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Hi all, I'm Dani, the much hyped daughter....
I have 45 minutes until I have to be in class, and I'm stuck on a question on a study guide. I'm an English major, and one of the classes I'm taking is a "topics" class, which essentially means you read one thing (a topic) until you can't hardly stand it anymore. Currently, we're discussing Milton's influence on the romantics, and I'm just about ready to bang my head against the wall because William Blake is cryptic and nuts. I'm sure this is entirely different fair than you're used to, as my mom likes to talk about cats, beads, her feelings, and things that go down at work, and I'm pretty sporadic and tend to follow train of thought more than she does I think. But she's been poking at me to leave a little verbal graffiti on her blog for a while now, so I thought I'd drop a bit of a doodle ASAP.
OH! I know what I want to talk about--something fairly (yet surprisingly) political that my mom and I were discussing a few weeks ago. We both tend to be sticklers for grammar, and I learned in my linguistics class that the word "aks" is actually a remnant from the old english verb "aksion." So what does this mean, ladies and gentlemen? Essentially, it means that all of those times I have scoffed and rolled my eyes at persons wanting to "aks" a question, I have been totally unfair and ignorant in my judgment of their non-standard English use. The word that we use today "ask" evolved from the old English "aks"--in other words, "aks" came first. So now the question is, is it still fair to stigmatize those who use "aks," seeing as the majority of its users most probably are unaware of its lineage? I say no. My mom says maybe. What do you think?
Also, I swear I'm at least a little more fun than this, and I'll prove it, but for now I have school on the brain so I'm going to share the love.
Peace, love, and cheese
-d
Tuesday, September 18, 2007
Absolutely nothing interesting, I swear.
Babbled by dboo at 10:15 AM
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5 Comments:
Dani! Practically a celebrity around here! I hear we both make sure to bring Ani to college:)
While I do feel mildly guilty for scoffing, I maintain that the majority of the people who use the word "aks" also use the words "excape" and "expresso" and I find my guilt subsiding.
Good luck with Blake!
Cheese indeed!!! I have one of those pesky English majors holding down my couch :)
Nice to meet you, Dani.
I think people should really learn to say "Ask." It isn't that hard, is it?
Hi all!
Interesting opinions all around. In regards to your response, sueb0b, I see your point. "ask" is standard English and is considered appropriate in all circumstances, whereas "aks" is antiquated and not considered OK, yet there are places where "aks," in verbal dialogue is the norm. For them, it probably would take quite a bit of effort to rid themselves of their "aks" habit as it is inherent in their dialect. Should they change? I don't know. However, I'm just amazed to learn about this word because its something of an exception, as opposed to, as robin marie mentioned, "excape," "expresso," and one that really gets my goat, "ex cetera." Its starting to make me question the way I think about people who pronounce things in ways that I consider incorrect. I think it'll make me more understanding in the end if I can comprehend and accept why people say things the way they do rather than roll my eyes at them, which I have been doing up 'til now and that doesn't really lend itself to furthering relationships.
thanks again for all the comments,
-d
okay...Is that a Chicago thing?
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