jumpingjacktrash:

boggoth:

arondeus:

theotherguysride:

academicssay:

On poverty and pronunciation in academia

Oh.

Why I never mock or even bring attention to mispronunciation in a conversation, and will snap down anyone who tries to

Besides poverty, for many peoplevEnglish is a second (or third+) language and has weird rules too.

Most of the time, even when words are mispronounced, they’re still understandable if you make an effort. Just be patient and don’t look down on people who mispronounce!

i don’t think it’s poverty, tho. as i grew up, my family gradually went from working class to upper middle class, and at no point did i hear those “i know how to spell it but not pronounce it” words in conversation. not when we were the hicks with the firewood trailer in the yard, and not when we were the ‘executive fast track’ couple and their scrubbed and shining heirs. people just generally don’t use ‘em. they’re not conversation words.

like, my dad went from being a motorcycle racer who was majoring in engineering, to a senior engineer at a big firm with DoD contracts, and the only thing that changed about the vocabulary of the people he associated with was the technical jargon. instead of motorcycle racing jargon they used materials engineering jargon. they didn’t use words like ‘confluence’ and ‘lambaste’ and ‘chicanery’.

where i heard them was in documentaries on PBS. and that’s free for everyone.