Tuesday, August 24, 2010

Maybe I should go to work for the government...



According to news reports:














That manager was me.





Which means I could go to work for the government.



  1. Basil, I know where you're comin' at. I think most of us from down here can interpret at least one or two regional dialects.

    But honestly, I don't think I could do the job the Feds are trying to fill. I'm pretty good at ebonics, but I'm so far out of the loop that the slang would ex me from success at it. However, I have a couple of co-workers that I am POSITIVE would fit the bill. They are young people that can turn it off, and on in an instant.

    I'm gonna tell them about this opportunity.

  2. I have no idea what those two dialects are, but I understand Southern black folks. Maybe I should apply, too.

    You know, since Obama and the Democrat Congress are trying to make sure that no one can work in the private sector at all.

  3. Andy:
    Glad to help out your co-workers. I think.

    Geechee & Gullah aren't the same thing as Ebonics. Geechee is often associated with the Low Country. Words aren't all that different, just the pronunciation. Gullah is similar, but it has more hybrid words, to my experience, and is more associated with Blacks. Gechee is spoken by Black and White.

  4. Why, oh why am I not surprised? Is Ebonics going to be on future telephone menu options?

  5. I remember watching a documentary on inner city life once, and they had to had to use sub-titles when they interviewed the locals because their "english" was so bad that you couldn't understand them. No only a unique dialect, but the words so mushed and slurred that it compounded the problem. Kind of like the thick, welsh brogue in parts of England. Supposedly english, but good luck understanding it if you aren't from there.

    So I can certainly see the need for a translator!

  6. Yeah, I'm thinking they're looking for folks who speak LA gang slang. Probably not you, since you speak an actual dialect, as opposed to pure ignorance of English due to a sub-standard public education.

