Non-Standard English in Popular Culture: the Revengeof English from Below

Joe Trotta

Department of Languages & Literatures

(English)

Gothenburg Universityjoe.trotta@eng.gu.se

The Aim of the Presentation

With selected, representative examples of non-standardEnglish (NSE) in Popular Culture as a platform fordiscussion, I explore the following questions:

• What exactly are the linguistic issues involved?

• When relevant, what have been (and in most cases still are) the reactions to the usages in question?

• What are the linguistic and non-linguistic forces involved in the use of NSE in Popular Culture?

• How should we understand the relationship between (non-standard) English and Popular Culture?

“Let me tell you what’s gonna happen here. The two of yous are climbing over that fence and shagging those plates. […] Then, one of yous stays with us while other goes out in the street and boosts another Saturn.”

"fo shizzle ma nizzle"

”I’m all shook up”

”Love me tender”

Examples of English in Popular Culture

“Me fail English? That’s unpossible!”

l50 lock lfg for enchant run, can summon, pst

Examples of English in Popular Culture

DUDe, i @M $0 to+allY 9oING +0 H4xoR j00R 8Ox0r!

PH34r Me, 1 PWN j00!

P4Ul $LuT5 4T 9T4

”...to boldly go where no man has gone before"

I eats me spinach!

Examples of English in Popular Culture

Case study 1: Winston Tastes Good

(on bad grammar, cigarettes & other

immoral habits)

� In the summer of 1954, Walter Cronkite refused to read Winston cigarette’s then new advertising jingle – why?

Winston tastes good –

Merriam-Webster has bad taste?

Nunberg also states that critics were incensed about MW’spermissive attitude to language usage and ‘[T]he dictionary’s derelictions were front-page news for months – The New York timescondemned it as a Bolshevik document and the Chicago Daily News took it as the symptom of ‘a general decay in values’ (Nunberg2004:xiii, my emphasis)

Geoffrey Nunberg (2004), in his preface to Language in the USA: Themes for the Twenty-first Century, states that when Merriam-Webster published its Third New International Dictionary in 1961, it included the use of like as a conjunction -- actually citing the egregious Winston ad as a example of common usage.

The prescriptivist aspect: A very brief

history of linguistic prescriptivism

The prescriptivist tradition in English is generally attributed to the grammarians of the 18th century, in particular, Robert Lowth, who published A Short Introduction to English Grammar in 1762.

Lowth’s grammar was imitated and adapted in school grammars byLindley Murray and others, and Murray’s grammar, in turn, became widely used in America. […] Murray’s approach also combined elements of the correctionist teaching methodwith aspects of moral education, helping to establish a tradition of promoting virtue, patriotism, and religion through grammar study. (cf Battistella 2005:47)

The elite and ’high’ vs the ’low’ and

popular aspect: some comparisons

� Standard English (SE) and the canon of ’high’culture come from ’above’, Non-standard English (NSE) and ’popular’ culture come from ’below’

� Knowledge of the conventions of SE, just like familiarity with artifacts of high culture, have SYMBOLIC CAPITAL (cf. Bordieu 1984)

� NSE & popular culture can trigger a reaction of ’moral panic’, i.e. they are often perceived as threatening to society. For some they signal a decline in morality, values and taste.

� SE is codified in reference works; high culture is codified in anthologies, histories, museums, university literature lists, etc.

� The logic for the ’higher’ value of SE and high culture is often circular and self-perpetuating

High Culture vs Popular Culture

Diffuse, vague, short-lived, capriciousEstablished/codified (Time-tested)

Symbolic capital?Symbolic capital is obvious, positive

Dumbs us down, distracts us Educates, improves us

Can reflect ‘bad’ taste, ‘bad’character, low standards, decline in values & immorality

Generally reflects taste, character, high standards, good values, morality

Associated with certain ‘negative’social variables

Associated with certain ‘postive’social variables, eg socioeconomic status, education, etc

Debased, corruptedPure

Mass produced; commercial; Derivative, Produced for a profit

Individual act of creation; Original; Genuine articulation of art

Worthless, no real valueWorthwhile (study-worthy)

SimplisticComplex/Multi-layered

TrivialImportant

Low-brow, mindless, uncultivatedIntellectual

Bad/InferiorGood/Superior/The best in thought and speech

Standard Lang vs Non-Standard

Table 1: The use of like as a conjunction over time

(frequencies normalized per one million words)

6.02

n/a

16,64

26,13

14

74,54

45,35

n/a0

10

20

30

40

50

60

70

80

1931 1961 1991 2006

BrE

AmE

Case Study 2: ‘To boldly go’ where just

about everyone else has gone before

Not particularly controversial for a modern descriptive linguist – many popular authors (Aitchson, Pinker, Bryson, etc.) have discussed and rediscussed it.

