# Ebonics:alive and well ! **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [June 14, 2003, 5:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ebonics-alive-and-well/181860 "2003-06-14T17:01:42Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 4\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![psiekier](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/psiekier/32/116_2.png) [@psiekier](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/psiekier)\ **Post date:** [February 27, 2004, 8:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ebonics-alive-and-well/181860/21 "2004-02-27T20:54:45Z")
> [@dropzone](#): > > It’s called BestBuy, not MostStock or BestService. LOL! Can I use that as my new .sig? ---
**Author:** ![Ghanima](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/9e8a1a/32.png) [@Ghanima](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ghanima)\ **Post date:** [February 27, 2004, 10:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ebonics-alive-and-well/181860/22 "2004-02-27T22:52:30Z")
> [@](#): > > Originally Posted by Lamia > It sure is funny when people speak differently than me. > > It’s especially funny when they’re black! > > Too bad everyone can’t talk the right way, just like me. Oh, I totally agree… _rolls eyes_ Although, it is hard to tell if someone is black over the phone. For all I know, the girl I spoke to was white. You don’t have to be black to talk funny. Too bad everyone can’t use linear thought, just like me. ---
**Author:** ![Yamirskoonir](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/y/c0e974/32.png) [@Yamirskoonir](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Yamirskoonir)\ **Post date:** [February 28, 2004, 12:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ebonics-alive-and-well/181860/23 "2004-02-28T00:26:21Z")
Thanks a bunch, **sundog66** , for so eloquently bolstering my point. And as an addendum to your post: Native speakers often don’t realize that there is a difference between a grammar and a **prescriptive** grammar. A grammar is a _theory_ about the rules in a native speaker’s head that s/he uses to produce and interpret utterances. **Prescriptive** grammar, OTOH, is what you get when a self-righteous ass hat – who often has no real connection with the native speakers of the language in question – sits down and writes a bunch of rules about the language, and then insists that the native speakers write/speak in his/her prescribed manner. Example: Bishop Lowth and his Short Introduction to English Grammar, c1762. The problem with Lowth’s prescriptive grammar is that his rules were derived from the Latin grammatical system. English is a _Germanic_ language, folks. The last time I checked, the rules about one language didn’t universally apply to another.\* So **sundog66** is absolutely right – rules about split infinitives and ending sentences with a preposition are absolute bunk when it comes to the way we _actually_ speak and write. [cite](http://darkwing.uoregon.edu/~spike/ling290/badEnglish.html) And the marvellous point was made that the form of English accepted as “standard” is the one used by Those in Power.™ The “standard” English used internationally is the dialect known as American Business English. Cuz money talks, foshizzle! 😃 \*although, strangely enough, every time I try to learn Spanish, German ends up coming out of my mouth…ich habe no se keine Ahnung! ---
**Author:** ![Angel\_Heart](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/5e9695/32.png) [@Angel\_Heart](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Angel_Heart)\ **Post date:** [February 28, 2004, 4:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ebonics-alive-and-well/181860/24 "2004-02-28T04:16:27Z")
> [@Ghanima](#): > > Although, it is hard to tell if someone is black over the phone. For all I know, the girl I spoke to was white. You don’t have to be black to talk funny. Too bad everyone can’t use linear thought, just like me. Yes, there are just so many white Tamikas :rolleyes: (Yes, I’m well aware that a) that’s not her real name and b)there _are_ a few white Tamikas (Heck, the RA on my floor the year before last was named Siobhan and she was black (although visibly of some Scottish or Irish heritage)), so I am trying not to inquire why you didn’t name Speech Impaired Saleslady something not exclusively tied to one ethnic group (like say, Catherine, Lisa, Amanda, or Rose)? Of course, when detecting traits over the phone, race is more elusive than location or gender (obviously, even this might be tricky when dealing with pre-pubescents). I, an black person from Central Maryland might, to some ears, sound more like a white person from Annapolis than a black person from the San Fernando Valley, who sounds different from a black person from Detroit. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ebonics-alive-and-well/181860.md?page=1)