Tuesday, September 17, 2013
I Do Not Think That Means What You Think It Means
Building on our discussion of Ludacris language, please spend a day or so listening. Seek out a word or phrase or statement spoken near you, in which you identify an additional, unintended meaning. Report the situation, the statement (you do not need to include names of those involved), the intended meaning(s), and the additional meaning you've identified. Please post this before first period on Thursday.
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“Can we please open the light?” Anonymous 1 asked.
ReplyDelete“Can we turn on the light.” Anonymous 2 corrected.
Anonymous 3 goes: “That’s ok, [person’s name] does that too, all the Asians do that.”
From the context, Anonymous 3’s intention was clearly to save Anonymous 1 from embarrassment. However, instead of saying “many people”, or “a lot of people”, Anonymous 3 chose to generalize the two people who he or she has heard saying “open the light”, and say “all the Asians”. Asian can mean first generation Asians—people who came from Asia--but it can mean any generation of Asians that grew up in the U.S.
The mistake in not saying “many people”, or “a lot of people” is that it is a direct attack on a specific group—Asians—although it excludes other nationalities, it also include a group of people who are Asians, but will not make that mistake in English. Anonymous 1 made the error, and his/her nationality is Chinese. The reason why she confused “open” and “turn-on” is because in Chinese, the word for open, is used for both “open”, and “turn-on”. In cultures where these different meanings are embodied in different words, mistakes like this are not easily—or won’t be--made.
While having my dinner, somebody says," would you mind if I axed you?". I completely get terrified. My mind gets flooded with questions, why would somebody want to axe me? After all, I've been such a friendly girl to her. I ask her again, "what did you just say?", and she repeats the same question again. Finally I ask her why she wanted to axe me and she says, "I'm sorry you got it the wrong way, I meant axing you a question. Where I come from, that's how we normally say"." Oh! Never mind, I thought you were saying that you wanted to kill me with an ax. Sure, go ahead and ask me." After answering her question I thought of how people from different areas may speak the same language but in a different way. For example, English is an international language that is spoken in every country. The language remains the same but the way people use it or pronounce it might be different. This sometimes results to misinterpretation of what some people say in a certain context.
ReplyDeleteKWASEA
ReplyDeleteI haven’t really heard anything in the past few days, but I have recently between my two family members. My family is Ghanaian (from the country Ghana) and when Ghanaians speak, they speak loudly with assertiveness. So, when I was with my family two people got into a heated discussion that eventually turned into an argument. Person 1 did not agree with Person 2 and called them an insulting name in Twi (common language in Ghana). The word Person 1 spoke was ‘kwasea’ which in english means ‘idiot’. However, in Twi it has a extremely terrible connotation to it. To call someone ‘kwasea’ in Twi in the tone that Person 1 did is probably one of the lowest insults one could say in Ghana. If you are joking with your friends and say ‘kwasea’ then that is fine because your tone is light and easy, but when tension is high and someone say ‘kwasea’ the insult runs deep because hostility is present. The tone in which someone says something really also plays a role in how someone could take and understand the word. Someones choice of tone can either make or break the situation.
Today while walking through my dorm hallway I overheard one girl say to another the classic "you look so pretty today, your hair looks perfect". I personally think this phrase can be looked at in two different ways (maybe more to other people). In my past experience, if someone told me this I would immediately react along the lines of "wow, thanks, that means a lot!". While I never stop thinking about how nice that comment was, I also have a thought in the back of my mind wondering why I didn't "look so pretty" yesterday, and why my hair isn't always perfect. I think our culture has trained me, along with others to not be able to accept compliments as genuine kind remarks. I find myself never hesitating to compliment another person, but I always hope that I didn't offend them in anyway. Such simple remarks can be taken in many ways, and in some way I feel as though I'm constantly walking on eggshells because of culture and interpretation.
ReplyDeleteToday while walking to one of my classes I heard a a person talking to their friend and jokingly she said, "you're such a retard". This was not something that I personally took offense to, however I still made me feel kind of uncomfortable. To be honest I am guilty of saying this in the past, as I think many people are. I feel like it is one of those phrases that is used pretty commonly as just a joke without really thinking about what it means and how it could really hurt someone's feelings. It's used like saying, "you're such an idiot" or "you're so stupid". I never judge anybody if they use the word retard in this way because I know that a lot of people don't mean anything harmful by it. Hearing it in the hallway today just made me think about how it's really not a good thing to say in that manner. I try to be careful of what I say and I don't think I have called anyone that for a very long time, although I am guilty of slipping up sometimes and saying that something is retarded like saying that something is unfair. I am really going to try to catch myself on this because there are so many better, alternative words to use. In short, hearing this phrase in the hallway today did not offend me personally, however it really made me think about how using a word like that in that context could seriously hurt someone even if you don't mean to.
