As you might know, I have been trying to immerse myself in the realm of education as much as I can lately. One of the things that I have observed while tutoring and subbing, is that KIDS CAN NOT SPELL!
With the growing abundance of technology, and with it a lessening of the necessity to be able to spell correctly, kids can no longer spell.In fact, when corrected, many can grow hostile, or say things like, "Who cares?" or "Sorry Mr. Spelling police man". So why the seemingly sudden devolution of the language I love? Technology.
When the English language was in its infant years, just emerging as a written language, there were no right or wrong ways to spell words. If one could write a word so that it could be effectively sounded out orally, it expressed the meaning it was supposed to (i.e. "Cat" v. "Kat"). The message would be received, and there was no need for a universal spelling of the word. This was fine when the English vocabulary was so limited, that there were few words that sounded the same, with different meanings. This was fine when there were few people that actually knew how to, or had any use of, writing in general.
"Then his cosin ascried and cried full loud: 'Thou has killed cold-dede the king of all knightes." (King Arthur's Death, the Alliterative Morte Arthure).
As the language entered its pre-pubescence, writing became more available to regular people, and was seen much more. In this time, Shakespeare, Donne, and the likes graced their manuscripts with not only brilliance, but inconsistent spellings. Indeed, Shakespeare did not even spell even his name consistently. True, Shakespeare's more common spellings helped shape the eventually "permanent" spellings of words, but at the time no one cared how anything was spelled. Shakespeare wasn't trying to shape the written word. Truthfully, in this day and age when writers can spend a career toying with the meanings and spellings of words (e.g. Nietzsche) it is amazing how much genius Shakespeare was able to convey without universal spellings.
"When my love sweares that she is made of truth,
I do beleeve her, though I know she lyes,
That she might thinke me some untuterd youth,
Unlearned in the worlds false subtilties."
(Shakespeare, Sonnet 138).
As English reached adolescence, people like Noah Webster printed dictionaries with decided spellings and definitions for the language, growing rapidly in both size and complexity. For the next 200 years, people began to embrace spelling for the first time. It became important to express one's thoughts with assurance that they would be understood, and also seen as a sign of a good education. People's handwriting was not only in cursive, but readable, elegant, and fluid (ever wonder your Grandma has such nice penmanship?) Of course, it had to be. Even the advent of the typewriter didn't kill spelling. Everything you wrote was proofread to the brink of insanity, as one typo on an otherwise perfect document meant it had to be typed up again, from scratch.
As radio, and later television become better, and more affordable, they began to replace reading as a favorite past-time. Children no longer had to scour through pages of novels looking for adventure, it was right in front of them, with bright flashing pictures. It is unfortunate too, as not only the book version of a story is almost always better than the movie, but because they would have been exposed to words. They would have been exposed to new words, and most importantly, the correct spellings of words. The more you see a particular word, the easier it is to spell it. Sadly, many of us that have grown-up with television hardly ever pick up a book unless forced to. In fact, the shelves of public libraries are giving up more and more space to DVDs, instead of books.
Somewhere in the last 20 years or so, spelling has again failed to be viewed by most people as important. As technology nurses us all with spell-checks, (this document was spell- checked) and we find the need to communicate faster and faster with more and more people, phrases like "Idk y, but I wan2 fuk u @wrk l8r" and "GoIn' Ouuuttttie wit Da DZ Gurlllllieeeez!!!!" are not only commonplace on the Internet and in text messages, but we UNDERSTAND them! Sound like Shakespeare? Not quite, but the idea is the same: Sound it out. Does it sound like a phrase you can decode and understand? If so, then the message has been communicated, and the end may justify the means.
I detest that "Lite" is growing in popularity as a spelling, especially in advertising (a market that is aiding in the slow death of spelling like mercury to a baby) but, it is reality that I must face.
As I labor over correct spelling and punctuation in the text messages I send, I cannot help but admit that when I'm driving (yes, driving) and trying to express a simple thought to a loved one, I too find myself typing a quick, "Luv U 2 bye". Is it inevitable that our language will devolve from universal spellings to universal inconsistent spellings? How long before we see this kind of spelling not only in texts, but on legal documents and job applications?
