Why use "Ebonics"?

Question

I don't understand why someone would use ebonics. It doesn't make you sound cool. It makes you sound uneducated.

Some people say that using words like "wit" "dis" "wut", etc makes typing quicker. It doesn't take that long to tap a few extra buttons to sound like a civilized person. And odds are, when you are online, you're just wasting time anyways.

Answer 1

I'm black, and I totally agree with you. I hate to hear anyone using ebonics. It just sounds ignorant to me and it showcases the persons lack of intelligence. When I hear another black person use it, I cringe, because that's exactly the way racist white people expect the black race to sound.
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Vagabondxranarch - it "...says a lot about their culture?" I'm just curious, what does enslaving the black race for over 350 years say about yours??? Oh, yes, we have a rich and storied culture. We kidnapped millions of people from their homeland, brought them over in ships to become our servants. Those who weren't physically able to survive the ship journeys were thrown overboard. Once they arrived in America, we broke up families and sold them as servants. We regularly raped their women and treated the entire race like they were sub-human. We denied them freedom and even made their being caught reading a book a crime. After slavery was abolished, the racism was just getting started. We lynched them almost as a sporting event and continued to make their lives a living hell. What does that say about your culture?

Topsy Kretts, you're just a racist idiot.

Answer 2

It is a cultural trait (and a bad one). I know some people who use it when talking to family and friends but then do not when talking in the work place and that is to me, the best. They consider Ebonics a cultural trait but realize that the use of it outside of their culture can make them sound uneducated etc.
When I see two people using it with each other just walking down the street I don't think anything of it as I am not a part of the culture to use Ebonics.

Answer 3

"Some people say that using words like "wit" "dis" "wut", etc makes typing quicker."
I thought these examples were more cos of limited character spaces in older phones’ SMS programmes.
Having said that, there's a definite dialect that came out of 'black culture' as Mark Twain tried to portray in his earlier stories about Tom Sawyer as well as the * Br'er Rabbit stories which mum read to me as a kid, long before the phone became mobile.
Being a Dutch woman in Oz in the 50s she had no trouble saying 'wit' or 'dat' cos there's no 'th' sound in Dutch. Now that I remember there was no 'w' sound either so ‘with’ became ‘vit’.

After all that
a) You won't hear an educated African-American speaking like that unless he means to.
b) I reckon much would have to do with cultural 'pride' cos as a cognitively trained underclass (as many 'blacks' are, even in Oz) they wouldn't have a lot to be 'proud' of.

I could come off as sounding like a real racist but
a) I don’t care - I’m interested in and respect all people regardless of physical characteristics, and
b) I live by "if you really get to know me you'll find more reasons to hate me than the colour of my skin".

[edit]
I read ** The Adventure of English - The Biography of a Language by Melvyn Bragg a coupla years ago - it was absolutely fascinating ... then again, I love language.
It also made me much more tolerant and understanding of USians and their Kultcha.
.

Answer 4

Using those words while chatting is not exactly Ebonics. What you are referring to is called Web Slang. Now actually speaking that way is a whole other matter!

Answer 5

1. Time online is not wasted time, it's invested time.
2. Why? Why not? If you focus on the content of what's written (as opposed to how it's written) you'll learn whether or not you have an issue with something. Try to get past the method and look for the meaning.

Answer 6

the words that you gave as examples is not really ebonics. yes, that's how people pronounce words when using slang/ebonics, but typing it that way on the internet does not make it ebonics. and it is a lot quicker even though it's just a few less letters.
just because people sound uneducated doesnt mean that they are. most people who use slang cant help it, if they speak that way, it's because of where they grew up and who they grew up with. ebonics is just another dialect of english. i used to hate hearing people use slang, i always thought they sounded dumb, but i had to realize that not everyone will learn to speak the same way.

Answer 7

Ebonics and text spaek are two different things. I agree SPEAKING this way makes you sound uneducated.
With so many using text messaging it has become commonplace. even i use some of these when texting but Never in speaking!

Answer 8

Ever on condition that i replaced into little and til in the present day i've got consistently called my mum "Mummy" and my dad "Daddy". purely through fact they in no way spoke back to "mum"/"dad". and it extremely is generally caught, i assume. comparable with my siblings, too. I swear every time my mom calls me at paintings, and that i answer asserting "hi, mummy", i'm getting the main strangest looks from my paintings colleagues. They consistently locate that hilarious and generally take the mic. and that i will actually see why this is humorous lol yet, this is in no way replaced, and that i doubt this is going to. mom and dad will consistently be Mummy and Daddy. And especially through fact they gained't respond to something from their little ones! : )

Answer 9

It used to be politically correct to use good grammar, now it is politically correct to allow some to speak slang.

They're doing people a disservice in the long run because when it comes to using it in the classroom or any professional arena, it is not acceptable.

Answer 10

I know! You are so right! Sometimes it even confuses people. I hate people who do that. It really doesn't make them cool just uneducated like you said. I like to type my words out and sound educated.. ♥