Why is language so controversial?

by tdhurst · View Comments

Nigga. 

Try saying it out loud. Once. Feels crappy.

So why is it used so damn often? In nearly all cases, nigga can be replaced by dude and it loses none of the meaning.

But why isn’t it? And why is it used almost exclusively by black people*?

Language is changing, it’s evolving. SMS and Twitter have changed the way we interact and influence the frequency at which we do.

It’s also broken down geographical, ethnic, age and racial barriers that have existed for decades.

Time to find out what this means. Spurred by Dom Sagolla’s book, I’ll be delving into the future of language as it pertains to communicating digitally.

So, what do you want to know?

*On Twitter, from the searches I’ve run, based on Twitter avatars with pictures of black people.

Posted via email from Tyler says…

{ 1 comment }

Bryan November 17, 2009 at 2:59 am

What’chu talkin about honkey?

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