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Entry #6: Emojis functioning as Expressive, Directive and Phatic Communicative Functions

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Entry #6: Emojis functioning as Expressive, Directive and Phatic Communicative Functions

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When Laurel presented the capacity for emojis to express communicative ends, I immediately looked towards my text messages and my frequent emoji use and began to analyze the many ways my friends and I use emojis to express certain ideas.

My first example is the use of the emoji where the black girl is kneeling in addition to the phrase "please." In this case, the emoji is being used for the directive function of language. In the context of this conversation, I used this emoji to emphasize my plea to my friend to send me a funny gif. Through using the emoji where somebody was kneeling, I attempted to appeal to my friend's sympathies and get her to do what I wanted. In the end, I believe the use was   somewhat successful. Immediately after I sent that message, my friend said "I promise I will" and hours later, I received the funny meme I had been impatiently waiting for.

The second example I found of an emoji being a function of language, was when I used the skull emoji to describe how I felt. In this text conversation, my friend and I were discussing our feelings about the day. By starting the phrase with  "bc [because] I feel so..." and completing the phrase with an emoji, it sets up the emoticon to be a clear representation of how I feel, which in turn is an expressive function. I chose to use the skull emoji, because it is one of my most used emojis often used to express feeling super exhausted, upset or at a loss for words. In many ways I believe this use was  unsuccessful. The skull emoji can be somewhat hard to interpret, because it is full of multiple meanings. I should have used either the crying, sleeping or laughing emoticon. in order to express a clear, singular emotion.

The last example of emojis enacting a function of language, was when my friend Steph attempted to use the sad, looking down emoji to express a phatic function. This message was sent by my friend after reading a text rant I had sent previously which she took several hours to reply to. By using a sad, apologetic emoji along with the phrase "my apologies", Steph is attempting to express solidarity to me as well as a sense of empathy. I found her use of the emoji quite successful. By apologizing for the circumstances I was experiencing as well as showing that she felt equally as affected with a sad emoticon, Steph expressed a strong sense of solidarity as well as the thought "I am here for you."

In class we have analyzed the many ways we manipulate our language to express an idea depending on our interlocutor, setting, background. Before this Padlet, I have never thought about how emoticons could also play a factor in this linguistic variation in speech events. Now in my daily conversations, I will continue to look at the many ways I utilize emoticons as a function of my language!

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1) Directive Emoji in Text Message (2022)

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1) Directive Emoji in Text Message (2022)

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2) Expressive Emoji in Text Message (2022)

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2) Expressive Emoji in Text Message (2022)

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After discussing language and gender stereotypes in class, I became particularly interested in researching the gender-specific linguistic variations that are commonly associated with women such as 'just' and 'sorry' in media and the subsequent prescriptivism that comes with that.

In the middle of my research, I came upon a short compelling article by author Jocelyn K. Glei with the compelling prescriptive title "Ladies, Let’s Make a Resolution to Stop Saying “Sorry..." Throughout this article, Glei uses vague generalities and various common examples of workplace situations in which many women often use the phrase 'sorry' even when there is little to apologize for. Jocelyn K. Glei emphasizes upon Dominance Model. Glei argues that women will use the linguistic variable of 'sorry' whenever interacting with colleagues or bosses who are in a different status of power, purely to "[deflect] your own agency and opinions as a woman—and their validity." The purpose of this article is to push women out of using 'sorry' and shrinking themselves in front of authority, because Glei believes it is often unnecessary and undermines them of agency. The article is biased towards thinking that women will often make themselves weak in front of authority and that apologizing in an email is "unnecessary" and strips women of power.

The second article which gravitated me was Tracy Moore's fascinating opinion piece, "Women, Stop Saying 'Just' So Much, You Sound Like Children." This article begins by discussing the importance of eradicating the lexicon 'sorry' and moves to emphasize that in addition to apologies, 'just' is also lexicon which is "keeping you from being taken seriously as a woman." Moore supplements her opinions with citations from former Google executive Ellen Petry Leanse's article at Business Insider about how various qualifiers like 'just' can impede the clarity of women's speech and in Moore's opinion "undermine our authority." This article functions a perfect example of the Robin Lakoff's, "Difference Model." Tracy Moore argues that as apart of women's rapport style, women are taught to use the linguistic variant 'just' as a way of "being nice" to maintain social relations. Moore pushes against this politenesss and like Jocelyn K. Glei, maintains a similar biased opinion that linguistic variations like 'just' sends "a subtle message of subordination, of deference."