Has been covered (and basically dismissed) innumerable times long before Captain Kirk ever dreamed of the final frontier. See, for example, heavyweights such as Hall (1882); Onions (1904); Jespersen, (1905 & 1956); Fowler (1908 & 1926); Curme (1927) and Partridge (1965)

.

The 'split' infinitive has taken such hold upon the consciences of journalists that, instead of warning the novice against splitting his infinitives, we must warn him against the curious superstition that the splitting or not splitting makes the difference between a good and a bad writer (Fowler 1908).

‘To' is no more an essential part of an infinitive than the definite article is an essential part of a nominative, and no one would think of calling 'the good man' a 'split nominative' (Jespersen 1956:144) .

…if it is the clearest and most natural construction, use it boldly. The angels are on our side (Partridge 1965).

To faithfully keep boldly going where just

about everyone else has gone before

From the ‘Grammar Girl’ language blog, January 2009;

Andrea from Raleigh writes: "Split infinitives ... have existed in the English language since at least the fourteenth century, and never has there been a rule against them." Andrea's own words contradict her. It should have been obvious to her that, if (as she claimed) there was a starting point for this barbarism, people had followed the rule against it up to that point! Now it is OUR turn to follow it. Grammar rules, including the two being discussed here, make for clearer communication and more pleasant reading. Andrea also wrote: "The superstition first began in the mid-nineteenth century ...". This is a sheer fiction, designed to twist readers' minds through the use of a false, but powerful, slur ("superstition"). The selective advocacy of barbarisms at this site (both by GG and other visitors) is symptomatic of the general slovenliness in the world today. There is a 20th/21st-Century laziness and lack of self-discipline that the greatest writers of prior centuries would have condemned. Let us learn from them not to be so sloppy and careless of our readers. Thankyou. (Fogarty 2009)

Case study 3: Maybe it’s just funner to

break the rules?

☼ Is funnest a word?

☼ What was the reaction to the ad?

☼ What was the reaction to the reaction?

Case study 3: The funnest iPod ever

from Ben Zimmer’s ’Wordroutes’ Language Blog, January2008:

Why are reactions so strong against funner and funnest? Plain old fun has always gotten something of a bad rap: back in 1755, Samuel Johnson called it "a low cant word," meaning that it was jargon from the underworld. Over the centuries, the reputation of fun has been rehabilitated, butonly as a noun. Many usage guides still state bluntly that fun

is a noun and not an adjective. But it's a plain fact that fun

has increasingly been treated as an adjective by modern English speakers, even among those who object to addingthe comparative and superlative suffixes. (Zimmer 2008)

The funnest responses ever?

Sorry, Ben, I refuse to allow advertising to dictate the evolution of the language. Should we also accept "like" as in "Winston tastesgood, like a cigarette should?” Bad manners may become the norm, but they will always evidence rudeness and ignorance. The same can be said for grammar. (Patrick B)

Funnest is not a word. Neither is funner. It's 'more fun' and 'mostfun.' Some words do not take the -er or -est endings. Another oneis 'important.' You wouldn't say "She is importanter than him." You just have to remember when to use each one. There's not alwaysa works-every-time, black and white rule for grammar. In fact thereusually isn't! (Mike)

Are you f*cking kidding me? I for one am not nearly ready to let Steve Jobs corrupt the king's English just because he has the public spotlight and an evil corporation behind him. It's most fun to play the devil's advocate anyhow.(Dan)

The funnest grammar rules ever?

more/most generous,

more/most important,

more/most intelligent

Use more/ mostThree syllables (+)

e.g. generous,

important,

intelligent, etc

angrier/angriest or

more/most angry

narrower/narrowest or

more/most narrow

stupider/stupidest or

more/most stupid

Forms can vary based on

spelling and/or rhythmic

concerns

Two syllables:

e.g. angry, narrow,

stupid, etc.

larger/largest,

stronger/strongest,

colder/coldest

Add -er/-estOne syllable:

e.g. large, strong,

cold, etc.

