Is it normal that i find the african americans' speaking hilarious!:d

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28 Comments

I am African, and I just came here say two years ago, when I was just 15, now I'm 17. I was born and bred in Africa. Any way, I love this country. America is blessed and pretty, and everything, but I was able to observe one thing : I'd rather stick to the formal correct British English.
lmao let me just state that when i first joined my sophomore year in high school here, EVERYONE thought I was borderline retarded. Fellow black students(some whites did this too), could NOT just be correct at grammar!At all! haha. I found words like "Dis" and "Dat" so funny, I'd literally burst out in the middle of class laughing, because someone had said them! And when someone said " I ain't gon' do mah homework", I'd roll on the floor. I also find prolongation of word hilarious: "Hellllllll nawwwwww" or "Whatchuuuuu meaaaaan" lol :D
The reason why I might seem so ridiculous about this is due to the fact that in Africa, kids are taught CORRECT and Proper English. This has affected me, to the point of which I would rather only date boys who speak fluent correct English. So my dating pool with the black guys is just plain dry. And for some reason, white guys seem to respect my 'peculiarities' way better than black guys.:)
Is it normal that this type of Vernacular makes me laugh so much? What is this Ebonics?(I CANNOT decipher Ebonics most of the time smh) Am I crazy? lmaooo I'm just even laughing thinking about some of the kids I heard earlier today...:D:D

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87% Normal
Based on 97 votes (84 yes)
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Comments ( 28 )
  • Avant-Garde
    12 years ago

    It's mind boggling when people don't use proper English. Instead of laughing at them, it usually pisses me off. Blame that on my inner grammar Nazi:)

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  • [Old Memory]
    12 years ago

    The funniest thing about it is that most of them purposely speak this way because they want to "keep it real" but then if a white person stereotypes them as "acting black" they get called a racist, or they get offended as being "labelled". What the hell choice would a white person have, I mean what are you supposed to call it?? Talking normally? There is nothing about how blacks talk that is normal, especially when its a bunch of them together.

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    • BluntsRolled
      12 years ago

      I woodnt go as far as saying we do it just to "keep it real". Its just how we were raised, think of it like Hispanics who came from Spanish speaking countries to the US. They feel more comfortable speaking Spanish amongst there peers so why should they stop? Are they just supposed to magically develop proper English speaking voices out of thin air?

      Cause yes anybody can work there way to speaking proper English in a more "traditional" way, but it might not be as comfortable to some of us as you may like to assume.

      When you r whole family sounds like southern bells its kinda hard to just drop something like that ya know?

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      • KingTermite
        8 years ago

        So, you're saying you were raised to purposely sound like you don't know English? Seems odd as there are many opportunities to hear English spoken correctly... Most movies, most TV shows, especially news programs.

        It's a conscious decision to speak that way and it's a cornerstone of the larger problem facing black culture. It's really unfortunate to see such a large segment of the population go out of their way to handicap themselves.

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  • PumpkinKate
    12 years ago

    The reason for such a difference in the way people speak this language is because here in America, we're not that far off from a time when there was a huge separation between black and white people.

    Even my mother remembers the first day her school had black people attend it, desegregation and all that.

    Up until that point, there were a lot of negative things society did to specifically separate black people from the rest of society - I'm sure you've learned a lot about this, so I don't need to go into detail.

    The sociological aspect is that when a minority is discriminated against, a common reaction is to form a sense of unity and tradition unique to the group - it helps the oppressed feel like "we're all in this together". One such aspect was the way they spoke the English language.

    Here we are what, 1-2 generations away from the more extreme segregation and you think nearly 200 years of tradition is just going to melt away because "proper English" sounds better? It's not about being stupid, it's about growing up and learning to speak from those around you.

    Would you mock someone in England for having a British accent? Someone from the South for saying "y'all"? A Northerner for calling a carbonated beverage "pop"? It's just what you grow up around and learn.

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    • BluntsRolled
      12 years ago

      Im with this as well. Its not like we came out the womb choosing to speak a certain way.

      We are merely products of our environment.

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      • KingTermite
        8 years ago

        "We are merely products of our environment."

        BUllshit. If you're speaking that way it's not because you don't know any better, there are myriad examples of English spoken correctly, unless you've never seen a movie or watched TV. If you're doing it, it's to fit in, be cool, and/or to create a clear separation from the rest of the culture.

        This cultural rift is not helping anyone. It's certainly not healing any past issues of inequality. At this point, many white people have a ton of liberal guilt and are thus willing to "overlook" how blatantly obnoxious the bastardisation of the language has become. I with, like the OP, I could find it hilarious, I just think find it makes the speaker look ignorant.

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    • ravageme
      12 years ago

      I don't complain about their way of talking AT ALL. It just makes me laugh! I appreciate their culture and all, but that way of speaking just hits my funny nerves every single time. So no, I'm not trying to change anybody. I was just wondering why it makes me laugh so hard that's all:)

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  • boobookittyfuk
    12 years ago

    It's not just Black Americans. I have heard white people, Hispanic people, etc...speak in Ebonics. For some reason they think it makes them sound cool. I like to blame this on rap music. Have you listened to some of these rappers speak? Jeezus, this guy is making millions? He sounds like a complete idiot. Keep up da gud werk, Lil Wayne! I know I don't have perfect grammar, but I try! LOL. :D

    Laterz...fizzles, dizzles, slip slaps, scallywhops n skeezers... I'm out!

