I'd like to share a boring, but true, story. Some years back, I was a bouncer at a club that was owned by an immigrant with little formal education. He had a son (born in the States and probably about your age, Jenniejen) who used to hang around the door so that the patrons could get a good look at the future owner and so he could chat with me and the other bouncer. He was irritating, but unintentionally entertaining with his endless supply of malapropisms. One day, he was describing a trip he made to his mechanic.
"So I told the guy, the car won't vroom and he looks at me, like, all funny and I said 'you know, go vroom,'" he said, pushing his hand forward as if it were a car.
"You mean accelerate?" I asked.
"Yeah, tha's it. And so he's like..."
The other bouncer began laughing. (He was merciless in his criticism.) "You mean to tell me you didn't know the word 'accelerate' and that you actually used the word 'vroom' to describe your problem?" he cried.
"Yeah? What?" he replied.
The other bouncer and I laughed. Then, I gave him one of my many lectures about the need to be well-rounded, this one specifically about the importance of vocabulary, but as the club's heir apparent, he wasn't buying any of it.
He looked at me, somewhat deflated, and said, "You know, Valpower. I'm tryin' to be smarter an all, an I like your advice an stuff, but, is like, you know, not everybody uses vocabulary."
The other bouncer and I laughed for weeks about it, but, much later, I came to see this story as a sad reflection of the times. This kid, like so many today, have come to regard language (written and spoken) as some kind of specialized pursuit whose unrealized proficiency is no more troublesome than not being able to slam dunk. "It's not like I'm going to be a writer or anything" is the familiar refrain. Unfortunately, language mastery has so many more potential returns than vertical leap. When you realize this, Jenniejen, I hope you are on the right side of the discovery process.
Um,Um,Um,LOL.
This place is to funny.
Thanks bella,
I will post more things soon.
You know you guys dont understand me.I just started writing, the way proper english is suppose to be written.So really, all this is like new again.
That's good jenniejen, always continue learning. I always try and learn something new every day, even if it's something silly like the fact an American dime has 118 ridges around it. Keeps me sharp. :wink:
Bella Dea wrote:That's good jenniejen, always continue learning. I always try and learn something new every day, even if it's something silly like the fact an American dime has 118 ridges around it. Keeps me sharp. :wink:
Wow,118 ridges.I never new that.Well now I know.Pretty good.
I like knowing things like that.
