I've had black friends argue to me that when you say "girlfriend", it's 
black slang.  One friend got upset because a white person called her 
girlfriend.  And she also complained that CNN was using too much slang and 
that they had actually released  a memo to the effect it would now be 
permissible

I ask,  Did this person use the slang in question when he was speaking with 
you?
Or had he adopted it in every day use.  Did he say "girlfriend" to
everybody he saw, or just to you.  To do so just to you - that bothers me.
But if he just adopted it for his every day use -- said it to everyone...?
  is he trying to make you think he is ok with blacks, or is he truly 
unaware of the
impact the phrase might have on you if he only uses it on you.  (I mean,
unless he actually dated you).

 I ask this because, today, and this is a true story, one of the white
clerks in my office was talking to one of the white attorneys.  Attorney
said "how you doing today ", and the person says back to her...Hey
girfriend....blah blah

 And I said to myself why is she calling the attorney girlfriend...why is
she pretending she likes her.  She hates her.  She thinks the attorney
thinks too highly of herself and is overpaid.  So why is she referring to
her as "girlfrined".  And it took this discussion to remind me of the actual
origin of the phrase.

but i didn't even think of race at the time she said it.  I thought of how 
phony she was being

Mutation

 It's gone from girlFRIENDDDD!  To a phony address to a person of very
shallow relationship.  Language mutates SO quickly

I then asked my friend,  Was your coworker using this mutated version of a 
shallow friendship
relationship?  was he using it incorrectly?

 Slang almost always originates in fringe groups, minorities, clandestine
organizations etc., as a sign of acceptance in that subgroup.  Knowing the
rituals and what not.  And slang's frequent next step is to adopted by the
nonfringe; many such words enter into the mainstream.  American English
(even more so than any other form or English or any other language) is
notable for allowing itself the enrichment of taking on slang from all
possible parts of the universe.

How often does a broadcaster use slang?  rather than formal language.  If
they only use formal language, and suddenly decide to use black only slang,
then there is something inappropriate.  I mean, why not call each other
Essai (or however you spell that  word), Cholo and Lolo on the air?

Language is a beautiful fluid thing, especially American English.
 But this is a separate issue from whether a news station should be  using
slang, regardless of origin.

 A news station should be able to use whatever has entered common parlance.
  Such that people such as my sainted yet nutty mom can understand the 
message.

Not really a lowest common denominator.  But common-ication/communication.

 It is an interesting discussion.  You don't have to lay much energy into a
response to convince me of your feelings. I am trying to see both sides,
and am playing devil's advocate more than naysaying very valid points.
  I just like to ask a lot of questions, and if you have the time I would
like to have a great deal moreinsights because I find the
discussion fascinating.

and then again, it is possible the press release was  written to generate
free advertising by making people discuss this.  And they will stop using
the slang after about a month, and go back to square one.  That is, after
people stop watching to catch how many such phrases are used.

 "okay" time to "stop this" and "catch me" some "z's"




----- Original Message ----- 
From: "marika" 
Newsgroups: 
alt.fan.edward.furlong,alt.usenet.legends.lester-mosley,alt.fan.egham-hills,alt.fan.egon-schiele,rec.arts.bod,alt.fan.ellen.steketee
Sent: Saturday, December 22, 2007 11:11 AM
Subject: Re: the trials of blade