In many ways I agree that simple apologies before sharing an idea or the notion of apologizing for "bothering" a colleague are useless and should be eradicated. I also share the opinion that eradicating qualifiers like 'just' is helpful in simplifying and clarifying emails. But I also do not agree with the idea that a simple linguistic variant has the power to strip people of influence. I believe that notion of being able to give away power purely through our use of language is a form of the Standard Language Ideology. This is the same rationale which is used to justify using a "right way of speaking" in order to be taken seriously. The idea of "correct language" is an arbitrary societal decision based purely on the language of those in power. I believe we should not give linguistic variants the power to take away our agency.

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Women, Stop Saying 'Just' So Much, You Sound Like Children

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Women, Stop Saying 'Just' So Much, You Sound Like Children

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Google Exec: Women, Stop Saying ‘Just’ So Much, You Sound Like Children

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Just when you finally got a handle on saying “sorry” so much, turns out there’s another detrimental phrase in your lexicon keeping you from being taken seriously as a woman: “Just.” As in, “Just checking in,” and “Just following up,” and “Just wondering if you’d decided.” A former Google exec says t…

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Ladies, Let’s Make a Resolution to Stop Saying “Sorry…”

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Ladies, Let’s Make a Resolution to Stop Saying “Sorry…”

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This Amy Schumer skit about women falling over themselves to apologize is excruciating to watch, because it's so true.

When I turned 30, I made a resolution to stop apologizing. Not big, real, meaningful apologies (those are always necessary), but all the dumb, little ones that seem like they don't mean anything:

To an unsolicited email:
I'm sorry I couldn't respond to your email sooner, I've been on deadline...
To colleagues:
I'm sorry if I'm out of line here, but I think that we might want to consider a different approach...
To a boss:
I'm sorry to bother you, but I want to make sure I understand the goals for this project...
Apologizing in this manner doesn't seem like a big deal, but it adds up. It locks you into a pattern of deflecting your own agency and opinions as a woman-and their validity.

Apologizing locks you into a pattern of deflecting your own agency and opinions as a woman-and their validity.

Is it inappropriate to wait a week to respond to an unsolicited email because you had much more pressing and important matters to attend to? Nope.

Is it out of line to suggest a different approach to solving a problem if you are one of the core players participating in a meeting? Certainly not.

Is it bothersome to buttonhole your boss to make sure you understand the goals of a project so that you can do a good job? Of course, not.

Once you become mindful of the language of apology, it's surprising how often you might see it showing up. For myself, I would say that about 80% of the time that I would apologize when I was in my twenties-particularly in a work context-it was completely unnecessary. Not to mention undermining.

I find that a good litmus test for whether an apology is really necessary is to ask yourself:
How would I feel if the person replied with, 'Apology accepted.'?
If you would feel relief, then you should apologize. If you would feel irritated, like they were being overly precious by "accepting" your apology, then you're not really sorry and shouldn't apologize.

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Ladies, Let's Make a Resolution to Stop Saying "Sorry..." * Jocelyn K. Glei

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This Amy Schumer skit about women falling over themselves to apologize is excruciating to watch, because it's so true. When I turned 30, I made a resolution to stop apologizing. Not big, real, meaningful apologies (those are always necessary), but all the dumb, little ones that seem like they don't mean anything: To an unsolicited...

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For my research project on sociolinguistic variables, I have chose to analyze the variants in greetings and characterize the social significance of the various greetings. I am interested about whether usage is affected by the channel of communication (ie: phone vs in person) and/or if the greeting was in initiation or response.

So far I have only collected 15 tokens of data. Over the past week, I have experienced some difficulty remembering to write down the greeting of the various interactions I have on a daily basis, thus I have not reached the target. In order to catch up, I am going to stay hyper aware and document greetings during the day while also looking into my text/virtual conversations I have with my friends and family on a daily basis. I believe using both the in-person and i-message mediums, will help me catch up and collet 105 tokens in the next two weeks.

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Research Project Tokens (Greetings): Amina 

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Entry #4: Non-Standard Variable 'Wanna' and its Covert Prestige 

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Entry #4: Non-Standard Variable 'Wanna' and its Covert Prestige 

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During class, when Laurel highlighted how famous fast-food companies like Dunkin' Donuts and McDonalds, utilized the covertly prestigious, g-dropping non-standard variety to attract customers, I immediately turned towards my jam-packed promotions email folder, to look for other ways companies tried to use non-standard language to attract customers. The first major example that caught my eye, was companies' use of "wanna" instead of the standard-variety "want to" in the headlines of their emails. I found two specific examples from popular Gen-Z, fashion company Shein's use of "wanna" which I have linked below.

