Tuesday, March 9, 2010

The Death of Language

Hey people, I was looking around twitter and I saw a link about Winnie Mandela and her grouse with the Madiba. I decided to go read what she was on about and ran into the comments section..lo and behold this is what hit me

MBEBE MISHACK wrote :
WE AS SOUTH AFRICANS DNT WANT TO KNW WAT HAPPENED TO WINNIE AND MANDELA DURING THEIR MARRIEGE IF WINNIE HAS SOME GRAGIES WTH DAT OR SHE FEELS JOLOUS ABOUT THE GENOROCITY OF MADIBA SHE RADA APPEAL FOR LOVE BACK OR MARRIEGE BACK NOT TO BETRAY OUR BELOVEST MAN IN SA AND IN THE WORLD........................PLEACE WINNIE WE LOVE THE MAN WE EVEN LOVE YOU TOO.............."


I was gasping for air when I finished reading.. I mean.. dudette could not even spell 'Please'? ( why did i just assume the writer was a woman?) ok i stand corrected dude(tte).. was just wrong in every sentence right there. I just had to come and post this on my blog.
I think the English Language has fallen so badly, people don't even bother to speak the proper thing any more. I am guilty of the same sin. Some days ago, I asked my brother this question ' is she sleeping at yours?' my brother was quick to ask me.. 'what's that nonsense you people say these days? what is 'yours'? 'I felt really stupid. I was joining the crowd, speaking 2010-ese ( for lack of a better word) I pride myself in being able to speak properly, but I notice that I am sliding that the slippery slope of 'anything goes' into the murky waters of complacense(sp)?

People, let's speak properly, let's encourage people to speak English the right way, after all nothing stops us from speaking our native Languages?

Speaking of languages, I have been accused in my office of being very'cultural'. I've been told I speak a variant of Yoruba that is 'stronger' than normal people would. At first I was mortified, I did not realise that I was being tagged a '9ice' in the office, but then on the flip side, I took pride in the fact that I speak Yoruba quite excellently (if i may say so for myself) and I am quite skilled in the art of English (language is an art.. you gotta believe me) and as such, being able to speak both languages is actually a plus for me and not neccesarily a bad thing (i think??) So, I'd like to encourage everyone reading this blog to learn a new language, yours, someone else's.. just learn a language. start by learning a verb or two.. you dont know where it'll come in handy. ( and NO, you are not too old to learn) I am struggling with my hausa, but I know that one day, I'm going to be able to say way more than 'zo muchi abinchi'('come let's eat'..yes i'm a grub.. bite me! :-)

4 comments:

  1. First, I am glad you speak Yoruba very well... it is hard to find folks like you nowadays...

    Second... I think I am guilty of the whole 2010-ese English speaking...lol... Check out my blog post and you will see signs...

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  2. babe mo gbadun dis post dada (ok count that as 2nd language)

    seriously tho laff have killed me died, that grammar can wipe out a small village! but its so true, remember the "inbox me ur no" ish (there did it again, issue!)

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  3. English is not our mother tongue as some will say but the bullets in that comment! LWKMD.

    Thanks for joining my blog.

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