It is for all of the above mentioned reasons that I plead with you in the words of McLovin: "Read a fuckin' book!" And if I correct some misspelling of yours in a text, don't take it personally, It's not you I'm after, but the future of a good friend of mine that I met when I first uttered "Ba-ba".
10.22.2010
10.18.2010
Observing the Human Adolescent
Last week, I was working on completing required observation hours for my graduate course in education. I went with some classmates to a North-West suburban school. Though I was there to observe the teachers, I found it hard to ignore the students. This is what I observed about the Human Adolescent:
The social order has not changed. Students still fit into only a few categories of teen. Indeed, the more the Human Adolescent thinks they are an individual, the less they are:
"Dude, I'm not gonna to go to the dance, it's gonna be lame as balls. I'm not gonna go just because everyone else is going." No, but this student will NOT go because everyone else is going. He is the classic teenager's definition of a rebel, a stand alone, yet blind to the reality that just about every thought he has, someone has had before him. He's so novel.
The H.A. is all about touching. Any kind will do. They hug hello to every girl they know, and go through elaborately orchestrated hand shakes with their "bros" before anything else happens. In a decent-sized group, this whole ritual can take up to 5 minutes, or roughly an entire passing period between classes. If given the opportunity to "hang out" (with the only source of entertainment being their own angst), they will carry on with guys punching, tackling, wrestling, and slapping each other. Once their Alpha-maleness gains the attention of some female H.A., the male will grab her, and carry her around while she screams half-hearted protests. If the female decides instead to avoid him, the male will give chase until capturing her, then continuing on with said touching. If a female truly wants nothing to do with a particular male, she will approach a much-desired male to enlist his "protection". This male then has open permission to prove his ability to "protect" her from what is presumably a beta-male, or less (though males lower than betas are rarely allowed near the Alpha females to begin with). Successfully "protecting" the female, this Alpha-male will then be rewarded with her attention, including more, and often escalated touching.
In the cafeteria, they still serve Kemp's Milk, and chicken patties. Now engulfed in these creatures, the same urges surface again. Chin up, chest out, you feel cooler than you ever did in your life. "I'm a mother-fucking (sometimes literally) adult. I buy alcohol, tobacco, and firearms on the reg, and if so inclined, I vote. I'm a respected fuckin' member of society, and I have you little shits all figured out."
Walking through the masses of H.A.'s, you see the Alpha-male, and wish he would challenge you. Because, how dare he not give you the opportunity to emasculate him in front of his peers, and demonstrate how fuckin' cool, and over this petty shit you are. How dare he.
The social order has not changed. Students still fit into only a few categories of teen. Indeed, the more the Human Adolescent thinks they are an individual, the less they are:
"Dude, I'm not gonna to go to the dance, it's gonna be lame as balls. I'm not gonna go just because everyone else is going." No, but this student will NOT go because everyone else is going. He is the classic teenager's definition of a rebel, a stand alone, yet blind to the reality that just about every thought he has, someone has had before him. He's so novel.
The H.A. is all about touching. Any kind will do. They hug hello to every girl they know, and go through elaborately orchestrated hand shakes with their "bros" before anything else happens. In a decent-sized group, this whole ritual can take up to 5 minutes, or roughly an entire passing period between classes. If given the opportunity to "hang out" (with the only source of entertainment being their own angst), they will carry on with guys punching, tackling, wrestling, and slapping each other. Once their Alpha-maleness gains the attention of some female H.A., the male will grab her, and carry her around while she screams half-hearted protests. If the female decides instead to avoid him, the male will give chase until capturing her, then continuing on with said touching. If a female truly wants nothing to do with a particular male, she will approach a much-desired male to enlist his "protection". This male then has open permission to prove his ability to "protect" her from what is presumably a beta-male, or less (though males lower than betas are rarely allowed near the Alpha females to begin with). Successfully "protecting" the female, this Alpha-male will then be rewarded with her attention, including more, and often escalated touching.
