tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19305198.post8860279319991774932..comments2024-03-27T03:19:11.216-04:00Comments on Assistant Village Idiot: Uptalk and PunctuationAssistant Village Idiothttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01978011985085795099noreply@blogger.comBlogger12125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19305198.post-75985919864217751002022-10-15T21:08:12.592-04:002022-10-15T21:08:12.592-04:00I love the flexibility of language to evolve! Engl...I love the flexibility of language to evolve! English teachers can be notoriously resistant to this, sadly. I think there's comfort in the surety of a set of memorized rules. One of my colleagues still insists on using the Warriner's Grammar books with 1981 copyright dates in them, bless her heart. I haven't noticed uptalking at school, but I could just be so used to it that it doesn't register. And I do remember Dad remarking when I was a teen that I tended to do it, and it was something he heard all the time in Newfoundland. <br /><br />I'm not sure I can speak broadly to the gender divide (other than to note the obvious correlation that teenage girls are much more likely to be communicating prolifically than teenage boys are & therefore more likely to develop linguistic changes). But I definitely see youth culture pushing our language in general. I'm always curious to know how much I see is influenced by my students' ages (teen culture) & how much by their home culture. Many of my students are Asian, South Asian, or Middle Eastern, either as first generation Americans or as immigrants who moved to America as young children & speak another language at home or at the very least with extended family. We've actually had so many students coming into our district from Brazil that we've added Heritage Portuguese to our World Languages offerings for those who speak it conversationally but can't read or write it proficiently. <br /><br />In general we see writers responding to the habits of readers. My AP Lang students just set up blogs we will use throughout the year to write & and give feedback to other Lang students around the country. We spent time talking about the changes we see in reading consumption, news or otherwise. Generally speaking, we're reading most of our information digitally. And it seems to be the younger the reader, the smaller the screen: my parents read on their big desktop screen, I'm on my smaller laptop, but my students stick primarily to phones and their school-issued iPads. Writers respond (in order to maintain attention & clarity) by creating more paragraph breaks in their writing and using block formatting instead of traditional double spacing and indents. Hyperlinks replace footnotes or parenthetical citations. <br /><br />As our communication has grown more text-based and we lose the benefits of facial expression, intonation, etc., I love that teens are adding tonality through more than just emojis. And I can at least attest that I pick up on these new trends, recommendations, and rules more quickly than others my age. (I'm regularly single-spacing after my sentences, to my own surprise.) I know that the final period is grammatically correct, but I still have to consciously reject perceived passive-aggressiveness or sulkiness when Mom texts just "okay." to me. FYI, the "tears of joy" emoji is something "only old people use," the "thumbs up emoji" is seen as passive-aggressive by teens, and I guess only old people still end their texts in ellipses...Erinhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12803753870981743904noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19305198.post-31418101735383149082022-10-14T15:37:27.945-04:002022-10-14T15:37:27.945-04:00This is true. But let me assure you that there ar...This is true. But let me assure you that there are at least two levels beyond even this. Assistant Village Idiothttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01978011985085795099noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19305198.post-56010955991989311092022-10-14T15:02:22.789-04:002022-10-14T15:02:22.789-04:00Then the old people who don't switch to this d...<i>Then the old people who don't switch to this die off, grumbling...</i><br /><br />The ones who do switch also die off, as eventually does everyone. Keeping current with fashion is much like eating healthy and exercising: there may be reasons to do it, but you're still going to die. <br /><br />One of the things I value about getting older is not being expected to know, let alone keep up with, current fashions. I sometimes see articles about it; I think yesterday or so I saw one that using a 'thumbs up' emoji is now considered rude because old-fashioned. Who uses emojis? Children, that's who. And the children's children are now telling them how to do it. Thank God, those games are for younger people to worry about.Grimhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07543082562999855432noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19305198.post-32451748918203500642022-10-13T20:30:54.483-04:002022-10-13T20:30:54.483-04:00@ sykes. Buckle in. You are not wrong, but there...