> More language mysteries from Roanoke museums:
>
> When I first arrived at the museum, I had real problems with language
> because although the attendant was apparently a native, I couldn't make
> myself understood
>
> She says hi are you new in town.  Then she give me this double take stare.
> I can't figure out why I look like I am new in town, so I appear to be
> ignoring the questions.
>
> So after a few minutes of this stare down...
> I say NO I want to walk through.
> So she says:  " well you have to pay to walk through."
> I thought as much.  The price of admission was listed at the door.
>
> So I answer - yes of course, and hand her the money.
>
> I really wanted to say:  while I am not surprised that you have an entry
> fee...usually people with the job of greeter say:  May I help you.  Rather
> than making the customers feel like total misfits or newcomers by 
> suggesting
> that they couldn't possibly be citizens of the community.
> Moreover, as it's meant to be a tourist attraction and she should be 
> getting
> tons of walk throughs from the entire world, almost no one should be a 
> newly
> arrived resident, and in any event the question should be irrelevant. 
> Then
> I thought maybe she wanted to know if I was a resident because she wanted 
> to
> ask me for a date, or an opportunity to mow my lawn or something.
>
> So she gives me this look like she still does not get it and says oh that
> will be 2 dollars please.  I gesture at the money in my hand.
>
> One of the new exhibits they had on this floor is the Exhibit of all
> ships ever called Roanoke.
> Too funny.  Who would want to name a ship after a lost colony.  A ship of
> this sort would certainly be expected to be lost in battle. I mean, it has
> to be a curse.
>
> At one point they had an exhibit of ONE carved piece of whalebone.
> Underneath it was an explanation: "scrimshore".
>
> I was amazed because I don't think that's the accepted spelling.  I 
> believe
> the correct word is "scrimshaw"
>
> In another part of the room was an exhibit with blacksmith tools with the
> following description:
>
> While tools are not identified below, it must be assumed that the
> blacksmith custom designed his tools to fit the requirements of the job 
> and
> would later reshape the tool for another use, therefore many cannot be
> labelled.
>
> !!!!!!!!!
>
> What kind of sentence is that to see in a museum?
> These were not blobs of pigiron.  You could see plainly such things as
> hammers and tongs.
>
> Then, I went to the Transportation Museum
>
> Too too funny.
> They had this huge diorama of trains. The diorama stands at least 4 feet
> and wraps around the room.  Just tall enough to preclude average sized
> children from viewing it.  Just long enough to preclude average parents
> from wanting to lug average sized children around the room to view the
> rather long display.  Completely inconvenient for anyone's viewing.
>
> There was a Nascar exhibit. Nearly every exhibit was broken or out of
> service.
>
> In the mining room...
>
> a placard with the following inscription:
>
> Coal mines today high-tech atuomated factories
>
> Their spelling not mine.
> Their sentence construction not mine
>
> Then, I went to the Railroad exhibit where they were showing off how many
> blacks
> in the Valley had worked for railroad.  It was a video album of some of 
> the
> elderly retired employees.  Hearing Roanokers talk about the
> Railroad, I had always had this impression that the RR was very benevolent
> to the blacks, very liberal,very egalitarian.  After having reviewed this
> exhibit, I came out persuaded to the contrary.  Most of the blacks
> interviewed were very gentlemanly about their opinions, but in essence,
> they said, and this wording is mine...the railroads would have done 
> nothing
> for
> the blacks if not for the pressure they got from unions and the civil
> rights movements.
>
>>
>
> "marika"  wrote in message news:...
>> And this is from about 70 years earlier from another ship called Roanoke
>> (I tried to copy it down as well as possible
>>
>> Ships log 1885, the Roanoke harbour Routine
>>
>> 7h 00 awnings can be spread if sails are not too loosed and yards 
>> squared.
>> Rollback hammock clothes. Up grog tub
>>
>> 8h 00m  if ordered loose sail, at the order "lay on" and "lay down".
>> Every man to come down at orders no stragglers. roll to grog.  Light 
>> match
>> for smokers.  Order of dress will be hung at Scuttle butt
>>
>> 8h 45m all hands spread awnings, lace awnings [I inevitably wondered 
>> which
>> of the ship's crew was lucky enough to get lace awnings]
>>
>> 9h 00m  call music "Rosy O'Moore", clean all brightwork fore and aft.
>> Flemish down rigging.  [ being in the US navy circa 1855 sounds like 
>> party
>> time.  Music grog...all day long it seems. Also is Flemish is a verb
>> here?]
>>
>> 10h 30m  band practice
>>
>> every single entry in this log all the way through had the word grog in 
>> it
>> somewhere.
>>
>> Being that the US navy was very preoccupied with grog, I am not surprised
>> to
>> find that the evening concluded thus
>> ...
>>
>> 4h 00m  Supper.  Shift in Blue  [apparently the us navy was on a star 
>> that
>> night, one that had shifted from red perhaps]
>>
>> 8h 00 m  tatoo.
>>
>> [I know tatoo is the ink body art design but it's also a drum beat, I
>> wonder which the US navy were doin at that time]
>>
>>>
>>
>> "marika"  wrote in message
>> news:8_-dnbSsT5IErfDanZ2dnUVZ_o-mnZ2d@rcn.net...
>>>I also saw a photo in the museum
>>> in an exhibit dealing with the US navy, and they appeared to have a
>>> member
>>> of the crew called a powder monkey.  Now, I would never have guessed 
>>> that
>>> this word described the member of a crew of a battleship had I not seen
>>> the
>>> picture.  This individual obviously had something to do with the 
>>> supplies
>>> of gunpowder and stoking the cannon.  The powder monkey pictured looked
>>> about 12 years old, at best.  I cannot imagine that the navy would have
>>> such a young person on crew.  I guess that the powder monkey had to be
>>> agile to get off and on the cannon, and perhaps slim enough to get in 
>>> itl
>>> Yet there he was.  A person who looked 12 fighting in a war.  The only
>>> alternate explanation was that he was an average looking adult for those
>>> times.
>>>
>>>
>>> "marika"  wrote in message
>>> news:b66dnfR7zuZ-s_DanZ2dnUVZ_vShnZ2d@rcn.net...
>>>> Here is another classic misspelling in  display from the Roanoke
>>>> Transportation Museum.
>>>>
>>>> The feature was the Ship Roanoke in Guantanamo Bay,
>>>>
>>>> circa 1950
>>>>
>>>> A menu for one of the several dining areas
>>>> listed every kind of sandwich from diamonds to clubs
>>>>
>>>> steak to ham to egg salad etc
>>>>
>>>> But what amazed me was that they had 5 Chinese dishes on the menu.
>>>>
>>>> Including
>>>> "ham or port, fried rice"
>>>>
>>>> Yes, that is their exact wording
>>>>
>>>>
>>>> mk5000
>>>>
>>>> "You've got this idea that "religious freedom" only applies to
>>>> believers. It
>>>> doesn't. It is the right of EVERYONE to have their "space" respected.
>>>> I'm
>>>> not invading your space ... please don't invade mine.
>>>> And just for the record ... if we worked in the same office, and you
>>>> have
>>>> religious items on YOUR desk, I'm not going to insist that stuff be
>>>> removed.
>>>> Of course not ... that 's your space."--Su
>>>>
>>>
>>
>