Similar to g-dropping, "wanna" is a non-standard variant of lexicon, that is used to shorten the phrases "want to" or "I want to." This phrase exemplifies covert prestige, because it is a phrase that is very commonly used by many different groups of people. According to Thought Co., in addition to "gonna", "wanna" is one of the most commonly used reductions of speech used today. Despite that fact, 'wanna' is still not standard language, therefore it soley holds covert prestige.

Since a lot of people use this variant, there is a lot of positive attributes associated with it. It is so common that before writing this response, I even had to search up whether or not "wanna" was a proper term, because for a second I wondered whether or not it counted as the standard variety.  Although using the term "wanna" will earn you street cred with your friends and family, it is still not considered a standard variety. Therefore if you were to use "wanna" while writing an academic paper or speaking in 'professional' spaces which socially seem to require 'standard language', the use of 'wanna' would insinuate lack of education and have negative affects on your perception in the space.

In the case of the fashion company Shein, by using the word "wanna", I believe they want to communicate that they are a very accessible and casual company. I believe by sending this message of casualness, they want to consumer to know that they can casually browse their online selection of clothes and purchase items of clothing. I believe Shein was very successful in their endeavor to solicit a customer. When I first glanced upon these advertisements, I did not even realize that they were using non-standard language, but rather I was more focused upon the content they were advertising. By using common sociolect with covert prestige, Shein, like McDonalds and Dunkin' Donuts, is able to attract more and more customers.

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ThoughtCo Reference: Most common reductions...

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ThoughtCo Reference: Most common reductions...

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Wanna and gonna are two examples of informal spoken American English. Wanna means "want to," and gonna means "going to." You'll hear these phrases in movies, pop music and other forms of entertainment, although you are less likely to hear them in more formal shows, like the news.

These two expressions are not generally used in written English but in spoken English. Wanna and gonna are examples of reductions. Reductions are short, commonly used phrases that are spoken quickly. These reductions tend to be used for function words such as auxiliary verbs. It is important to remember that there are differences in American English and British English pronunciation. British English also has its own exceptions in pronunciation.

There are different views on whether students should use this type of pronunciation. In my opinion, students who live in North America should at least be familiar with these forms as they will hear them every day. If students decide to use this pronunciation, they should remember that it is appropriate only for informal spoken English and should not be used (except for texting, perhaps) in written English.

Reductions in Questions

The most common reductions are found at the beginning of questions. Here's a list of important reductions with the pronunciation written out to help you learn to recognize them in everyday American English. To begin with, listen to this reduction pronunciation sound file of the most common questions.

Are you ...? = arya
Can you ...? = kinya
Could you ...? = kudja
Would you ...? = wudja
Did you ...? = didja
Do you ...? = doja
Don't you ...? = doncha
Will you ...? = wilja
Do you want to ...? = doyawanna
Are you going to ...? = aryagonna
Do you have to ...? = dijahafta

Focus on the Main Verb

If you choose to use reductions, it is important to focus on the main verb in the question to correctly pronounce using reductions. In other words, we quickly speak over the reduced forms (are you, could you, etc.) and stress the main verb. Listen to these example reduced questions to hear how the main verb is stressed.

Are you ...? = arya

Are you enjoying yourself?

Are you going to help me tonight?

Can you ...? = kinya

Can you say that again?

Can you understand me?

Could you ...? = kudja

Could you help me?

Could you visit next month?

Would you ...? = wudja

Would you like to have dinner?

Would you answer my question?

Did you ...? = didja

Do you ...? = dija

Don't you ...? = doncha

Don't you love it?

Don't you understand?

Will you ...? = wilja

Will you come with me?

Will you finish tonight?

Do you want to ...? = diyawanna

Do you want to have fun?

Do you want to eat out?

Are you going to ...? = aryagonna

Are you going to leave?

Are you going to have lunch?

Do you have to ...? = dijahafta

Do you have to stay?

Do you have to work today?

Gotta and Wanna

Two of the most common reductions are gotta and wanna. Gotta is the reduction of "got to." It's rather strange because its use means have to. In other words, in informal American English "I got to get up early" means "I have to get up early." This is then further reduced to "I gotta get up early."