Comparative &

Superlatives

‘Rule’

Some fun frequencies

Table 2: Occurrences of funner and funnest in the COCA corpus

3

17

20

4

0

5

10

15

20

1990-1994 1995-1999 2000-2004 2005-2008

We shop around more and know more about the prices before

buying. It used to be buying clothes was one of the funnest things

in the world now it's more a necessity.

Ellen Neuborn, USA Today, August 23, 1991

I can’t get no satisfaction: Satisfaction/The Rolling Stones

My baby don’t care: Ticket to Ride/The Beatles

We don’t need no education: Another Brick in the Wall/Pink Floyd

No woman, no cry: No Woman, No Cry/Bob Marley & the Wailers

Took an oath, I'ma stick it out till the end: Umbrella/Rhianna

I’m so movin’ on: Since U been gone/Kelly Clarkson

Lay, lady, lay/lay across my big brass bed: Lay, Lady, Lay/Bob Dylan

Can you handle me the way I are?: The Way I Are/Timbaland

You keep lyin' when you oughta be truthin‘:These Boots Are Made for

Walkin’/Nancy Sinatra

If I just lay here: Chasing Cars/Snow Patrol

If you love somebody, set them free: If you love somebody…/Sting

…and the list could go on ad infinitum….

Selected examples from Popular music

Notes and final remarks

• NSE in Popular Culture is often a marker of Linguistic Identity,which may be related to social variables such as age, ethnicity and subcultural identity

• NSE in Popular Culture may be a signal of symbolic resistance tomainstream norms and values

• When examining ‘fictionalized’ or scripted language, it is important to distinguish between ‘in-groups’ and ‘out-groups’

• NSE in certain contexts can create and/or promote certain ways of thinking about things such as ethnicity, gender, social class, age, subcultural identity, etc.

• Pedagogical implications - In EFL countries (like Sweden), ‘passive’ English language situations like watching TV, listening to music, using the internet, etc, are generally the most commonform of contact with English. Also, in many EFL countries, students connect with English because it relates to their subcultural identities and interests

• NSE in Popular Culture can indicate a change in progress and the occurrence of a particular usage in Popular Culture can function as a ’tipping point’.

• Contrary to popular belief, many NSE examples that occur in Popular Culture are not invented by songwriters, admen, scriptwriters, etc, i.e. they have been in use previously.

• Controversies concerning NSE in Pop Culture highlight the fact that ‘expert’ opinions on usage anxieties, perceived grammar shibboleths and linguistic prescription are usually relative.

• The implicit relationship between Popular Culture and NSE, (i.e.culture and language from ’below’) help to explain the negative reactions and irrational (emotional?) reasoning about NSE in Popular Culture.

• The ultimate revenge – because of the essentially conservative and change-resistant nature of SE, new usages and other innovations will necessarily come from NSE, often reinforced and spread through Popular Culture

Notes and final remarks

References/Further Reading

• Battistella, Edwin L. (2005) Bad Language : Are Some Words Better

than Others?. Cary, NC, USA: Oxford University Press• Bordieu, Pierre. (1991) Language & Symbolic Power. Cambridge, M.A.:

Harvard University Press, • Bordieu, Pierre. (1984) Distinction: A Social Critique of the Judgement

of Taste. London: Routledge.• Brummett, Barry. (2006) Rhetoric in Popular Culture. Thousand Oaks,

CA: Sage.• Bryson, Bill. (2001) The Mother Tongue: English and How It Got That

Way. New York: HarperCollins.

• Curme, George. (1927). ‘The Split Infinitive’. American Speech 2 (8): 341–342.

• Davies, Mark. (2008) The Corpus of Contemporary American English(COCA): 385 million words, 1990-present. Available online at http://www.americancorpus.org.

• Fairclough, Norman. (2001) Language and Power (2nd edition). London: Longman.

