# I apparently speak English better than 90% of English speakers... **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [December 13, 2011, 7:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-apparently-speak-english-better-than-90-of-english-speakers/606059 "2011-12-13T19:09:53Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 7\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Stoid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/stoid/32/272_2.png) [@Stoid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Stoid)\ **Post date:** [December 14, 2011, 5:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-apparently-speak-english-better-than-90-of-english-speakers/606059/21 "2011-12-14T05:58:55Z")
> [@twickster](#): > > I have removed the poem to protect the author’s rights. It is available in the link provided in the OP. > > **twickster** , MPSIMS moderator The author died in 1946 at 75 years old. I’m pretty sure the copyright’s expired. ---
**Author:** ![cochrane](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cochrane/32/10441_2.png) [@cochrane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cochrane)\ **Post date:** [December 14, 2011, 6:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-apparently-speak-english-better-than-90-of-english-speakers/606059/22 "2011-12-14T06:15:38Z")
The word “bass” can have two pronunciations, depending on whether you mean a fish or a low musical tone. ---
**Author:** ![pulykamell](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pulykamell/32/3166_2.png) [@pulykamell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pulykamell)\ **Post date:** [December 14, 2011, 6:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-apparently-speak-english-better-than-90-of-english-speakers/606059/23 "2011-12-14T06:31:09Z")
> [@Stoid](#): > > The author died in 1946 at 75 years old. I’m pretty sure the copyright’s expired. Why would you think that? That’s not true under US Copyright law, so far as I can tell. [Cite](http://ask.yahoo.com/20020612.html): > [@](#): > > For works created but not published or registered before January 1, 1978, copyright lasts for the life of the author plus 70 years, but it will not expire earlier than December 31, 2002. If the work is published before December 31, 2002, copyright will not expire before December 31, 2047. > > For pre-1978 works still in their original or renewal term of copyright, copyright is extended to 95 years from the date that copyright was originally secured. ---
**Author:** ![Cartoonacy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/848f3c/32.png) [@Cartoonacy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cartoonacy)\ **Post date:** [December 14, 2011, 11:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-apparently-speak-english-better-than-90-of-english-speakers/606059/24 "2011-12-14T23:40:33Z")
> [@Cazzle](#): > > …aunt doesn’t rhyme with grant… It does in my part of the world. ---
**Author:** ![Meyer6](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/cc9497/32.png) [@Meyer6](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Meyer6)\ **Post date:** [December 15, 2011, 1:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-apparently-speak-english-better-than-90-of-english-speakers/606059/25 "2011-12-15T01:05:23Z")
> [@cochrane](#): > > The word “bass” can have two pronunciations, depending on whether you mean a fish or a low musical tone. There’s a few words like that in the poem - ‘wind’ and ‘live’ were the others that jumped out at me as having multiple legit pronunciations. Anyways, I’m not sure what reading this poem has to do with proficiency in \*speaking \*English. Any native English speaker could read this easily, provided that they were literate. This is really a test of reading ability or possibly spelling ability. I can see how a non-native speaker would find it difficult. ---
**Author:** ![guizot](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guizot/32/3636_2.png) [@guizot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/guizot)\ **Post date:** [December 16, 2011, 2:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-apparently-speak-english-better-than-90-of-english-speakers/606059/26 "2011-12-16T02:32:17Z")
> [@CitizenPained](#): > > There is some degree of agreement on what constitutes _correct_ or “proper” English, and I think that’s what the OP was getting at. Regardless, however one views regional differences in SAE (as being “proper” or not), those differences would hardly matter for this particular poem. What I think the poem really “tests,” (if we want to see it as a test), is working vocabulary knowledge. **Stoid** was able to vocalize the poem successfully because all of the words with “inconsistent” spellings apparently are nevertheless part of her working vocabulary, (so they didn’t “stump” her). In this sense, it could be possible to say that–rather than “speaking better” than 90% of the English speakers–she has a vocabulary that is (by some kind of metric) larger than 90% of English speakers. ---
**Author:** ![Stoid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/stoid/32/272_2.png) [@Stoid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Stoid)\ **Post date:** [December 16, 2011, 2:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-apparently-speak-english-better-than-90-of-english-speakers/606059/27 "2011-12-16T02:55:48Z")
> [@guizot](#): > > Regardless, however one views regional differences in SAE (as being “proper” or not), those differences would hardly matter for this particular poem. What I think the poem really “tests,” (if we want to see it as a test), is working vocabulary knowledge. **Stoid** was able to vocalize the poem successfully because all of the words with “inconsistent” spellings apparently are nevertheless part of her working vocabulary, (so they didn’t “stump” her). In this sense, it could be possible to say that–rather than “speaking better” than 90% of the English speakers–she has a vocabulary that is (by some kind of metric) larger than 90% of English speakers. I’ll buy that for a dollar. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-apparently-speak-english-better-than-90-of-english-speakers/606059.md?page=1)