that."
@@Very_Okaywhen you make a suggestion to a friend and they respond “I ain’t fixin to do sh*t” and you all burst out laughing is a staple when communicating in black. I grew up hearing that on the west coast with family and neighbors from the south.
@@theinvisiblewoman5709 😂😂😂 true.
@@theinvisiblewoman5709 I also know of white speech examples of "fixin' " to do something. It meant more like I'm planning on doing something, either in the near future, or at an indeterminate time. But I don't think I ever heard it in the negative.
As a white guy that played Scrabble with black people, I coulda told you this years ago.
I am deceased 💀 thinking about you playing scrabble with folks using AAVE vocab!
I do speak AAVE, and write some of it on social media in blk spaces, but it never occurred to me that AAVE or Ebonics was showing up in scrabble games! 💀
lol 😂
🤣 I use to play scrabble with my grandmother, that was her favorite game and she would use words of Louisiana Creole, AAVE and standard English and I _swear_ she would be making up words if she was starting to lose. 😂
@@RobeLifeMusic uh Rob, that's 'i coulda been told y'all that' 🤣
@@oneidajames-rebeccu4847 True. Also, it's Robe, not Rob. As in the majestic clothing and sleepwear attire. Hence, "Robe Life" 👘🙌
You coulda been gone there ≈ Why ain’t you back?
You been coulda gone there ≈ Why ain’t you left?
"I been told you that = I told you that a long time ago, dummy" On point 100% lol Love the "dummy" part cause it adds the frustration we feel for that thing that was told not being recognized/remembered.
Soooo true 😂and my face always scrunches up. 😖 Like my aunt always said “duh-ruh” 😏
It’s the same as “I’ve been telling you that.” It just cuts out words. Have to fill in the blanks.
@@funkrates4778I been done told you that means something different from I been telling you that. I been done told you that implies that you are tired from repeating yourself. So listen carefully this time. I been telling you that. Implies that you are glad they finally understand.
@@funkrates4778one is said before the party understands and one is said after the party understands.
@@sadejones6657 okay. Nobody said “I been done told you. “ anyway, it means “I had already told you that.” Either way, that’s what it means.
this is how i feel explaining caribbean languages to my foreign friends. ebonics is seen as lazy but is vastly complex and diverse, also constantly evolving.
Emphasis on constantly evolving I go back to the city and hear new lingo and laugh at how it keeps going I love it
@@dfredankey word, I'm Dominican. Just started kicking it with folks who came to the states and found out all my slang been outdated for a whole decade
This 👆🏿 & often labelled with derogatory terms like "Broken English" when they are Creoles that even carry grammatical inflexions from African languages! Nothing can be broken about a language!
gotta keep the posers at bay
I don't see why it would need to be explained why a none American would speak broken English..
What I’m learning from this video is that we don’t think Black English be like it is, but it do.
😂😂
Yes, and lol
fo shizzle
And is 😅😅
Your the speak English type
Facts!
black english uses A LOT of energy and emotion in it. it's not something you can just understand without spending time with them
and think about this. have you ever noticed all these new slangs are mostly black slangs? finna, cookin, bussin, etc
white kids *are not* coming up with this lol
I was the only AA in my accelerated Teaching program. When I told the professor that my mom made us speak standard English at home and at our Catholic school, but we spoke vernacular outside of the home, he said, so you're bilingual. I was so tickled inside because my classmates were SO uncomfortable. 😂
I wish other people could understand this
that's not what being bilingual is...I could claim the same thing as I can speak both American and British English. Dialects are not the same as languages. And in case you are wondering, I do speak 2 other languages
@@JonZiegler6 well, as they say languages are dialects which have the army and the navy.
@@mikhailmokeev6913 well I speak a language from a country with no navy... That's a nonsense quote
@@JonZiegler6 well, as of now there are no "countries". forget that. having a global banking system and the system of global information distribution makes the term obsolete. maybe with one exception, which is the country of the ethnicity the author of this qoute belonged.
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/A_language_is_a_dialect_with_an_army_and_navy
Ngl. He cooking when he said they be sounding like “todays weather be like sunshine” 😂
It’s so wrong it like deep now. Heh
Last year I don’t know if you remember the news that a local meteorologist said “Fo shìzzle my ńìzzle” live on the air. She was responding to her colleague and she got fìred
No he wasn’t nobody even say it like that no more 🤦🏽🤷🏽🤣😭💀
i have never heard anyone say it like that lmbo
I had an immediate blank stare lmao but im also some people here even by this point may be like 'it sounds fine to me' haha
One example of two words with multiple meanings are: "You good?" And "Alright now".
Soooooooo many meanings !!!
And there's the fact that
"You good?"
and
"You good."
Can be about as sentimentally opposite as it gets.
We can't tell everything Good People🤫..Even though we change it when they learn it we got to chill on giving lessons ✊🏿
@@SizondThis is bonding for us. You can't truly speak our language by learning facts on paper so knowing this tidbit means nothing if you're not already connected to the culture.
But the funny thing is I feel like some of them already have a sense of what I'm getting at based on the few times I've responded "You good" when they've genuinely said "My bad" after some minor thing happened with no ill intent on their part.
Just like saying, "That Part."
@@AK_7906 I agree why not give lessons lol they are the ones who are always trying to make us feel bad or stupid about talking naturally, so next time they try that bs that can't say we didn't explain it to them.
The best part is how we’re able to switch back and forth instantaneously.
Nooo, you’re leaking our secrets.
I laughed too hard at this 🤣
😂😂😂
Pu'in all our biz'nes on front street. But it's all good
😅😂😂
This ain't even no secret... I'm sick of people correcting me when I type.
This video was food for my soul. As a black American in STEM, from college through 15 years in the private sector, I have seen bright and capable young men and women be looked on as "slow" for not being able to express themselves a narrower band of English "code-switching". thank you for the work that you do and I am looking forward to your book.