Wanna means "want to" and is used to indicate the desire to do something. For example, "I wanna go home." means "I want to go home." A synonymous expression is also "I would like to go home." However, this form is much more formal.

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Understanding Informal Speak Gonna and Wanna

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Wanna and gonna are two examples of informal spoken American English. Wanna means "want to," and gonna means "going to." You'll hear these phrases in movies, pop music and other forms of entertainment, although you are less likely to hear them in more formal shows, like the news.

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Shein Advertisment: "Wanna be voted BEST DRESSED?"

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Shein Advertisment: "Wanna be voted BEST DRESSED?"

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Shein Advertisment: 'Fri-Yay Deals You Don't Wanna Miss'

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Shein Advertisment: 'Fri-Yay Deals You Don't Wanna Miss'

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Entry #3: Advertisements Tailoring Language to Appease the Population- Comment

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Entry #3: Advertisements Tailoring Language to Appease the Population- Comment

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When given this task to find advertisements that specifically adapted to tailor the population they were advertising towards, I found these two photos in my camera roll, that in my opinion perfectly display how companies will cater to their specific population.

My first example is a photo I took advertising for a phone booth in Southern California. This advertisement is it is displayed in Spanish to cater towards the high population of Spanish Speakers in California. The interesting thing about this advertisement, is the fact that its selling point is for a dollar costumers can call anybody in Mexico for three minutes. I did some research, and I found out that approximately 31% of California's state population is Mexican, most of them located in Southern California. (Wikipedia) This means that 3 in 10 people in California, are Mexican-American. This promotion specifically cites Mexico as a country, because they want to target the Mexican-American population who might not be able to call their families as frequently because of the cost of international calls. This advertisement was intended to strike a chord in the hearts of the Mexican-Americans who saw this sticker and entice them to pay a dollar to use the telephone.

My second example is a picture of an advertisement I saw inside of the Jamaican restaurant Golden Krust in Brooklyn, NY for a lime soda called Ting. This advertisement is written in the Jamaican dialect of Patois, and is advocating for a casual drink that you can have while spending time with your friends. New York has the highest population of Jamaicans in the United States. Over 300,000 Jamaicans live in the tristate area, triple the amount of those in Georgia, Connecticut or Maryland. (Wikipedia) The advertisers chose to use the Jamaican dialect to target the high percentage of Jamaican-Americans in New York who would frequent a cuisine specific restaurant like Golden-Krust. From personal experience as a First-Generation Jamaican-American, Patois is a language that is primarily spoken, rather than written. An advertisement written in Patois is a lot more impactful and allures me and other Jamaican-Americans that much more.

My mom is a brand-marketer, and she used to always tell me, the key to creating a great advertisement, is to cater the commercial to the target population. I did not realize it before this experiment, but the language adaptation of a particular sociolect by companies, is a key factor in enticing potential consumers to buy the product. Now when walking down the street, I will be much more wary about buying something because of an advertisement and ask the question: "Do I really like this product? Or am I just excited by the advertisements use of my linguistic variables?"

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Wikipedia Reference: [New York has the highest population of Jamaican Americans..]

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Wikipedia Reference: [New York has the highest population of Jamaican Americans..]

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Jamaican Americans are an ethnic group of Caribbean Americans who have full or partial Jamaican ancestry. The largest proportions of Jamaican Americans live in South Florida and New York City, both of which have been home to large Jamaican communities since the 1950s and 60s. There are also communities of Jamaican Americans residing in Connecticut, Georgia, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Maryland, Massachusetts, and California.

The vast majority of Jamaican Americans are of black African-Caribbean descent, and many are also some of full or partial Indian Jamaican, Chinese Jamaican, European and Lebanese descent.

After 1838, European colonies in the Caribbean with expanding sugar industries imported large numbers of immigrants to meet their acute labor shortage. Large numbers of Jamaicans were recruited to work in Panama and Costa Rica in the 1850s. After slavery was abolished in the United States in 1865, American planters imported temporary workers, called "swallow migrants", to harvest crops on an annual basis. These workers, many of them Jamaicans, returned to their countries after harvest. Between 1881 and the beginning of World War I, the United States recruited over 250,000 workers from the Caribbean, 90,000 of whom were Jamaicans, to work on the Panama Canal. During both world wars, the United States again recruited Jamaican men for service on various American bases in the region.

