Ax vs Ask

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:
You can snark all you want on an anonymous board, it makes absolutely no difference to anyone. I don't have to worry about the impression my language creates in the real world. If you are saying "ax", then you do. Sorry, this may not be fair, and it's obviously what some people do not want to hear, but it's true nonetheless. Say "cah" and people will think you're from Boston, say "ax" and people will think you're ignorant. That's just the way it is.

I do not think the person who pronounces the word ask as ax is ignorant. My first initial impression of such a person is that he or she hails from the south. All of the posters on this board who automatically assume that it is only Black Americans who pronounce ask as ax have never spent anytime in Alabama or Lousiana. Not to mention Georgia.

Your post assumes that most North-Easterners don't think of most folks from Alabama or Lousiana as ignorant. Not to mention Georgia.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:
You can snark all you want on an anonymous board, it makes absolutely no difference to anyone. I don't have to worry about the impression my language creates in the real world. If you are saying "ax", then you do. Sorry, this may not be fair, and it's obviously what some people do not want to hear, but it's true nonetheless. Say "cah" and people will think you're from Boston, say "ax" and people will think you're ignorant. That's just the way it is.

I do not think the person who pronounces the word ask as ax is ignorant. My first initial impression of such a person is that he or she hails from the south. All of the posters on this board who automatically assume that it is only Black Americans who pronounce ask as ax have never spent anytime in Alabama or Lousiana. Not to mention Georgia.

Your post assumes that most North-Easterners don't think of most folks from Alabama or Lousiana as ignorant. Not to mention Georgia.



No, it assumes that people who say "ax" will be perceived as sounding ignorant, regardless of what color they are or whence they come.

[Anonymous]

"Your opinion would change for the better when she redeemed herself with "cah," proving that she is not ignorant, just from Boston. "

Tee hee.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Hmmmm . . . what would you make of someone who said, "I aksed youse guys to get in the cah." I am joking obviously!

You would initially think she is uneducated because of the grossly ignorant mispronunciations of "you" and "asked." Your opinion would change for the better when she redeemed herself with "cah," proving that she is not ignorant, just from Boston.

You should hear the guidos on the island....

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:"My family are white. "
" There was a lot of ax-ing going on (and in general heavy AAVE). It didn't bother me at all."

Obviously.

Pointlessly rude. That was an obvious typo, as the rest of the post showed proper subject/verb agreement and correct punctuation.

Where is the obvious typo?

[Anonymous]

my family is white

[Anonymous]

I grew up in the south. Went to college there. Worked there for 10 years afterward. I have NEVER heard anyone but an AA say "ax." It does not bother me. I have no issues with it. But when I hear someone say "ax," I don't even have to open my eyes to know it is an AA. I may be proven wrong one day. But that hasn't happened yet.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I grew up in the south. Went to college there. Worked there for 10 years afterward. I have NEVER heard anyone but an AA say "ax." It does not bother me. I have no issues with it. But when I hear someone say "ax," I don't even have to open my eyes to know it is an AA. I may be proven wrong one day. But that hasn't happened yet.

And others in the thread have posted that they have heard white southerners say ax, as have I.

Imagine that- people who have lived in different areas have different experiences!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Hmmmm . . . what would you make of someone who said, "I aksed youse guys to get in the cah." I am joking obviously!

That she's from south Boston?

[Anonymous]

It does sound ignorant when people say "ax" you a question. I have only heard AAs say it. But, I've heard a lot of whites say "pitcher" instead of "picture". Drives me nuts. My mother was a grammarian.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:
17:28 again. I basically agree with your second paragraph. I don't think it's a good idea for a teacher to say "ax" but my view is that it wouldn't hurt OP's kid since OP isn't saying it at home. What I have a problem with is trying to justify the objection to "ax" over "cah" as if there is some sort of objective difference in the words or trying to assert that this isn't based ultimately on racial stratification. It doesn't make me a racist to want my kid to not say "ax" but I know that the reason it's a concern is because of how society generally views working class black people. I think it's important to be aware of that and to not fool ourselves about it. It is much more than "marginally" unfair but it is also a reality and I completely understand why an African-American parent would take her kids out of public school in order to avoid her kids picking up that language. White middle and upper income parents? I don't think they have to worry.

And just why don't white parents have to worry, but you can see how AA parents would? Why the racial difference regarding proper word usage? Would it follow then that white parents would worry about "youse guys" but black parents wouldn't?

Because white middle and upper income kids don't identify with black working class kids. My white kid was in majority black public schools for 9 years. She heard people say "ax" all the time but she never picked it up. Whereas an African-American kid is going to be more likely to pick up "ax" from fellow students (and teachers if they say it) even if his/her parents don't say it at home. It all has to do with the way that friendships form along racial and class lines and how people respond to peer pressure.

I can't speak to "youse guys." My kid didn't go to school with white students or teachers who used that expression. However, most likely she wouldn't have picked that up either if I am right in my assumption that it's a working class white expression. However, she did used to say "beeyotch" a lot and now says "bitch" a lot and I'm not thrilled with that -- but that's what her demographic is using these days and as long as she knows not to use that language when talking to her grandmother or in class or at a job interview, well, I guess I won't lose sleep over it.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:It does sound ignorant when people say "ax" you a question. I have only heard AAs say it. But, I've heard a lot of whites say "pitcher" instead of "picture". Drives me nuts. My mother was a grammarian.

Yep. Whenever I hear someone say "Warshington", I immediately assume they're an ignorant Teaparty yahoo. Nothing to do with black or white. Just a preference for educated people.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:"My family are white. "
" There was a lot of ax-ing going on (and in general heavy AAVE). It didn't bother me at all."

Obviously.

Folks, this is standard usage in the UK. In the UK (and most likely the Commonwealth countries), verbs used for companies and sports team and other institutions are plural, not singular as they are in the United States. So in the UK you would say "Manchester United are having a good season," not "Manchester United is having a good season." It sounds weird to us in the United States but it's the norm in the UK. Try googling "my family are" and you'll come up with a bunch of UK websites.

On another note, I remember a full page ad in the WaPo from a British corporation where they used the plural like this when referring to their company. What were they thinking? They spent thousands of dollars that ad and they couldn't get the usage to match US usage.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:"My family are white. "
" There was a lot of ax-ing going on (and in general heavy AAVE). It didn't bother me at all."

Obviously.

Folks, this is standard usage in the UK. In the UK (and most likely the Commonwealth countries), verbs used for companies and sports team and other institutions are plural, not singular as they are in the United States. So in the UK you would say "Manchester United are having a good season," not "Manchester United is having a good season." It sounds weird to us in the United States but it's the norm in the UK. Try googling "my family are" and you'll come up with a bunch of UK websites.

On another note, I remember a full page ad in the WaPo from a British corporation where they used the plural like this when referring to their company. What were they thinking? They spent thousands of dollars that ad and they couldn't get the usage to match US usage.

Thanks for sharing this. I am the poster who made the grammatical error, and I am originally British (although have lived in the US a very long time). I actually didn't consciously know this grammatical difference between British and American English. I moved here as a child - I sounds completely American but every once in a while make a spelling, grammatical or pronounciation error. I have found that being bicultural has offered me a perspective and a level of tolerance that many people (even highly educated ones) lack.

[Anonymous]

"sounds" was just a plain typo!