Unit 10 Say What



Unit 10 Say What ?

Sara: English is, is, is an especially interesting and rich language because it has such deep roots and so many, um, influences.

Daniel: Rap, or hip-hop in general, was kind of formed to go against the system.

Sara: When, um ... English ... primarily the English, but also French, came to the United States, uh, the language began to change even more because immigrants flooded to America.

Daniel: It was created to go against the norm and

something that your parents couldn’t be a part of.

Sara: And all their languages were mixed in with

English and it’s just become richer and richer.

Daniel: My life, my life, my life, my life, my life ... Yeah, yeah. OK. This is “Better Days”. Yeah.

Sara: Rap is a wonderful example of how the

English language is growing and, um, is so alive.

Daniel: Language is different in rap. It’s the, you know, the whole slang factor. “I’m gonna cop

a whip.” You know, instead of saying, “I’m

gonna buy a car — I’m gonna purchase a

car.”

Sara: It started out somewhere as one group’s way of expressing themselves, trying to be ... trying to be themselves, and be different or distinctive from other groups. And then other

people would hear it and say, “You know, I really like the sound of that. I like the beat of that. I like the ... the rhythm. I like what

they’re saying.”

Daniel: So, if you’re not a part of hip-hop, if someone

says, like, “Yeah, your kicks are fly,” people

are gonna think you’re talking about karate or something. You know, when you’re really

saying, “Your shoes are nice. Your shoes are

hot.”

Sara: And if something has a lot of value that people like, like rap, then it will just get bigger

and bigger and bigger and, um, it’s very,

it’s one of the really exciting things about language.

Daniel: Listen to me, I’m one of the realest, yeah ...

Yeah, I’m on my way, follow me, yeah ...

Sara: We have many different styles to express ourselves and say the same thing, but to different groups of people. So, for example, if you just want to greet your friends and see

how you are, you say, “Hey, guys. How you

doin’?” But if you want to go into your boss’s office and see how your boss is, you say,

“Oh, hello, Mrs. Smith. How are ... How are

you today?” And it’s a very different style.

Daniel: I think rap influences the way people talk and

I don’t know if it’s in a negative way.

Sara: It can be a problem if you use the wrong style with the wrong group of people.

Daniel: You know, people don’t know how to turn it off and on. If you go to a job interview,

and someone’s like, yeah, you know, “What

would you bring to our company?” “Yeah,

man, you know, I’m ... my attitude’s crazy.

You know what I’m saying? And, you know, my energy level is stupid right now. You know what I mean? I’ll definitely, you know, I’ll

make this company mad cheese.”

Sara: If you’re at a job interview, you’re going to use, um, completely different words.

Daniel: “My energy is stupid right now,” which

means, you know, my energy’s high. I have a lot of energy. I’m, you know, motivated. “I’m

gonna bring the company mad cheese, yo”

— you know, I can generate more income for the company.

Sara: Sometimes students will email me and say,

“Hey, you.” And I’ll send an email back and

say, “No. That isn’t the right style to use

when you’re addressing a professor. But it is fine if you want to use it for your friends or

your siblings.”

Daniel: People just have to learn how to decipher,

you know, what is appropriate and when it’s not.

Sara: So, it really depends on who you’re with and

what you’re trying to say, what words you choose and how you choose to say it.

3 Say what?

Daniel: Daniel Laurent addressing issues, play mob like, give you a rose, turn and kissed you ...

Sarah: We add ... add words to the language every day, and that means when the dictionary is published, maybe every ten years or so, uh, the dictionary-makers have to make choices of what words are going to be dropped and what words are going to be included, and what words have different meanings.

Daniel: The hip-hop dictionary is ... it’s so outdated because the language changes so fast. So, they have stuff in there like, um ... “fresh”

when no one really says “fresh” since, you

know, like, ‘85, ‘88.

Sarah: They follow the words in print, um, and also, um, in the media, television, um, movies, whatever. And, uh, they, they count how many times a word is used, and when it

reaches a certain level, it’s included in the dictionary.

Daniel: They have stuff in there like “jiggy,” which

Will Smith, “Gettin’ Jiggy wit It”. And, like, you know, no one even really said that. I

mean, he just said, “Gettin’ jiggy wit it,” and,

like, people started saying, “I’m gettin’ jiggy

wit it.” Started dancing. It was, like, come on.

You know, like, once your grandfather says,

“I’m gettin’ jiggy wit it” and starts dancing,

like, you know it’s time to move forward.

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