ReplyDeleteAlthough I have not observed many situations like this recently, I can think of a personal example that relates. My family comes from a country around Brazil and Venezuela, at the Northern coast of South America, called Guyana. Almost all Guyanese people are the descendants of slaves that the British and Dutch shipped over from India. At that time, they called these Indian slaves "coolie", equivalent to the "n-word" that was used when African Americans were slaves. In today's society, not only do people who know of the Guyanese race commonly refer to them as coolie, but the Guyanese teenage population refer to themselves as this too. In a casual conversation speaking of Guyanese food for example, many adolescents would refer to it as "coolie food", or speaking of Guyanese people as "coolie people". I myself am guilty of this, because it is so commonly used, that I believe people tend to forget the negative history behind it. This situation is very similar to what we discussed last class, between the n-word and African Americans. It is very clear to me that the intended meaning is the Guyanese nationality, as it is used to replace the word "Guyanese", but I realize now that it is a degrading form of slang; not only does it insult ourselves, but also our history and ancestors. Though this word is used more often and freely than the n-word is used, I believe people (myself included), should try to remind ourselves of the close relationship between these two words and understand that saying them are grave insults to the people they refer too.
ReplyDeleteA phrase that is often used is is "that's gay." It is usually used to describe something that is stereotypically viewed as feminine or soft. For example if a male were to speak in a high pitched tone, they can be described as "gay." This would not necessarily mean that the person is attracted to the same sex, but the user had the intention of describing his voice as feminine. Other examples that the phrase can be used to describe are if a male sings a certain song, wears a certain piece of garment or does a stereotypically female job or action. It is becoming popular to use the term gay to describe things that a feminine, which is quite different from its original meaning. The correct meaning for the word are happy or a person attracted to the same sex. While the modern connotation of gay is more likely to relate to an attraction to the same sex rather than happy, it makes no sense when one considers it. If the word is going to be used to replace "girly" , we should remember that girls are gays too. There are also gays of the male population that do not take on feminine characteristics. If one is not use to the culture where the common slang "gay" is used, one could easily be offended. Even if it were used as an adjective to describe gay people it still would not make much sense because the gay community is very large and diverse.
ReplyDeleteThere are may words and phrases that exist with a double meaning. For example, many of my friends (who happen to be boys in this instance), tend to casually use the word "faggot" or "fag." When greeting each other for example, they may say "whats up fag." I often find this derogatory term, (a form of offensive slang for a homosexual man), is used with such causality. Although none of my male friends are homophobic, "faggot" is one of their top vocabulary words in conversation. A few years ago when I began spending time with them, I always corrected their use of the word, however I myself have found that I am numb to the word. (I never use it myself of course). I find this interesting how people can so mindlessly use offensive words like this without any further thought. It is sad how little consideration some people have for the feelings of others when choosing their vocabulary words. Also, there is a very eminent difference in social settings relating to the use of certain words. I have never heard anyone at Stoneleigh use ANY taboo words in ordinary conversation, however in the outside world these terms are floating around wherever you turn.
ReplyDeleteFirst off, the post is going to be a tad off topic from the prompt, however, in class we were talking about Nikki Minaj and the messages her songs portray and I think this goes along very well with that. Someone mentioned how in her songs she calls herself a slut, and a hoe, and she seems very proud of that label. However, in my travels through Tumblr I came across a gif-set of an interview of her. In this she said, “When I started being around Young Money, Wayne thought I was shy, but it wasn’t that I was shy, I just didn’t want anybody to think I was easy. No matter what my lyrics were saying, when I got around these guys, I was like – I was a prude. Because I didn’t want anyone in this game to ever be able to say ‘I had sex with her,’ or ‘when she needed a deal, she had to..., ‘ No, and ‘til this day, not a single man in this industry, not one, can say that and I pride myself on that” (Minaj). I wasn’t able to find this interview, but I felt like this was the part that mattered. From what Nikki described, it sounds like she doesn’t view herself the way that her songs make it seem. That makes me wonder if it’s really the industry that controls the word choice, not the artist. Young money is a musical group of mainly Hip-Hop and Rap artists, and they use these words quite often in their songs. However, most of them are men. Maybe Nikki needs to go along with the slang and the trends in words to stay relevant with Young Money and the industry. Even if it is an attempt to stay relevant, I’m not sure if the message that Nikki delivers is a good thing. Usually teenagers listen to Young Money, and at that time the self-esteem of teenage girls is easily changeable, and their minds are easily moldable. Teenagers will do whatever it takes to be accepted. Nikki and all of Young Money a message to all of their fans, saying that it is okay to use that kind of language when talking about themselves and others. I don’t think that’s the best thing in the world. However, who is to say that it is Young Money’s job to be role models. It’s a controversial subject, and the answer will depend on your personal opinion. However I would like to see this stronger side of Nikki Minaj portrayed. Please excuse me if I got any of the Hip Hop/Rap information wrong, as you all know I am too punk rock for that kind of stuff.