Apart from Canada and England, the U.S. houses the majority of Jamaican émigrés worldwide.[clarification needed ] Jamaican immigration to the U.S. increased during the civil rights era of the 1960s. As with many other sources of Caribbean immigration, the geographical nearness of Jamaica to the U.S. increased the likelihood of migration. The economic attractiveness and general Jamaican perception of the U.S. as a land of opportunity explain continued migration flows despite economic downturn in America. Traditionally, America has experienced increased migration through means of family preference, in which U.S. citizens sponsor their immediate family. Through this category a substantial amount of Jamaican immigrants were able to enter mainly urban cities within the U.S that provided blue-collar work opportunities. Jamaican immigrants utilized employment opportunities despite the discriminatory policies that affected some Caribbean émigrés.

Jamaicans comprise the largest nationality of U.S. immigrants from the English-speaking Caribbean. Because so many have assimilated into the black community, it is difficult to estimate their number. The 1990 U.S. census placed the number of documented Jamaican Americans at 435,025.

An estimated 554,897 Jamaican-born people lived in the U.S. in 2000. This represents 61% of the approximate 911,000 Americans of Jamaican ancestry. Many Jamaicans are second, third and descend from even older generations, as there have been Jamaicans in the U.S. as early as the early twentieth Century. The regional composition is as follows: 59 percent live in the Northeast, mainly in the State of New York; 4.8 percent in the Midwest; 30.6 percent in the South, particularly South Florida; and 5.6 percent on the West. The New York metropolitan area and South Florida have the largest number of Jamaican immigrants in the United States. South Florida is home to the highest number of undocumented Jamaicans, whereas most documented immigrants tend to reside in Brooklyn. Jamaicans refer to Miami metropolitan area and Brooklyn colloquially as " Kingston 21" and "Little Jamaica" respectively. Jamaicans in the Miami metropolitan area mostly live in Broward County and Jamaicans in New York City have formed communities in Brooklyn, The Bronx and Queens. Especially Central Brooklyn, particularly East Flatbush, Crown Heights, Brownsville, Flatbush, Flatlands and Canarise and the Northeast Bronx, particularly Wakefield and Williamsbridge neighborhoods holding the largest Jamaican populace. Large communities of Jamaican immigrants have formed in New York City and the whole New York Metro Area, which includes Long Island and much of New Jersey and Connecticut, along with Florida (centered in and around the Miami/ Broward County, Orlando and Tampa areas), which has the second largest Jamaican community in the U.S. In recent years, many Jamaicans have left New York City for its suburbs, and large Jamaican communities have also formed in many other major cities like Philadelphia (including Delaware and other parts of eastern Pennsylvania), Baltimore, Washington D.C./Central Maryland, Atlanta, Boston, Western NY State ( Buffalo and Rochester) and Cleveland. Smaller numbers are in Charlotte, Houston, Chicago and Los Angeles.

According to the 2010 U.S. Census, there were 965,355 Jamaican Americans.

The 10 U.S. states with the largest Jamaican populations in 2019 are:

The top 10 U.S. metropolitan areas with the largest populations of Jamaicans (Source: 2019 American Community Survey 1-Year Estimates)

1. New York-Northern New Jersey-Long Island, NY-NJ-PA-CT MSA - 332,681

2. Miami-Fort Lauderdale-Pompano Beach, FL MSA - 173,277

3. Atlanta-Sandy Springs-Marietta, GA MSA - 59,097

4. Orlando-Kissimmee-Sanford, FL MSA - 42,922

5. Washington-Arlington-Alexandria, DC-VA-MD-WV MSA - 39,253

6. Philadelphia-Camden-Wilmington, PA-NJ-DE-MD MSA - 32,934

7. Hartford-East Hartford-Middletown, CT MSA - 29,530

8. Boston-Cambridge-Quincy, MA-NH MSA - 21,510

9. Tampa-St. Petersburg-Clearwater, FL MSA - 18,546

10. Bridgeport-Stamford-Norwalk, CT MSA - 16,822

The top 25 U.S. communities with the highest percentage of people claiming Jamaican ancestry are:

