zEDz Online Digest

<> WEEKLY, NOT WEAKLY <>

Issue # 38 ~ Thursday, 06 April, 2000

"Putting things off is a good way to not do them at all." --Zedwaldo

Zeditorial

"Slang in my Lang."

It seems that all we do in America is figure out new ways to say the same thing. When a person looks confused, we tell them to "get with the program!" ...so there is a lot of social pressure to "clue in" to the latest way to talk. And the younger a person is, the more the pressure to conform in this anti-rules game.

Didn't it all start with "Cool?" Or am I a bit too late? I'm sure that a nice conversation with my Granny would have yielded some gems. Does anyone remember "twenty-three skiddoo?" or "Scat Kat?" But perhaps "Cool" was there too. I remember some of the really old black & white movies with "Cool, Daddy-O." When I was following those strange "Dudes" with the long hair over in Haight-Ashbury, the words were, "Peace & Love, man!" Funny thing about "Man" is that I was watching one of my Three Stooges tapes and some guy was masquerading as a rich Turkish gentleman. When the truth was revealed that he really was the Doorman at some hotel, Shemp told him, "...well, there's the door... man!" I couldn't stop laughing. They had said "Man" before my time. Obviously this fetish for colloquialisms has deeper roots. In fact, I cannot believe that only we Americans have "the vernacular," because this land is populated by people of every culture. It's a real mix. Perhaps that is where the dynamism comes from. Things happen fast here. The dominate language is English, but American English.

I would like to find out more on this, and I think that I can turn to my friends online for that kind of help. Several years ago there was this movie, staring Paul Hogan from Australia, called "Crocodile Dundee." Now here was a treat for America. The whole movie was filled with American expressions that the Australian misunderstood, and Australian expressions that the American tripped over. That mix was the best part of the move for me. Nobody apologized for being who they were, and the cultures blended together like music. I loved it!

;-)

Poetry

What would you say?

And what would you
say if you saw
I had two noses?
Or it could be
proven that my garden
is filled with blue roses?

Would that shock
be destructive to
your image of me?
Or close tight your
eyes so that you
no longer will see?

Will the reality cause
all of your walls to
come crashing down?
And see me for what
I truly am... an unpainted
face of a clown?

Copyright © 2000 E.D.Griswold (aka Zedwaldo), all rights reserved.

Check out my poetry connection:
Poetry House of Zedwaldo

;-)

JOKES?

A little psycho-joke...

Q. How do Psychologists know when they are fired?
A. They get a "Pink Freudian Slip."

Jim. the liar was talking to George, the believer... "Once, when I was out hunting with my rifle, I ran across a big Grizzly Bear. He grabbed the rifle out of my hands and pointed it at me." "Oh no!" George gasped, "What happened?" "What else?" Jim explained, "I married his daughter."

Heard a good one lately? Clue me in, throw me a bone. I'll take suggestions. Write one yourself and Email it to me. If I like it, I may feature it here.

Links and URL's

Vernacular focus on Ecuador: http://www.webnexus.com/users/vlp/ (speaking Spanish will help here)

A Southern look with George Washington Harris: http://metalab.unc.edu/docsouth/harrisg/menu.html

"...composition in the Provençal language" http://encarta.msn.com/find/Concise.asp?ti=06132000

Scottish? Welsh? http://www.spikemagazine.com/0199welshplay.htm

Vernacular Poetry! http://www.ozemail.com.au/~jangliss/kicking.html

...and when I researched "Slang," I really hit the jackpot. Check this abbreviated listing of international flavor. Believe me, this is only the tip of the iceberg.

If you wanna be HIP: http://www.slanguage.com/

G'day, mate! http://www.slanguage.com/australia.html

Southeast of Alaska: http://www.slanguage.com/canadian.html

The South of Africa: http://www.slanguage.com/southafrica.html

I've heard of the Queen's English, but slang? http://www.peevish.co.uk/slang/

Now heer these (Scottish wav's) http://www.paidmyre.demon.co.uk/

ColdSpeak: http://www.infinet.com/~erd/MCMslang.html

Homey downtown: http://www.sacweb.com/homeboyz/slang.html

Cain't f'git th' LoneStar State: http://omni.cc.purdue.edu/~guzmanr/textalk.htm

Not Telepathic, but Telephony.

This hot area of the Internet will cause a genuine panic amongst the phone companies.

The world leader... (so far) http://www.deltathree.com/about/index.asp

Virtually free: http://www.net2phone.com/default.htm

Totally FREE:
Turn your phone into an Internet-browsing computer: http://www.aplio.com/

;-)

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