Code-switching is literally a part of life for EVERYONE in the US under 50. We do it with our kids, our communities, our professions etc. It's not a bad thing as it forces our brains to constantly reevaluate a situation and come up with the most appropriate response. Anyone who doesn't "code-switch" has by nature a very insular life.
not able to express themselves in a narrower band 😂😂 massive cope
Attempting to teach everyone how to speak the language in a way (the "correct" way) in which we can understand each other (regardless of where we grew up) is only logical. Remember, English isn't only an American language, it's spoken throughout the world. There are many ways to speak English and they are all understandable if you learn them. Local dialects are not only officially incorrect (and sometimes less clear or less efficient), their differences from mainstream English are useless or counterproductive if you are trying to communicate with someone outside of your local group.
@@Leispada what is your position / argument on this? You said cope but didn't give reasons why
To OP: I'm a Black Nigerian American (born here in the US with Nigerian immigrant parents) in computer science and math, tho I've only been in my working career for just over 5 years so you have about 10 years on me. That's awesome to hear from your perspective!! I'm heavily involved in orgs like NSBE and have an idea of that you're talking about, a lot of very smart young people who maybe just haven't had as much exposure to the corporate / professional world and just need some guidance on how to navigate it. Keep doing your thing! What field of STEM are you in?
"They not like us..."
underrated comment
🎉🎉🎉🎉🎉
🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥💣🎤
For my white friends: this means 'they not like us'
EDIT: im sorry if you still cant read it, youre just white
Good answer good answer... We cut from a different Cloth..
We speak in rhythm, in frequency codes
I used your dissertation in my Undergraduate thesis and now i'm getting my PhD in Linguistics at University of Michigan! THANK YOU SO MUCH and I'm glad to see sociolingusitic content on youtube dispelling the many myths surrounding African American Language. Your work is very appreciated!!
go blue! engineering undergrad here :)
Congratulations!!!
Congratulations!!
GO BLUE!!!💙 Psych!!!
Congratulations!!!
my high school English teacher gave the class a whole rundown on this too when someone was saying that rappers don't know how to use English. was a good day that day
Black English is mostly about being cryptic in order to avoid the law it's complexities are the primary feature. It's not complex because of higher standards it's complex due to a necessity and as soon as a whitey figures out the code it's changed. Black English is overly complex to the point of being useless outside of its own microcosms. Black English isn't good for communicating vital technical information it's mostly good for scoring drugs or getting prostitutes. It's not an engineering language is the language of a criminal.
Aye dawg where u at im tryna come tru and take a flight.
White translation
I'm trying to come over so I can drugs with you and get High
Your English teacher had a passion for language and teaching. Good on them!
Most of them don't, tho
Shake it like you tryna get paid
Make that ass clap
Work it like you tryna get a raise
Make that ass clap
Them niggas throwin' ones we throwin' hundreds
Make that ass clap
Came in the club straight stuntin'
Make that ass clap
We don't stand around we make it rain
Make that ass clap
Bitch this ain't no check, this Just some change
Make that ass clap
Baby you the baddest of them all
Make that ass clap
Somebody give her a round of applause
Make that ass clap
@@TrePrince you’re literally are not listening to this video.
As a 40+ Black man born in MS and raised in MI and have lived in IL, GA, TX, and currently CA, this right up my alley! "You coulda been gon dere" indicates what you probably should have already done, while "You been coulda gon dere" indicates the ability to go that spot has been present for a long time and isn't necessarily present now! One is a statement of what was expected but not achieved, the other is a question about why it wasn't!
With sarcasm on the side 😂. Glad to read it's read the same as I heard it.
Exactly!
And this is a base level example. Because depending on our mood, how we say it or given the situation when we say it; the phrase, question or statement can take on a whole other meaning. And this is what most outsiders don't understand...! 😂😂 It's like we have a code within a code within an code.
@@d_classified6433🌹
A lot of communication with us is all about tone and inflection and you know what’s meant based on our collective experience, like Keke giving her one word “Rose” as the clue for “Titanic.” 😁😶
New subbie! Thank you for taking the time to understand our culture. ❤
I didn’t realize how much I used AAVE until I moved to Korea because my non-US friends were constantly asking me what I was saying. I specifically remember telling a friend “She shoulda been done that 🙄” and my friend was like “huh? Is that even English” 🤣 living there definitely made me appreciate our culture and variety of English more
I hope you told her she was right.
That's not english !
@@BryanBrett-q4d yeah, as I said it’s AAVE lol
@@BryanBrett-q4d it’s not standard English no. It’s a dialect. It’s like you didn’t watch the video.
I know it’s off topic but is living in Korea better than America? Are there any pros or cons ?
@@BryanBrett-q4ddid you not watch the video ????
man, you killed this! you clarified things in our dialect that i knew instinctually but never considered trying to explain. your handle on tenses is ridiculous, i heard there's 36 tenses or something like that, i might speak them all but couldn't label more than like 4. lol. first, i smiled every time you said a sentence in this dialect and it flowed outcha mouf like u been speakin this. the respect feels good.
I appreciate you! I came up in communities that speak this language. It definitely stands out when people fake it.
Right, he slid that in and I had to be like, heyyyy, wait a minute 🧐
Same I agree🤣😭 I was smiling the whole video it made me appreciate our dialect a loooot more. 😮💨‼️
Solid approach.! Looking forward to your book
And you think that this is good? That’s wazzup🤨
My favorite AAVE saying is still “Say less,” because we say a LOT more with a LOT less and we mean it LOL
It basically means.."I gotcha, no need to further explain"
It's the hood version of "As long as we tracking.."
In the country we say " say no mo"😂
@@CHASIN_A_BASS”say no mo” and “say less” are actually different 😅
The former is an agreement with the words previously spoken. While the later is an acknowledgement of understanding the context of a situation without further explanation, usually it indicates advice is to follow. I.e “say less, so watchu gon do about it”
@@3zyon actually around here they mean the same exact thing. And are used interchangeably.
They on to us y’all we gotta change up our vernacular quick!
As a black man with two college degrees and a grandmother who was a school teacher, I was able to master both, the “King’s English” and “Ebonics”. My favorite term in AAL is “iight now” or “alright now”. Can be used as a warning, a congratulatory praise and a couple other different interpretations. To understand which one is being used requires context of the situation at hand. Those of us who have the ability to use both traditionally use one or the other depending on the environment, hence the term “code switching”.
Stop giving away secrets! LOL Context, Tone and even age can determine what some words "saying" mean. Truly, has cultural and generational significance. No 🧢
"Alright now" is standard English and has multiple meanings based on intonation and context as well.