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  • RinTin
    12 years ago

    That's just how some people talk. You can't blame people for speaking the way they do it's natural for them. It s like you or me speaking in slang, we would probably sound dumb. Except they can talk proper if they wanted. When some white people talk like that it's annoying. I find that black people put more emotion into saying things.

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    • KingTermite
      8 years ago

      You can't blame them? Of course you can, unless you don't believe they have control over the words that come out of their mouth.

      I can speak with many different accents, use various types of slang and otherwise obscurify the way I speak. For laughs, or among friends I just may do it, but it is most definitely a conscious decision. For people that make speaking that way their habit, it may be just that, a habit, but it certainly doesn't indicate it can't be controlled.

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  • creampawf
    7 years ago

    some people think asians need people to talk slowly and carefully to them. I have a friend in most of my classes, and we speak in Korean, and we rarely participate in class, so yeah. But there is a white kid who has apparently never talk in English said, Why do yon even go to school if you don't speak english? He said it really loud and slowly, like I was an idiot, which is ironic because I have much better grades than him.

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    • creampawf
      7 years ago

      In Englsih

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  • januarycurse
    8 years ago

    You're not crazy, you are normal! and smart :)

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  • [Old Memory]
    12 years ago

    I'm black and I find it funny. Not haha, crack up laughing in their face funny, just casually funny. I speak average, midwest, North American english.

    The problem (or so I hear from inner city or majority black school students.) is that you get picked on for "acting white" just as much as you get looked down on for talking "ghetto". Thing is, you'd get further in life or at least avoid instant judgement if you'd just brush off the stupid peer comments and spoke like everyone else.

    The culture perservation is another thing. However, you can talk properly in public and switch to a relaxed style at home and still get by. Many people do this, including my mom. The street talk we hear is probably usually overheard when the speaker is in a group of friends... which is fine. It's not for you to hear anyway.

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    • matthewkoehler
      7 years ago

      I absolutely agree.

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  • Wendell
    12 years ago

    Dis be na 'fensive post righ'her. What no nigga done you cracker? You thinyo beddr than's. We be funny to'y. You fuckin racis' fuckin cracka. Ima cut you

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  • [Old Memory]
    12 years ago

    This isn't just an African American thing. The education curriculum is being lowered with every generation, and along with facebook, and other social networking sites (which are a platform for communicating with zero tact, improper grammar, punctuation, spelling, and allow the abbreviations of stupid words/phrases, etc.) the way we talk is bound to change.

    The English language will continue to evolve... Eventually it will become something like in the story of Babylon, where nobody could communicate or understand each other, and the structures that held society in place, completely crumbled. Sadly, it's only going to get more incoherent.

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    • KingTermite
      8 years ago

      "Eventually it will become something like in the story of Babylon..."

      Um... the tower of Babel was not in Babylon, try the land of Shinar. There was a ziggurat built for the Mesopotamian god Marduk by Nabopolassar, king of Babylonia, but it was destroyed by Alexander the Great (or rather by his order, he didn't do it one night while everyone was asleep). And while Alexander was considered a brilliant military commander, I don't recall him attempting to elevate himself to a god-like status, though I suppose anything is possible. At any rate, this all happened roughly 300 BCE, which would not put it anywhere near the timeline of the tower of Babel.

      Whew.

      I think a more likely possibility is that things will become something like the movie Idiocracy, which if you haven't seen it, is definitely worth a look.

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  • Captain_Kegstand
    12 years ago

    It's worse when people type like that. I have seen several occasions where people will type Ebonics and it is completely impossible to read. It doesn't annoy me as much as entertains me though.

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    • NeuroNeptunian
      12 years ago

      It annoys me WhEn PeOpLe TyPe LiKe ThIs. It just seems so stupid and time consumin.

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      • Captain_Kegstand
        12 years ago

        Yes, that does not entertain me, that annoys the hell out of me! It looks like it takes so much time and effort just for them to look stupid!

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  • thinkingaboutit
    12 years ago

    Eh shitty english just pisses me off. I live in brooklyn so ...ITS EVERYWEHRE I TURNNNNN!!

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  • BurnaBaby27
    12 years ago

    Not all 'African Americans' speak that way, and not all people that speak that way are 'African American".

    Maybe you'll get used to it the longer you're here.

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    • Angel_in_a_Glass_Dress
      12 years ago

      This.

      The speech patterns the OP speaks of are only with certain people. It is a stereotype to assume that all blacks in America speak the same way.

      Accents and speech patterns with all skin colors will vary depending on location or where the individual comes from, as well as education level.

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      • BurnaBaby27
        12 years ago

        And this :}.

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  • MJloverGurl
    12 years ago

    Yes I sometime laugh myself too when I hear somebody say stuff like that. COME ON PEOPLE CORRECT ENGLISH PLEASE.

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    • [Old Memory]
      12 years ago

      "Yes I sometime laugh myself too when i hear somebody" is correct english?

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