• Fiske, John. (1987) Television Culture. London: Methuen.• Fogarty, M. (2008) ‘Is ‘Funnest’ a Word?’ Grammar Girl's Quick and

Dirty Tips for Better Writing. Retrieved May. 29, 2009, from http://grammar.quickanddirtytips.com/is-funnest-a-word.aspx

References/Further Reading• Fogarty, M. (2009) ‘Splitting Verbs.’ Grammar Girl's Quick and Dirty

Tips for Better Writing [Web log and comments]. Retrieved May 5. 2009, from http://www.quickanddirtytips.com/splitting-verbs.aspx

• Fought, Carmen. (2006) Language and Ethnicity: Key Topics in

Sociolinguistics. New York: Cambridge University Press.• Fowler, Henry W. and Francis G. Fowler. (1936) The Kings English.

Oxford: Clarendon Press.• Fowler, Henry, W. (1908) The King’s English, 2nd ed. Oxford: Oxford

University Press.• Fowler, Henry. W. (1926) A Dictionary of Modern English Usage.

Oxford: Clarendon Press.• fun. (2009) In Merriam-Webster Online Dictionary. Retrieved May 4,

2009, from http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/fun• Hall, Fitzedward. (1882) ‘On the Separation, by a Word or Words, of to

and the Infinitive Mood’. American Journal of Philology 3 (9): 17–24. • Jespersen, Otto. (1956) Growth and Structure of the English Language.

New York: Doubleday. • Jespersen, Otto. (1905). The Growth and Structure of the English

Language. Leipzig: Teubner.• Johnson, Steven. (2006) Everything Bad is Good for You. How Today's

Popular Culture Is Actually Making Us Smarter. New York: Riverhead Books.

References/Further Reading• Lowth, Robert. (1762). A Short Introduction to English Grammar.

London. (Rept. in facs. by Alston (1974); EL 18; 2nd ed. 1763; a new ed. 1764.)

• Nunberg, Geoffrey. (2004) ‘Foreword’ in Edward Finegan (ed). Language in the USA: Themes for the Twenty-First Century. Cambridge University Press. Foreword.

• Onions, C. T. (1904) An Advanced English Syntax, Based On The

Principles And Requirements Of The Grammatical Society. London: Swan, Sonnenschein..

• Partridge, Eric. (1965) Usage & Abusage. A Guide to Good English, 6th ed. London: Hamish Hamilton.

• Pinker, Steven (2009, January 21) ‘Oaf of Office’. The New York

Times. Retrieved from http://www.nytimes.com/2009/01/22/opinion/22pinker.html?_r=1&em.

• Postman, Neil. (1985) Amusing Ourselves to Death: Public Discourse

in the Age of Show Business. USA: Penguin.• Preisler, Bent. (1999) Danskerne og det engelske sprog. Roskilde:

Roskilde Universitetsforlag.• Priesler, Bent. (1999) ‘Functions and forms of English in a European

EFL country.’ In Tony Bex & Richard Watts (eds.) Standard English:

The Widening Debate. London: Routledge, pp. 239-267

References/Further Reading• Riley, Philip. (2007) Language, Culture and Identity An Ethnolinguistic

Perspective. New York: Continuum.• Root, Robert L. (1987) The Rhetorics of Popular Culture: Advertising,

Advocacy, and Entertainment. New York: Greenwood Press.• Storey, John. (2008) Cultural theory and popular culture: An

Introduction 5th ed. London: Pearson Education• Storey, John. (ed.) (2008) Cultural theory and popular culture: A

Reader 4th ed. London: Pearson Education.• Swingewood, Alan. (1977) The Myth of Mass Culture, London:

Macmillan.• Trotta, Joe. (2003) ‘Bada Bing!: Looking at Language in the Sopranos’,

Moderna Språk, XCVII pp. 17-36• Trudgill, Peter. (1983) ‘Acts of Conflicting Identity. The Sociolingistics of

British Pop-Song Pronunciation’. in Peter Trudgill, On Dialect. Social

and Geographical Perspectives. Oxford : Blackwell, pp. 141-160. • Zimmer, Ben (2008) Mailbag Friday: ‘Funner’ and ‘Funnest’ [Web log

and comments]. Retrieved May 20, 2009 from http://www.visualthesaurus.com/cm/wordroutes/1550/

Non-Standard English in Popular Culture: the Revengeof English from Below