I remember when you did not talk if front of company. ❤
lol You are so right I'm 22 and use "Yah Hurd meh" and "alright now" the second one can also be used as a greeting or to show that you are listening or agreeing with something.
@@nonyobisniss7928 Yes the two words Alright and Now are english but how blacks use it is different.
Tone plays a big part in it too lots of people think we are angry but we simply express ourselves differently
exactly, we’re not angry we’re passionate!
Idk bruv, Ice Cube always looks angry, no matter what he says
@@arkoarko9559that man is a teddy bear. He just has heavy rbf... 😂
@@ajm935 that I Agree
It’s cause people yell when they speak (obviously not everyone, but in general they speak louder). I see why it can be bothering to others.
It can feel like the person talking doesn’t care or is not thinking about the people around by talking loud and making their presence felt by everyone, even if they don’t mean to portray this.
So this over comfortableness makes other people uncomfortable. Same thing when a junky starts talking loud or yelling in the street. It’s uncomfortable unless you are used to it.
People around get intimidated even though you’re just being “over expressive”. If somebody sees a person who is very expressive, one assumes that any emotion can burst at any time, being unpredictable, which is what people don’t like.
We northern Mexicans go through the same because our accent it’s also loud and rough so people think we are angry all the time.
Black English sounds like a tea
so true
Or a person.
Lol.
Earl Grey’s lesser known cousin
English dialect of African Americans is pretty long. :D One of people called it in my native language: African Americans' dialect and I like it.
An idiot admires complexity, a genius admires simplicity.
Black people speak melodically. We bend the language to our personalities and use words differently based on situations and are not limited by the dictionary
It's based on our original West African sentence structure
@@sparklesp9304 Such as?
@sparklesp9304 no it ain't. That's all black American made.
He is probably upset because they CANNOY CONTRY OUR TONGUES! 💆🏾🔥🖤👸🏾🙎🏾♂️🙍🏾
Just magical ✨✨✨
It's why it's so easy to know when someone is misusing AAVE. It's obvious to native speakers
A k-pop star went viral and got dragged for saying "I'm gon' finna" in a song last year
It was the most cringe thing I've heard in ages 😬
For Koreans not to like black people that much, they stay biting our ish!
@@concamon1364 hahahahaa
Yup. Not like us...proceed with caution.
Kpop stars are supposed to be hiring americans for their lyrics? Yikessss😅 but Koreans make a lot of mistakes in English anyway cause they have such a different native language than us
I would be super interested in a book about Black English’s impact on Standard American English. Too many people have this stuffy idea that language is some pure, unchanging, God-given thing that is either right or wrong, and more people need to understand that different dialects or forms of communication are not only perfectly valid, but often influence each other
Thanks! Another issue I see a lot is the treatment of AAE like it’s some qualitatively different thing. It’s a language variety, and we do a tremendous disservice by pretending it’s not a linguistically normal variety that is unique in the ways that all language varieties are
@@languagejones6784 It's inferior, less precise, imperfectly learned and imperfectly used English. Try as you might, you can never make your case. You're just that type of white person. What you're doing is actually racist, but you think it's the opposite of racist.
@@languagejones6784 It's of no value. It's funny how a certain type of white person, well-meaning, maybe, wants to elevate imperfectly learned English. Similar to Singlish, where I can't imagine an American or European learning imperfect Mandarin and mixing it with English because learning the real language is just too hard.
@@languagejones6784 Shouldn't a black linguist write this book? Whitey knows better, I guess.
A study conducted at King's College London determined that over the last 100 years, African Americans are responsible for expanding the English language more than any other group.
The group that has done the most damage to English? Conservative White Americans. Mostly by appropriating words and changing or distorting their accepted meaning, but also by gaslighting and declaring words they couldn't manipulate to their advantage invalid and/or stigmatizing their usage.
As a white person who was raised to appreciate "proper English" all through school, who knows the difference between you're and your and there/their/they're and even it's and its and am always slightly annoyed when they're used incorrectly, I'll admit and appreciate that your channel and other similar linguistic sources are absolutely changing my viewpoint on the purpose of language in society, on the richness of AAVE and other cultural dialects, and on how language changes over time. Thank you for helping to educate me.
As a black dude, I’ve really come to appreciate one thing about America. That’s bringing us all together. Didn’t care as a child, but as an adult now, I love being around white, Asian, Latino & other black folks etc. always something to learn.
that's not unique to America, broski. Most major ports all over the world had multiple groups of differing ethnicities. But I share in your particular "glimmer" (opposite of "trigger") when it comes to being around a variety of people. But I love being around MY people most.. it's lit.
@@lexxlucreAmerica is obviously on a completely different level though when comes to ethnicity’s, growth and coming together.
Life quite literally wouldn’t be the same if we never did. It doesn’t get better then having unity in one of the most united countries on earth. Those are *my* people
@lexxlucre Except America was founded on the idea that we could all come together as different people to create a better world. To me that is a beautiful goal
@@ArtistUnknownOfficial idk if it was "founded" on it
🙄
Dr. Jones used that "finna" so smoothly, I ain't even notice it!
I caught it 2 seconds later and said, "aight... touché, sir 😏"
I was confused for a hot sec then it clicked. 😂😂😂
timestamp?
@@bradentheman1373 it's right before the title logo, at 1:08
real talk! it was only after he "corrected" himself that I was like... _damn_
"It's totally possible to get Black English wrong..." Absolutely!! Tell tale sign of a troll!
Facts! The Twitter racists do this when they’re trying to mock Black Americans.
Yessss
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
I used to frequent a Błack website FULL of impostors pretending to be Błack. 😞 It was so obvious. They sounded so ridiculous and their reactions to things that happened in the news were clearly off. RealBłack people didn’t care about half the stuff they were responding to. It was so so ridiculous 🥴
And their responses to things. We know how Błack people generally tend to think. They start off their statement with “As a Błack person, I think.... ...” and here we go with the lies.😂😂
“As a Błack person I say everyone should be arrested for parking next to a fire hydrant so we can clean up our communities.”
🤔🙄arrested? chile please.
