Originally posted: 11/12/2022
For all the commenters calling “aks” lazy after my recent video… 🙄
Transcription:
Should anyone ever say that using aks instead of ask is a lazy way to talk? No. But in case you're unsure why, here's a very simple trick you can use to decide whether you should correct someone else's language, grammar, pronunciation, whatever. Before inserting your opinion, add this sentence to the beginning of your comment. I know better than you and the way I speak is better than the way you speak. If that makes you uncomfortable, it's a good time to keep your mouth shut. If it doesn't make a person uncomfortable, then at least it's crystal clear that they're blow hard and everyone can move on. Here's why this test works. In a discussion about Wittgenstein theologian and philosopher Alan Keightley wrote this, "Language can only be criticized from the standpoint of another language tradition." This is so obvious we might never notice it, but let's notice it.
You can only criticize language with language. This means that every linguistic critique, no matter its content, places one language over another. It ranks them by quality, whether that's your intention or not. If I use my dialect, which is not standard English, by the way, nobody speaks standard English to criticize Black English vernacular, for instance, I'm fundamentally claiming regardless of the content of my critique that my Midwest middle class white dialect is better than Black English vernacular. I'm not going to do that. Not only would it be racist, classist, et cetera, it's linguistically ignorant. Language is too interesting to be critical of how other people use it when we could be curious instead. He says, aks, I say, ask. How fascinating is that? Does this mean all linguistic criticisms are problematic? No. I can think of at least two situations where they're beneficial, but that's for another video. Come along if you feel like it.
#aks #linguistics #grammar