In the cafeteria, they still serve Kemp's Milk, and chicken patties. Now engulfed in these creatures, the same urges surface again. Chin up, chest out, you feel cooler than you ever did in your life. "I'm a mother-fucking (sometimes literally) adult. I buy alcohol, tobacco, and firearms on the reg, and if so inclined, I vote. I'm a respected fuckin' member of society, and I have you little shits all figured out."
Walking through the masses of H.A.'s, you see the Alpha-male, and wish he would challenge you. Because, how dare he not give you the opportunity to emasculate him in front of his peers, and demonstrate how fuckin' cool, and over this petty shit you are. How dare he.
10.15.2010
Laser Womb
So, I guess I have a blog now.
Let me just start with a disclaimer regarding my pretentiousness:
I don't have any illusions of grandeur by thinking that this will be the "Cat's Pajama's" of a blog (though maybe that would have been a good name for it).
I just have a lot of thoughts, and have it on good authority that at least four or twelve people might be interested in them. With that said, if you don't like my blog, then kindly go fuck yourself!
Anyway, I thought that I would launch this blog into the outer reaches of your personal space, by starting with explaining both the name of the blog, and my pseudonym.
I was going to name this "Male Pattern Boldness", which is just a phrase that I thought I made-up, and thought it would pertain to many of my themes. As it turns out, however, I was not the first person to think of that phrase, and as evidence there is a guy on this same blog using that name...about sewing. Male patterns, I guess. Hmph.
The Camel News Hour, as my Dad tells me, was an actual mini news hour back in the glory days of television, when cigarettes could not only be advertised on the telly, but could sponsor an entire news show, complete with chain-smoking anchors. (sigh)...A bygone era when Men were men, and ladies were cooking (I'm not a misogynist, someone that hates women. I just happen to find jokes about it to be very funny.) Maybe this will be a topic sometime...
Mr. A. Elbows is an anagram (jumbled up letters of my name). I went to a website http://wordsmith.org/anagram/ that lets you find anagrams. Needless to say, I spent the entire morning searching everyone I know's name. Some of my favorites, from my name, are the following:
Able Mr. Sow, Brawl 'em so, Bar me slow, Slam Bros we, Law robs me (hehe), Able worms, Marble sow, Smear blow, Moral webs, A.M. Bowlers, and perhaps my favorite, Laser womb.
I recommend you try this.
Expect more soon,
Sam
Let me just start with a disclaimer regarding my pretentiousness:
I don't have any illusions of grandeur by thinking that this will be the "Cat's Pajama's" of a blog (though maybe that would have been a good name for it).
I just have a lot of thoughts, and have it on good authority that at least four or twelve people might be interested in them. With that said, if you don't like my blog, then kindly go fuck yourself!
Anyway, I thought that I would launch this blog into the outer reaches of your personal space, by starting with explaining both the name of the blog, and my pseudonym.
I was going to name this "Male Pattern Boldness", which is just a phrase that I thought I made-up, and thought it would pertain to many of my themes. As it turns out, however, I was not the first person to think of that phrase, and as evidence there is a guy on this same blog using that name...about sewing. Male patterns, I guess. Hmph.
The Camel News Hour, as my Dad tells me, was an actual mini news hour back in the glory days of television, when cigarettes could not only be advertised on the telly, but could sponsor an entire news show, complete with chain-smoking anchors. (sigh)...A bygone era when Men were men, and ladies were cooking (I'm not a misogynist, someone that hates women. I just happen to find jokes about it to be very funny.) Maybe this will be a topic sometime...
Mr. A. Elbows is an anagram (jumbled up letters of my name). I went to a website http://wordsmith.org/anagram/ that lets you find anagrams. Needless to say, I spent the entire morning searching everyone I know's name. Some of my favorites, from my name, are the following:
Able Mr. Sow, Brawl 'em so, Bar me slow, Slam Bros we, Law robs me (hehe), Able worms, Marble sow, Smear blow, Moral webs, A.M. Bowlers, and perhaps my favorite, Laser womb.
I recommend you try this.
Expect more soon,
Sam
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