Trust and believe NOBODY Błack thinks that 🙄🙄....with as long as we’ve been dealing with excessive polîcïng, please know we see you, “Błack person.”
As a black woman, thank you for the respectful spirits in which you went about this discussion.
It feels so weird to hear the standard way I talk broken down like this 😅 ....
I don't think about anything that I or other black Americans say, I just understand it depending on tone and context. At this point, I don't really notice when I "code switch" either until I've already finished talking with whoever it is that I switched for. I accidentally said "what you finna do after " to a white friend at work and he was lost, so I cleaned it up by asking if he had plans lol
Love Finna!
😂😂
Facts!! I kept having to pause and think when he would say "this doesn't mean this, it means that," because I'm like, it literally means that, but it also can be used to mean the other thing he said. However, as a black person you would just know that based upon the use of "mood" as he called it so I never really had to think about it intellectually, not to mention he wasn't saying it with the right intonation/mood. Had me shook for a sec, like do I really not understand what I think I know? Lmao!
A white friend of mine heard a BW say, “I went off on him.” She asked me what that meant and I told her. The next week she told me that she, “went off” on her husband. I laughed on the inside 😂
they study us like lab rats tryna recreate the formula. Chile....good luck.
This is why I love battle rap from a lyrical stand point. Theres so many nuances and entendres based on the way things are phrased and placed. So cool.
YES!❤
Crazy you say that; Me and my brother have always said the reason why people don't like actual HIP HOP is because they literally can't understand it , due to the way how we structure our bars and stanzas. You see metalhead reaction videos and a lot of them SIMPLE don't understand, I remember watching one where they were watching 'Shook ones' and literally didn't know what 'Shook ' meant, I was appalled.
It's definitely an art that would.have to be broken down.. love battle rap for that reason as well
As a Black woman who knows how to speak both, I loved your explanation and would love to read your book!!!
Read, Sonja Lanehart's book FIRST . she is the source .
Bro, How are you funny, subtle and informaitve at the same time.
I literally had to hit the subscribe button under duress, you pulled my hand.
Thank you sir, i been telling these people my english is fine.
'Black English' = broken English. Learn to speak correctly or continue to sound like an idiot to everyone else. Pretty simple.
I wrote a Hip Hopera back in 1995. When asked what language it was performed in, I told folk Black English ⚫️ aka Ebonics. 🙏🏿
Ah, 90s were good times for hip hop and rap.
My son sent this to me because I have a tad of a reputation... mild grammar freak. I loved this! Great explanation of Black English. No, it's not the same as bad grammar. I can't wait to see more of your videos. Also, ya won me over when you played my morning motivation jam!!
"Are you flying on a plane, or do you _be fly_ on a plane?"
"It depends."
"On what?"
"On how you're dressed"
No one says do you be fly on a plane. Just stop.
that's a movie quote can't remember which one. house party or class act
@@lisag31lmao of course no one says it- at least not until a mf is fly on a plane 💀💀
“You flying a plane?” Would be correct.
@@lisag31 You missed the joke, Lisa. It was about being fly.
I remember my little brother called this white girl “cold”. He thought she was fine. She was so confused when we told her that. She was like, “he said I’m cold because he thinks I’m hot?”
Always cracked me up.
Nooo I’m dead 😂
someone calling u cold is a top tier compliment. 🥶 but ngl i forget some english speakers can’t understand aave😭
Wait, is being cold being very cool? You are making sense and I don't like it.
Sure. To say "cold" means someone or something is very cool, or awesome. It could mean something really good or amazing. It could mean top tier. @@andyarken7906
Y’all from the Midwest 🤔
I just died at “I been told you that… dummy” 😂😂💀💀
@katshell2059dummy is dummy, goofy.
I'm interested in your book that you've mentioned within the first few minutes of this video.
Also, awesome content being discussed on this video. I look forward to listening to more!
As an African, I'm ever so proud of the beauty I perceive whenever I hear black english
Babyspeak for adults.
As an African it has nothing to do with you. Black English came from Black AMERICANS
Tether
@@LiqmaBallzac sorry. Didn't mean to hurt your feelings. Haha
@@LiqmaBallzac FYI, I don't live in the United States and have zero intention of moving to a place where I'm not 100% comfortable in my skin.
Racism and anti-blackness has placed a perpetual blinder on everyone's perspective on AAs. We are incredibly innovative and creative people, but the blinders are so strong that everything we do is downplayed or diminished by the entire world.
Downplayed and diminished by the entire world yet imitated by the entire .... and I do mean entire world. Everything we do has made the entire world wealthy. Kids in [name a country{ have never even seen a Błack American in person yet are raking in millions imitating them. But continue downplaying and diminishing ...
Basically Culture Vultures
Exactly. Thats the gag.
SulminatiBoss - it’s because language is the easiest and most no-cost way to steal from a culture. Anybody can start speaking another way today.
It’s not like basketball where they want to do what Błack players do on the court. Those players literally changed the game and they want to do it but they can’t. They don’t have the moves, rhythm, speed, agility or strength. Can’t see the court.
Or music. They can’t just start improvising and playing by ear or dance the same or sing the same. That all requires talent to steal and duplicate. But language? Language is up for grabs. Just steal and say, and it’s “yours.” This is where we are
@@noble604 our language was never up for grabs, stealing like usual and putting your face on it, we don’t want or need ppl validation, you only saying that because you think it’s beneficial for you like usual but it don’t work like that
I didn’t realize how much people who don’t speak it really don’t understand it. It shows how little they’ve exposed themselves to the culture, how much separation there has been between the two worlds.
The origin of "Black Language," counter to your beliefs, is very well known. The language is the language of the Cracker/Redneck culture brought to the US South. The Crackers/Rednecks emigrated to the US South from the Scottish Highlands and the far northern reaches of the UK. It was never a pidgin and is not a creole. It is the continuation of the emigrated peoples language. Black Culture in the US is Cracker/Redneck culture. You are obviously a professor, not a doctor, and are not in anyways close to an expert on the subject of the video. The video's substance is completely created by you and contains zero truths. You're a sad phony.
I didnt realize it either! Wow!
Or it could be that Black people code switch around unfamiliar Whites.
It's always been easy for me to understand, but for my boomer dad you have to speak very slow and in a certain way or else he won't understand.