@ sykes. Buckle in. You are not wrong, but there is more to the story.Assistant Village Idiothttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01978011985085795099noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19305198.post-86547088976450769972022-10-13T19:33:58.797-04:002022-10-13T19:33:58.797-04:00Uptalking is for unserious people, children and, a...Uptalking is for unserious people, children and, apparently now, young women. And soy boys.<br /><br />Serious people/cultures take over and rule unserious people/cultures. Our future is more likely to be Islamic/Sharia tan woke.sykes.1https://www.blogger.com/profile/10954672321945289871noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19305198.post-29034978667252565242022-10-13T18:18:42.522-04:002022-10-13T18:18:42.522-04:00I wonder if I should start uptalking? Maybe talkin...I wonder if I should start uptalking? Maybe talking like women will make them like me more? Like, people approve of people who share their quirks, yeah?Ganzirhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08846299071370650169noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19305198.post-12599426357028222752022-10-13T16:11:32.651-04:002022-10-13T16:11:32.651-04:00@ Sponge - uptalk is a real thing, among female ac...@ Sponge - uptalk is a real thing, among female academics definitely and even younger males at this point. I would be interested in Erin's take, teaching AP English at a suburban HS.Assistant Village Idiothttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01978011985085795099noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19305198.post-43447386354815784702022-10-13T16:09:31.740-04:002022-10-13T16:09:31.740-04:00Jonathan, let me suggest that the Holy Spirit prom...Jonathan, let me suggest that the Holy Spirit prompted that comment from you to me today. Assistant Village Idiothttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01978011985085795099noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19305198.post-89277729185400262712022-10-13T15:34:08.281-04:002022-10-13T15:34:08.281-04:00If in doubt, the power move is usually to refrain ...If in doubt, the power move is usually to refrain from replying at all.Jonathanhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08111391338812214765noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19305198.post-57614957403957711702022-10-13T13:58:59.489-04:002022-10-13T13:58:59.489-04:00Geez, I recall making fun of Valley Girl speak bac...Geez, I recall making fun of Valley Girl speak back in the early 80s. But I do have to admit that I am slightly put-off when a professional woman or someone like a female TV reporter uses Uptalk. My brain registers: "not as educated as I would have expected."<br /><br />The linked article talks about Australian Uptalk but of course many Brits and Canadian tend to end a declarative statement with a (perhaps unconscious) questioning. "Eh?" leaps to mind.Sponge-headed ScienceManhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12914014641719908195noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19305198.post-88362581131822937842022-10-13T10:31:53.689-04:002022-10-13T10:31:53.689-04:00Maybe the same thing is now happening with emojis,...<a href="https://www.dailymail.co.uk/femail/real-life/article-11301843/The-worst-emojis-use-2022-Passive-aggressive-thumbs-used-old-people.html" rel="nofollow">Maybe the same thing is now happening with emojis, specifically the thumbs-up?</a>(h/t Ed Driscoll at Instapundit, link to Daily Mail. The list of email buzz phrases is also worth a click.). There was a lot of slagging Zoomers in the IP comments as expected but the rational proposed in the article is also "it's rude". I can see where they are coming from as I've been admonished about simply 'liking' a post but I'm torn between not doing anything and simply posting a platitude, which seems pretty cheap as well, especially when a post is about a problem situation or loss.<br /><br />Any of these remote communication protocols have the issue of lacking the nonverbal cues that we use to more or less gracefully exit a conversation such as breaking eye contact or gesturing. They land uncomfortably between synchronous conversation and asynchronous communication like email.<br /><br />Using. Periods. Like. This. could also be related.Christopher Bhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00396671757183163171noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19305198.post-15531264826478290952022-10-13T10:26:16.705-04:002022-10-13T10:26:16.705-04:00"I wonder if the two are related?"
ISWY..."I wonder if the two are related?"<br /><br />ISWYDT<br /><br />I await the first female Navy admiral to go by Admiral Helen or something similar.Jonathanhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08111391338812214765noreply@blogger.com