ReplyDeleteDuring snack, I got two pieces of toasts, some butter and jam. I went to sit at a table with my friends. Firstly, I put butter on the toasts. Then, on top of them, I planned to put on another layer of jam. I love eating that way. One person saw what I did and said, “Why you eat like that? Isn’t it gross?” I was sort of mad. Probably she only felt that it was unacceptable for her to eat butter and jam together on toasts so she was surprised by my way of eating. However, I was embarrassed and irritated. For me, it hurts when people judge on what I eat and how much I eat. The additional meaning that I identified her question is that she meant I ate so grossly and unhealthily. Also, I felt she was saying I was fat that I should not eat butter and jam.
ReplyDeleteThings like this happen all the time that one may thinks more deeply about what the other said than what she originally means. Potential contradictions between relationships grow due to these unintentionally hurting words. Thus, people should be aware of their words. On the other hand, people like me who sometimes think too much about other’s meaning should learn to forgive and be tolerant or just don’t think too much so that everyone would be happier.
So I couldn't specifically think about something that I heard someone say today, but recently I was talking about halloween costumes with a friend and we were online looking at some different ones. Theres a huge difference between the woman and male costumes. Most of the female costumes include short skirts and tight bodices with heavy makeup and high heels. The only difference between costumes is generally color variation. For example, a 'sexy leprechaun' would be green while a 'sexy banana' is yellow. Society subtly undermines women with costumes that show off their bodies and their figures while also spreading the word that these costumes are what it means to be a grown woman. The message that society is trying to spread is that dressing up like a whore is fun, funny, and enjoyable. The question is who are these costumes really enjoyable for?
ReplyDeleteThe underlying, or double tone of this message is that women are objects. I think every young girl or teenager growing up has heard the talks about how we shouldn't let the world judge our bodies and how we should instead be valued for our minds. However, if times like these are being used to do the exact opposite, what is society really trying to say?
The use of the word “ghetto” has changed drastically over the years. The word actually dates back to around World War II, when Jewish people were confined to certain parts of cities in Europe. Their quarter of that city was called a ghetto. After some years, the word was used to describe poor, urban neighborhoods where minorities lived, in many cases because of economic pressure. This definition was used so frequently that it became the widely accepted way to define ghetto. Even then, people misuse the word. I have personally experienced situations where middle class neighborhoods were labeled as “the ghetto”, mostly by people who were wealthy. As of late, people also use the word as an adjective to describe inferior, tasteless behavior. In this generation, it is normal for people to say “She acts so ghetto” or “Your car is ghetto”, when most of them do not understand the depth and history behind that word. The term ghetto often refers to the African-American culture itself. Overall, I believe that because the word ghetto has such a long and complicated history, it carries a lot of weight and it should be used very carefully.
ReplyDeleteI did not heard anything today that made me have additional thought. However, my mom texted my yesterday, and she just ask me if I study the vocabulary for SAT. So how, I was a little bit mad. Because I was working so hard, and she made me stress out. So I told her to stop checking if I am being lazy, and she told me that she just cared about my study but did not mean I was not doing the work. I know I just think too much. From this, I feel communicate is extremely important. Nobody could completely read each other's mind, because they are not in the same situation, and the way of people thinking is influenced by the events that they experienced. Moreover, I think people should not be that sensitive and over-thinking. Being a simple person will be must more easier.
ReplyDeleteOver the past two days I was happy to hear that the people I hang out with do not use provocative words in a different way than their true meaning. No words which have an original, provocative, connotation were said anywhere around me. This makes me realize that the level of maturity may have to do with those who use the word. To even just apply to a private school, there is a certain level of maturity that one must have. I believe that goes who live at boarding school and those who go to a school like Stoneleigh have to learn to grow up much faster than those who go to a public school; there's a different level of expectation that must be met maturity wise. I believe this is why it is not as common to hear provocative words used as greetings to friends or in a joke. This is yet another reason I am proud to be a part of the mature community that is Stoneleigh Burnham.
ReplyDeleteThe word retard can be used in many different ways. Some people use it to make a joke: “Oh man…your such a retard.” This doesn’t necessarily connect to the actual definition of the word retard. In my opinion this word can be very VERY offensive. The actual meaning of this word is to describe someone who is mentally or physically challenged. I have worked with such people through equine therapy. I believe that this word should never be used outside this connects, and even when referring to someone who is actually mentally handicapped. I have personally been called this word as a joke and never found it to be funny.
ReplyDelete