It's a bit like if a Brit spoke to you casually, you're gonna struggle with understanding some things.
This is FANTASTIC work, and YOUR voice is so necessary to give credence to these arguments and observations.
I am a journalist, writer and former Technical Writing teacher (at a local college) and I love, love, love writings from the greats such as Langston Hughes and Zora Neale Hurston because they often wrote in BLACK vernacular. It is NOT an easy thing to do!
If I, as an African American woman were to say EXACTLY what you’ve just said in this video 👉🏽VERBATIM👈🏽 I would be disregarded and accused of making everything about race. 🙄 So big up yourself. Your work truly helps the culture.
After seeing this video … what?!…
I’m interested in reading ALL yo books yo. ✊🏽WORD 😝😝😝
I'm black, but my Mother was a high school English teacher at a continuation school. Naturally, I was corrected 24 hours a day when I attempted to bring the language me and my friends used into our home 😂
I was always aware of the latest slang, and able to "code-switch" to some degree, I was definitely one of those black kids who "talked white" Iykyk 😂
What's wild is, my 19 year old son doesn't code switch at all. He is his 100% authentic self, even around other black people. He doesn't adopt a more "black" manner of speech to better fit in. Which is fine. I'm proud that he in confident in who he is.
Anyway, great video. I subbed and look forward to more...
It’s funny when people say, “talk white”. When it’s just proper English. We dumb ourselves down by claiming proper is white, when anyone can speak properly
@@dadegixxer”dumb ourselves down” no… standard English does not equal “smarter”, lol did you watch the video?
It not supposed to be to show how smart you are jackhole, its so your understood!!! If you can't talk properly i will assume its due to some sort of defect on your end. If you dont want to be "disrespected" then communicate properly.
@@dadegixxer But why SHOULD anyone want to speak like a public school teacher, or a newscaster, or what have you. That way of speaking isn't "proper" in any deep sense, it's merely what has been deemed proper (due to complicated historical-especially cultural, economic, and racial-reasons) by the group in power at some specific point in time. And it is NOT easy to speak that way naturally, because the whole point of declaring a specific way of speaking "proper" (which happens in part without conscious design) is to use it to erect social and economic barriers, to mark out those who can't master the dialect's subtleties the way the in-group can.
@@dadegixxer Right. But as MOST black kids will already know, "talking white" was a real thing growing up. I'm 47...so I have no idea what language js doing these days. I imagine most kids are talking "tiktok" now haha...
But, at least in the 1970s and 80s...you definitely got that label thrown your way if you spoke "proper" english.
I grew up around folks who spoke Black English (at the time popularly called Ebonics). It was pretty obvious to me from a young age that the people who called it "bad English" were just showing their ignorance. I'm glad you're tackling this issue.
Relatedly, one thing I noticed while studying Latin is that there are actually grammatical constructions in Black English that are doing the same thing that classical highly educated Latin authors were doing, but contemporary Americans were acting like it was unsophisticated. Sigh.
@@BacchusLumen the thing that really blows my mind is when Black folks started naming their kids things like Marcus it just tainted the name for white Americans. The mainstream really hates black folks more than it likes classical antiquity
what kind of grammatical constructions? I've never studied latin, so I'd be interested in what examples might be :o
You're full of shit. English had Latin grammar grafted on to it. "Black English" might, through the inability to learn this more awkward grammar, might be accidentally using an earlier form of English grammar - but it couldn't possibly be anything like Latin.
@@quicksilvertaint An example would be omitting the "to be" verb. For example, it's common to hear something in Black English like, "He crazy!" In Latin this was also common. "Ille insanus est!" would roughly translate to, "He is crazy!" in English. But if you were a native speaker of Latin, even if you were writing for a very sophisticated audience, it would be very common to say, "Ille insanus!" and just omit the "is" from the sentence. Which translates roughly as, "He crazy!" in English.
@@languagejones6784 , I agree with that wholeheartedly, and it's such a common example that it makes the point nicely. Relatedly, there are so many great classical names like Cesar or Marco or Julio or Aurelio that were also more common among my Latino classmates and friends growing up. It seems like there's a small resurgence of classical names among people who see themselves as counter-cultural right now, but it's hard to know if that will grow. Hopefully someday Μάρκος/Marcus will be mainstream again.
I’m so happy to have found this. As a Black woman who grew up in predominantly white neighborhoods and spaces, it’s difficult to explain all this to folks and their weird uncles at family gatherings. I definitely need the book!!
Same! I understand Black English, but don't really speak it since I grew up in mostly white areas too, and my parents are African, so we didn't use it at home. I'd love to read this book and learn more about it.
Sheeeeeeeiitt
frfr
So, Black dude here and I can say you know ya shyt. At first, I thought this was gonna be lame, but it turnt out to be informative. If there was a book coming...I would probably be, some what interested in getting a peek at it. Cool vid btw! Big ups to you taking a deep dive and trying to explain it to others, and soon as they start to understand a little...we most likely switch it up again!😅
Me too I thought white guy bout to to be on bs but I’m glad I watched ❤
Agreed. Though I do think he got one or two things wrong, overall his observation and interpretation were very well explained.
Isnt it really the same thing.
No matter when they did it. They still did it. “Been came out” for black people is also 3 days ago not a long time like a year ago .. people are just on different times and im black
He's very observant true...I would even say too observant 👀🤔 We're always under a microscope and I don't like it. What's understood don't need to be explained.
@@Rebecca23434 idk i think this applies to every “broken language” being English isn’t our native language.. 80% of communication is non verbal so ignorance go the properness of that language means most words actually have a non verbal side to it. Less past tense words and more action words. Saying “ i been done that” isnt more effective than saying “ i already did it” because theres no room for confusion or double meanings. But cool video
It is so cool hearing how I talk around my friends and family broken down in such a
scholarly way. It’s super affirming, and I really appreciate this. Im sending to all my friends and family right now! I’m interested in the book!
