Is this story another GOOD REASON why English should be our OFFICIAL language?

Question

http://www.jsonline.com/story/index.aspx?id=613001

Milwaukee Ald. Michael McGee and two other men plotted to kill a man whom they suspected of burglarizing a home before deciding that he instead should be beaten, District Attorney John Chisholm said Wednesday.

In the original murder plot, $3,000 was to change hands for killing the intended victim, Chisholm said. McGee and the others later agreed on a "beat down" of the intended victim for $1,000, the district attorney said, adding that the trio referred to "peeling back" the intended target's "wig" and "sewing his cap together."

"An argument could be made that this was a conspiracy to commit homicide," Chisholm said in court.

McGee's attorney, Glenn Givens, said Milwaukee police and prosecutors are confused about street language and, at worst, McGee was part of a plan to commit misdemeanor battery.
"You have to look at who is using language and what community they come from before you make any determinations," Givens said.

Answer 1

Liberals just want Spanish because its another way to get free money!
because if you are illiterate you can get welfare.
and since most Americans only speak English, most would be considered illiterate to Spanish!!
$$$$ Free money for the left $$$$

Answer 2

You haven't traveled much around this country have you? There are many variations of 'English' spoken here. People from New York or Boston have a different way of talking compared to people say from Texas or Georgia. You cannot pass or have laws to ban certain ways that people use language due to their social and environmental upbringing.

You know we have a great thing in this country called Freedom of Speech. It doesn't say "Freedom of Speech to only the English spoken by people from the Mid West". If you are trying to suggest that English be the national language, then you have to take into account that you are limiting communication in this country, and that it does not help people who are trying to LEARN our language. It's bad enough that people who do speak fluent English don't even communicate effectively, but now you cut off any tools to help non-English speaking people who need and want to learn?

English is one of the hardest languages to learn because the language itself has components from various other languages, including Spanish. It also doesn't help that when non-English speaking people DO speak English, the majority of people either make fun of or complain about their accents. One also has to take a look at ESL classes nation wide and see that there is a high demand for them, but not enough resources for them.

Answer 3

Many of those who "claim" to be English-speaking speak the language poorly. English can be a very difficult language to master and once you throw "slang" and "street language" into the mix, near impossible.

There are many different versions of English, also, including Queens English, Australian English, and the bastardized American English. Many of our founding fathers wrestled with the thought of a national language. Quite a few thought it should be French. I, personally, am glad they decided not to go the route of mandating one (my French is lousy).

While I do believe that English classes should be a part of the citizenship requirement and taught excessively in schools, I am opposed to mandating an official language. If it is not in the Constitution, the government has no right to legislate on it. That makes it a state issue, not a federal one.

Answer 4

By 2020, "white America" will be in the minority; the tide is inevitable, no matter how many illegals are deported. Denying the language does not eliminate the problem, because it will be there regardless.

Instead, let's focus on assimilating those we can towards English and simultaneously push for other initiatives that promote a bilingual America. If you think about it, most Europeans speak at LEAST two languages and tend to be slightly more intelligent than their American counterparts. That gives you a hint on the importance of encouraging bilingualism!

Answer 5

As a scholar of language and literature, let me answer your question with respect and insight.

First of all, if what you're concerned about is the "street language," let me remind you that the English language has been in a state of transition and flux for centuries.

English has changed greatly, such that an English speaker of 1300 would not have understood the English of 500 nor the English of today.

Language changes for several reasons. First, it changes because the needs of its speakers change. New technologies, new products, and new experiences require new words to refer to them clearly and efficiently.

Another reason for change is that no two people have had exactly the same language experience. We all know a slightly different set of words and constructions, depending on our age, job, education level, region of the country, and so on. We pick up new words and phrases from all the different people we talk with, and these combine to make something new and unlike any other person's particular way of speaking.

And, of course, various groups in society use language as a way of marking their group identity. So sorry you have an issue with that part.

As a former certified English teacher, I think it would be wonderful if everyone in the USA could speak and write at better than a 6-10th grade level. But they don't.

And many of the people who rant the loudest about "learning our language" couldn't pass the language section of an SAT test.

FYI, Nearly 30% of English words (in an 80,000 word dictionary) may be of French origin.

Our language is rich with European influence:
- German gave us wurst, hamburger, frankfurter, wanderlust, kindergarten.
- Dutch gives us skipper, keel and dam.
- Spanish gives us paella, siesta, plaza, salsa.
- Italian gives us many musical terms.

Because there isn't an established group that preserves the nature of the English language, there's no single authority saying what you can have and what you can't .

Let me ask you, RLP, are you totally comfortable with "Newspeak?" If you don't know what that is, Google it and read about George Orwell.

How about words like McJob, freakazoid, fugly, enemy combatants?

Get used to it; our language is constantly changing. Get used to new words like crunk, hoodie, riffage, twonk.

The 1940s gave us words like goofball, snorkel, and bikini.

The 1950s gave us aerospace, sky diving, weirdo.

The 1960s gave us crib death, jet lag, sitcom, trendy.

The 1970s gave us chairperson, detox, infomercial, trail mix and video game.

The 1980s gave us compact disc, emoticon, glass ceiling, mall rat, microbrewery.

The 1990s gave us flexdollars, carjacking and scrunchy.

All of which we seemed to have assimilated without harm.

So, please dear, don't get too excited about a little ethnic slang you don't understand or like.

This too, shall pass...

Answer 6

What is there to not understand about this?
Maybe the police should get out their street language dictionary and look up the terms used to determine if the guy wanted the victim to be beat or murdered.
Is that what their supposed to do?
It's absolutely ridiculous the lengths people will go to to protect the criminals and keep them out of prison so they can pillage,murder and rape some more.
What is to become of us when something like this can be disputed over a persons inability or refusal to speak proper English?
What's next? Improper sign language?
So the dummy's can plot murder and scheme without us knowing what their up to?
Pathetic.

Answer 7

Slang will always be with us, whether we make English the "official" language or not. What are you going to do, arrest people for making up words?

There is no such thing as "official" English anyway. It is the nature of English to grow and change, and evolve in different directions in the many places in which it is spoken. American English is different from British English which is different from Australian English which is different from the English spoken in India or Kenya or Singapore. English has no official body that determines what is proper English and what is not. This is not France, where the Academie Francaise determines what is official French and what is not. So the English language by its very nature will always be out of the control of any officials who want to determine what is proper speech and what is not.

Answer 8

Unfortunately, making English the official language wouldn't help with this. There has always been slang & always will be. Also having an oddicial language would only affect govt. documents, NOT how people talk to each other.

Answer 9

Not really. Having English as the official language wouldn't have made a difference. Street gangs aren't going to all of a sudden start speaking the kings English.

Answer 10

What happened to Reps being the ones who wanted less government? Now you want them to tell us what language to speak? Many counties in Europe that boarder other countries speak multiple languages, and you know what? It's all OK... No one freaks out about it - they realize they are not the only people in the world. Why do you fear change so much that you feel the need to pass completely irrational laws? Do you live in some crazy place where you're being forced to speak something besides English??

Answer 11

having or not having an official language wouldn't change the fact that there is street language and slang that the mainstream will never understand.. the street is a counter culture.. the more you try to make a "mainstream" society, the further they will try to pull away from it.