Justice Dept seeks Ebonics experts?

[Anonymous]

http://www.thesmokinggun.com/documents/bizarre/justice-department-seeks-ebonics-experts

[Anonymous]

I'm sure it is one of those things that sounds outrageous but is a practical necessity, like they tape some people talking about a crime in slang, and then when it comes time for trial, the defense argues the meaning of the audio. So the gov't is forced to trot out an expert.

[jsteele]

They should hire this lady:

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:http://www.thesmokinggun.com/documents/bizarre/justice-department-seeks-ebonics-experts

Doesn't say much for public schools. Learn to speak English properly if you want a decent job.

[Anonymous]

There used to be a website that offered free jive translation.

[Anonymous]

Jeff, my DH immediately quoted Airplane when he read this story too! Next up, Caddy Shack?

[Anonymous]

Just make sure to give the guy a "4d" of The Bull

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:http://www.thesmokinggun.com/documents/bizarre/justice-department-seeks-ebonics-experts

Doesn't say much for public schools. Learn to speak English properly if you want a decent job.

Whatever. The point here is they want to be sure they can convict criminals. You want to convict criminals, don't you?

[Anonymous]

It is true that there are people in my neighborhood who I have a hard time understanding. I just smile and say "fer shur" sometimes.

[Anonymous]

Ebonics isn't real. There is no such "language" or "dialect" of ebonics. There is African-American Vernacular English (AAVE) which most linguists recognize as a distinct language and various slang variants.