Black English is becoming a lot more accepted in academic circles in recent years, particularly between linguists! If you want more videos like this breaking it down, I’d highly recommend @etymologynerd. He used his linguistics knowledge to break down speech patterns in modern English, which include Black English :-)
Real facts
@@kiddchronic9014 nice pleonasm :)
I'm black but I grew up in the suburbs so I had to do a lot of code switching to get by. What I've found is that Black English requires you to listen with empathy to the speaker while classroom English does not. Like, what you didn't even get into with this is how different inflections of the words can also drastically change the meaning of the what is being said. That misunderstanding leads a bunch of ignorant people to believe that black folk are more emotional in our speech but our emotion is literally intertwined with our dialect.
All this is further proof it's inferior and not worth it for anyone to learn. Less precise, much less useful for a foreigner to learn.
I never thought about that until you brought it up, but that makes more sense to me now! Might explain why I had some hiccups growing up with my family!
I never thought about that until you brought it up, but that makes more sense to me now! Might explain why I had some hiccups growing up with my family!
Exactly. A simple phrase like "that's cute" could mean "it isn't cute at all", just as easily as it could mean "it is indeed cute". Inflection plays a major role in our language; it is often overlooked just as often as it is mocked.
That is just sarcasm.
That's not exclusive to AAVE at all.
Im iight: im fine
Im iight: i dont want any
Im iight: that didnt hurt
Im iight: not my problem
My high school was very diverse (I'm talking representation from every corner of the planet), and one day my white friend looked outside and blurted out "It's mad raining outside", which made all of the black kids in the class burst out in laughter.
He didn't realize that "mad" in this context specifically means "a lot of" or "very" ("There were mad people at the party", "That guy is mad dumb") and he was basically saying "It's a lot of raining outside" or "It's very raining outside", which is sort of nonsense. "There's mad rain outside" or "It's mad wet outside" would've made more sense
maybe a specific "mad rainin" event was currently going on outside? a clash and mixup of cowboy talk and black grammar maybe resulted in reverse underestimation. I'm now doubting every word I write.
@@jerkcules6194 "Mad raining" is acceptable and correct though
Correct Solution = mad rainy
@@GMAJXIII Mad raining is correct. "Damn, it's mad raining, yo..."
@@jamessanders6788None of NYC college classmates would say mad raining. They *may* say "it's mad brick outside," but adding that -ing makes someone sound like an outsider or like they're an old person trying to speak the dialect.
"You coulda been gone there". Means you had the opportunity to go in the past and you were arware of it. Generally used in response to missing an opportunity, like you wanted to buy something but now its sold out.
"You been coulda gone there" is letting someone know they had access to the location but wasn't aware. Like someone waiting for permission they didn't need.
this lmao i tried to say this
yaaas!!!! The 1st is a scold frfr. Ty
Yess! This is hilarious 😂
Yup! First phrase is opportunity missed! Second phrase usually means the opportunity still exists!
@@lamontdurr1682 exactly
9:45 white boy from white suburbia, but I think I get the nuance? The first I interpret as "you could've gone and been there a while ago". The second feels more "you've had the opportunity to go there this whole time"
Def interested in the book btw!
@@pahko_ you’re the first I’ve seen take a stab at it, and you’ve got it!
very cool! I completely missed with my guess.
That's what I would've guessed too
Exactly what I thought, I think growing up in the South (Deep South they call it Southwest, it’s Texas) as he _veeery_ briefly touched on does help tho tbh cuz this video made a ton of sense
Here's a theory not based on nothing, e.i. based on something. A language used by people heavily involved in trade with speakers of other languages has pressure to simplify and be transparent. It will do so at the cost of compactness and subtlety.
A language used by a group with insular interests will grow in complexity, subtlety and compactness for the benefit (as perceived by the group) of social isolation.
The cockney stall-keeper in a Dickens era London market does not want the police to understand that he is avoiding taxes or dealing in contraband items, for instance.
At the other end, the British upper class was notorious for speaking indistincly a) as a social flex, that is, you have got to pay more attention to me than vice versa, and b) if my command is ambiguous, then I can lay the blame on my subordinate any time it doesn't turn out to my liking and c) "shibboleth" or whatever identifies immediately who has my upbringing and who doesn't.
I teach English as a second language. One standard is all I can teach at a time. Once a student asked me when we were going to cover more African American English, as he was interested in rap lyrics. I was sy.pathetic but stated that it was not part of our program of study.
Code-switching happens all the time, and sometimes it is done so that a third party isn't even aware of the code switch. Think of teenagers planning a beer bash back in the day of one telephone per household.
If one asks about a possible code switch and gets a straightforward explanation, then no problem. But recently, asking for detail about the term "safe and effective" was considered an act of bad faith.
I'm not worried about how "bye, Felicia" was misinterpreted. I'm more concerned about phrases like "follow the science" or "horse de-wormer." These are phrases designed to mislead, and should be named as code switching, because those in the know know exactly what they're doing.
Thank you. Im from Midwest moved to Utah @15... My English teacher had me sit in front of her to write to be sure no one else was writing for me. She said my speaking and writing didn't match. 😂😂😂😂 Little did she know I was getting paid to write at least ¼ the classes essays.
Wow. That's messed up. But at least you got paid lol
@@astrajohnson3655 that's cap.
Smarty pants 🤣👍🏾💜
If you could write perfectly good English, why dumb it down when speaking?
(I just realized... Dumb question. It's peer pressure / the need to fit in with other students. Kids can be mean to kids that are different from them.)
@@Corn0nTheCobb "DUMB IT DOWN" ???? JFC, did you watch the video? How could you possibly think this was an appropriate question to ask?
This was such a cool video. As a black man, I wasn’t expecting the objective but respectfully analytical approach you took. Very refreshing. Subbed
As a Black woman, I been knew this. I stoopped code switching like 5 year ago, having the privilege of owning my own business that is specific to me being and speaking as naturally as I possibly can or want to. However, I am interested in seeing the book you spoke of and would love to know when it is published.
Me too!!!
I feel u code switchin is annoying it happens automatically for me im trynna stop it especially workin in the office and being basically the only black person there
Code switching: I hate this new term. We all read our audiences. How I speak among my parents is different from friends, teachers, boss, CEO, cousins. People who grow up with families from multiple groups will speak differently to fit within because this is natural and we have been doing this before code switching is now so talked about.
We been up on this.
I think code switching has a negative connotation when in reality it’s not. We do it on a daily unintentional. Even when speaking to other blk ppl you code switch to better understand each other. (Ex: blk person from the suburbs speaking to a blk person from the city. Or an AA speaking to a Caribbean persons.) you code switch when you speak to cashier and the list goes on. It’s not a bad thing it’s just more associated with blk ppl entering work space that are majority white. Code switching is just a form of communication for the other party to understand you better. Imo you’re not changing who you are to fit into a space (unless that’s what ppl usually do but I’m not one of them) you’re just switching for better understanding of a conversation. Bc as a Caribbean girl raised in the suburbs, went to a majority white school, and was in majority AA spaces outside of school your girl code switches all the time! I cnt speak to my AA friends like I speak to my family bc they wouldn’t understand. Same when I went to school etc.
Which imo puts in an advantage in some cases because I’ve noticed just like how white ppl cnt understand AAVE, black ppl cnt understand the undertones what white ppl mean when they say or do certain things. I had to explain to a friend of mine the other day.
So it’s okay to code switch, you learn a lot from the different spaces you’re in. It’s like knowing several languages! When you change your view abt code switching you’ll realize it’s not a negative thing. Just always be yourself and you won’t feel some type of way abt it ❤
I would love you to do Jamaica and St.Lucia. This was brilliant. Absolutely brilliant. And we need that book 😉
I swear the internet is ruining it,.......i use to be able to get good mileage out of a word for a few years before changing up. now it takes a few months before every edgy internet troll is using it.
The internet granted other people access to our secrets. We didn’t care to know more about them. We already were immersed in what they do but they can’t get enough of knowing more about us. Never could figure out what we do to our hair. This doggone internet😡
I don’t speak Black English, but I told my African American coworker that I was “about to” fall asleep and she was like, “no! You can’t fall asleep! You’ll get in trouble” and then I said “I’m not gonna fall asleep. I’m about to” and we went back and forth. Then I concluded that “about to” in Black English has an implication of intent, whereas in academic/white English “about to” means on the verge of. So the point is: subtleties, sophistication and RULES!
I mean you said boutta not finna, seems to indicate a desire or need for rest but not intent. Am I wrong here?
@@mikeburris3427 for a lot of people I interact with “finna” is imminent but no longer denotes intent, whereas boutta may denote intent, and tryna always denotes intent, especially around conditionals. “I’m finna fall asleep if he keeps droning on…” is fine, but “I’m *tryna fall asleep…” is semantically marked if not outright ungrammatical. “I’m boutta go to sleep” I would definitely parse as intent, but that may vary regionally
@@DanSmith-j8yHow did you even click on this video if you have this level of bias AND lack of comprehensive skills?
You just told me something new. I always thought that something that was about to happen was going to happen any moment now. So I may have reacted with worry similarly to your coworker if presented with that statement, even though I wouldn't have thought that you intended to fall asleep - just that you probably felt like you couldn't help it. (I'm not a native speaker of English, but I was under the impression that I was pretty fluent)
@@DanSmith-j8y That you think you spouted off a kneeslapper reveals you
I'm not even American and _I WANT THIS BOOK DESPERATELY._
@@theimaginatrix7625 I’m writing away. Agents have had a hard time seeing the appeal because it doesn’t fit the exact niches a lot of language books or a lot of social science/sociology of race books fill
Why?
@@languagejones6784 The book is gonna be fire, don't worry about the appeal. I'll for sure parade it around my nerd friends
@@languagejones6784 Or, despite not being linguists, they know you're wrong and the book would be an embarrassment.
@@languagejones6784would you consider self publishing if the publishers don’t get it? I’m applying for an MA in literary linguistics, and ultimately I want to do a PhD on how language and literature uphold and dismantle systems of power. I think this would be a great springboard for me to understand black English better (I’m British and our MLE is quite different)
I was always curious of this, thank you for confirming.
That scarecrow is Michael Jackson in The Wiz, not to be confused with the Wizard of Oz. It has all the same characters except it's told from an "urban" viewpoint.
I remember when they announced on national news that kids in California not testing well wasn't because of the teachers, it was because kids were too stupid to understand basic English. That's how it was implied. They were saying since proper English wasn't spoken at home kids found it difficult in school.
I was a child myself, living on the East Coast and when I heard that, it hurt my heart, it still does, because I can clearly remember the news talking about them naming it Ebonics. People don't seem to understand when it comes to American Black Culture when people talk about a group of us, we know they're talking about all of us. Because we are hardly ever seen as individuals. Thank you for taking the time to make this video.
I have learned that it is impossible to learn the languages of any group of people you hold contempt for! You cannot speak someone's language if you cannot think of them as your equals, or your peers. Learning a language requires a level of empathy, listening, and learning that racists do not possess. Contempt precludes learning!
You hold racists in contempt, yes? Then what makes you think you can understand them?
@@Name-ps9fxunfortunately being black in America means that you don’t have the option of not interacting with the dominant society and understanding them is literally how black people have survived for these past 5 centuries. No other group of people understand the dominant group and their racist subset more than black people. It’s because of the black person having the greatest genetic potential to erase the phenotypical features of a white person’s offspring when mixing dna with a white person that is at the root of their deep seated hatred of black people.
That's literally where our word for barbarians came from. Greeks looking at those savages living out north of them and saying,
"Those dumdums over there are so stupid. They don't even speak a language, they just say barbarbar over and over. We should call them barbaros because they're so dumb and primitive."
No, take the example of a racist who hates a group so much, that they learn their language just so they can insult them in their mother tongue.
@@Name-ps9fxdo you think racism is a language
This made my entire freaking YEAR. Thank you for this! Sooooooo many people need to hear/watch this.
Definitely interested in your book. I teach Phonetics, Child Language Development and Linguistics. I like to continually add tools to improve my teaching.
“Be” has to be the most misused word when people “try” to use our lingo. They just be all off 😆😆😆
They see that it replaces “is” and that’s all they pick up on it.
I ain't be misusing nunna yalls lingo
@@justmarc2015 must be a troll
@@thereal.kmyh.
Ian even tryna front doe, keepin it one hunid
you do be on dat doodoo english doe
Bruh!! Idk how u pooped up on my feed. But you are appreciated. Soon as u said "it be like that" I was like "aight, I'ma fuck wit ya"😂
Straight up😂❤
That part 😂
Popped has 2 p's gang. You said 💩
@@finishyabreakfast21 I caught that as well and started laughing. 🤣🤣
Big facts bruh! You is soooo on point with this one!😂👍🏾
My favorites are “I’m already knowin, child please, I’m dead, I’m weak, I ain’t gone hold you, say less, this is a fact, put ya foot in it, fly in the buttermilk, you ugly for that, run and tell that, played in your face, down bad, cuz why would you step like that?” And many more ☺️
I'm from Chicago, what does " fly in the buttermilk" mean
@@moneyboy2k it means something seems weird or off, out of place. Something seems like it shouldn’t be present or be the way it is. It can apply to the way somebody acts around you, or your own intuition about a daily situation. It comes from a famous black author James Baldwin writing during a time of high racial tension in his story, a black boy had to attend an all white school, entering a school where the boy is not wanted or is made to feel out of place. In Ebonics it’s the white equivalent of “something smells fishy” we use the saying to mean “something ain’t right” it’s been interchanged with “somethin ain’t clean in the buttermilk”
@@shellbeeforreal3915 Thanks for the insight.
My favorite is “now mind you” with that lil hand pose lol
I always liked "on what?
This is so nerdy, and I’m so glad to be here! 💜
I watched a video where a man drove around America recording black ppl speaking their versions of AAVE, and it was so diverse, even to the point of being impossible to understand in some areas. And this is coming from someone who grew up on AAVE. But the comments were so NASTY, they were filled with white people calling the boys ignorant and dirty for the way they spoke and where they lived. They were also misunderstanding what the black boys were saying and calling them "Jacka**es", but they doubled down and got defensive when i tried to correct and inform them about what was actually being said. The video was fairly normal, but it got an awfully disproportionate amount of hate. So thank you for this, and helping to spread the message that AAVE just has a different set of complex rules. It's just as valid as ANY OTHER dialect of English whether its Country, Australian, or from the islands, AAVE is simply just another dialect. Also we formed our own dialect because they didn't want to integrate with us until recently, now we get harassed for it. I swear we can't win with them.
I know exactly what video you’re talking about! That video was so incredibly fascinating and made me learn so much about the diversity of Black English. Shame the comment section was a mess. I feel like creators who make content about marginalized communities if they have the time should censor hateful, bigoted comments that don’t contribute to public conversation :/
Can post the link to the video mentioned in the comment?
People will always judge what they cannot understand
What's the video called?
@@queenhodge122 th-cam.com/video/YMS70m-OzXo/w-d-xo.htmlsi=LKvR-qpjdCNMijtV
I'm 66 years old. Hearing you break it down brought a big smile to my face. I'm really looking forward to your book. Thank you for making my day ❤💐🥂🙏🏾
This was super interesting as an overview of/introduction to a topic that I barely know enough to know I know hardly anything
"Today's weather be like sunshine!" is CRAZY. 😭
That one made me die inside a little xD
Nnnnope. Incorrect. Study up. Try again.
Today's weather be sunny for real for real...
Yeah no black person talks like that 😭
It was hilarious to hear this example. I don’t even know how I feel about the incorrect adoption and use of black English in mainstream English and by people who don’t know what they’re saying. I guess a mixing of cultures isn’t a bad thing but listening to people misspeak so confidently just rubs me such the wrong way. Like you’ve seen this verbiage before but don’t actually speak to or interact with the people who it comes from…
I'm a Black person that had to grow up and go to an HBCU to learn this lesson, which is just a testament to the racism DEEPLY rooted in our education system and general way of thinking.
Attempting to teach everyone how to speak the language in a way (the "correct" way) in which we can understand each other (regardless of where we grew up) isn't racism. 🤦♂
And remember, English isn't only an American language, it's spoken throughout the world. There are many ways to speak English and they are all understandable if you learn them. Local dialects are not only officially incorrect (and sometimes less clear or less efficient), their differences from mainstream English are useless or counterproductive if you are trying to communicate with someone outside of your local group.
@@NEatopMtHyjalwell, what about the southern American accent that white Americans use? Also British English. Colleges teach general American English.
A forerunner who learned English in the UK will struggle in America. Every area has local dialects, especially the the UK. Teaching a language isn’t wrong, but AAVE is spoken all throughout America by black people. A black person who grows up in an area who speaks that dialect, someone could struggle and I agree they should know general American English it wouldn’t hurt to teach or help people who speak differently to understand.
@@Ezana001
There's a big difference between an accent and a dialect; but yes, to the degree that people in the Southern US or the UK are speaking using dialects... those are not helpful for broader communication.
"AAVE is spoken all throughout America by black people" - That isn't true, if you want to hear it from someone else... just watch the video we're posting on. Furthermore, I can't speak using any English dialects, but I find most to be understandable with just a small amount of effort. Given my experience, I have to assume that any decent attempt to learn the differences (or even just being in a community who speaks a dialect) will easily result in a firm grasp. I would also assume the reverse is true; if you speak an English dialect and need to learn "proper" or "correct" or "mainstream" English, it shouldn't be very difficult. It's just a matter of effort, time, exposure.
You coulda been gone there: You could have completed going there a long time ago
You been coulda gone there: You have had the opportunity to go there for a long time
*No notes*
@@SamuelRBazemoreperiod!
Don’t go there!
I get an intuitive sense for the first one, I can't seem to get the second one
Coulda done been there
Oh lord. This explanation is making my head spin. I never thought of this that way before.
I studied creative writing and Black studies at Columbia, and have a deep interest in linguistics, semiotics, etc. so that book idea sounds amazing, I really hope you’re able to publish that asap
"You can't win, you can't break even, and you can't get out of the game," is a fairly famous way of stating the laws of Thermodynamics. I would definitely buy that book!
Now the song is stuck in my head.
Thermodynamics? No! What this line is saying is: no matter how hard you work, even if successful, you still lose. If you work hard, and do just enough to get by, you still lose, and you can't get out of the game, because the deck is stacked, the rules are rigged, and they will ALWAYS change to ensure the OPPRESSOR wins. It's really not that hard to figure out. Thermodynamics, stop! Just another white person trying to fix the game.
I feel this way about American politics most of the time. 🙄