1. Blue Hills, Connecticut (neighborhood) 23.9%

2. Lauderdale Lakes, Florida 18.8%

3. Lauderhill, Florida 17.6%

4. South Floral Park, New York 15.5%

5. Miramar, Florida 15.40%

6. Bloomfield, Connecticut and Mount Vernon, New York 12.9%

7. Lakeview, New York 12.7%

8. North Lauderdale, Florida 11.1%

9. Uniondale, New York 11.0%

10. El Portal, Florida 8.5%

11. Roosevelt, New York 8.2%

12. Pembroke Park, Florida 8.0%

13. North Valley Stream, New York and Hartford, Connecticut 7.90%

14. Sunrise, Florida 7.60%

15. Miami Gardens, Florida 6.3%

16. North Amityville, New York 6.1%

17. South Miami Heights, Florida 6.0%

18. Hempstead, New York and Elmont, New York 5.9%

19. Lake Park, Florida and Carol City, Florida 5.8%

20. East Orange, New Jersey, Gordon Heights, New York, Ives Estates, Florida and Golden Glades, Florida 5.7%

21. North Miami Beach, Florida 5.5%

22. New Cassel, New York 5.30%

23. Bronx, New York and Chillum, Maryland 5.2%

24. Pembroke Pines, Florida and Wheatley Heights, New York 5.1%

25. Bridgeport, Connecticut and Windsor, Connecticut 4.5%

26. Orange, New Jersey and South Bay, Florida 4.3%

27. Spring Valley, New York 4.2%

28. Goulds, Florida, Tamarac, Florida and Royal Palm Beach, Florida 4.1%

29. New Carrollton, Maryland, Plantation, Florida and Cottage City, Maryland 4%

30. Mangonia Park, Florida, Redan, Georgia and Somerset, New Jersey 3.9%

31. Brooklyn, New York, Naranja, Florida and Stone Mountain, Georgia 3.8%

32. Mount Rainier, Maryland, Adelphi, Maryland, Pine Hills, Florida, Baldwin, New York and Poinciana, Florida 3.7%

33. Westbury, New York and Inwood, New York 3.6%

34. Paterson, New Jersey and Brentwood, Maryland 3.5%

35. Teaneck, New Jersey 3.4%

36. North Miami, Florida and Plainfield, New Jersey 3.3%

37. Richmond West, Florida 3.2%

38. Haverhill, Florida 3.1%

39. Opa-Locka, Florida and Margate, Florida 3%

Top 50 U.S. communities with the most residents born in Jamaica are:

1. Sunrise, FL 19.6%

2. Norland, FL 18.5%

3. Blue Hills, CT 18.3%

4. Lauderdale Lakes, FL 16.9%

5. Andover, FL 15.0%

6. Lauderhill, FL 14.8%

7. Utopia, FL 13.1%

8. Palmetto Estates, FL 12.6%

9. Miramar, FL 12.5%

10. Scott Lake, FL 12.3%

11. South Floral Park, NY 12.1%

12. Mount Vernon, NY 11.2%

13. Bloomfield, CT 11.1%

14. North Lauderdale, FL 9.7%

15. Fort Devens, MA 9.3%

16. Northwest Dade, FL 8.5%

17. Uniondale, NY 8.2%

18. St. George, FL 8.1%

19. East Garden City, NY 7.7%

20. El Portal, FL 7.5%

21. Silver Springs Shores, FL 7.5%

22. Washington Park, FL 7.2%

23. North Valley Stream, NY 6.7%

24. Sunrise, FL 6.6%

25. Harlem, FL 6.4%

26. Lakeview, NY 6.2%

27. Opa-locka North, FL 6.1%

28. Hartford, CT 6.0%

29. Roosevelt, NY 5.9%

30. Westview, FL 5.7%

31. Tangelo Park, FL 5.5%

32. Miami Gardens, Broward County, FL 5.5%

33. Pembroke Park, FL 5.3%

34. Lake Park, FL 5.2%

35. Ives Estates, FL 5.1%

36. North Amityville, NY 5.1%

37. Canal Point, FL 5.1%

38. Rock Island, FL 5.1%

39. Boulevard Gardens, FL 5.0%

40. North Miami Beach, FL 5.0%

41. Lake Lucerne, FL 4.9%

42. Golden Glades, FL 4.9%

43. Broadview-Pompano Park, FL 4.8%

44. Carol City, FL 4.7%

45. East Orange, NJ 4.7%

46. Pembroke Pines, FL 4.4%

47. Stacy Street, FL 4.3%

48. Mangonia Park, FL 4.3%

49. Three Lakes, FL 4.2%

50. Elmont, NY 4.2%

Total immigrant population from Jamaica according to ACS 2015-2019 estimates: 741,400; the top counties were:

1) Broward County, Florida ------------------- 86,600

2) Brooklyn Borough, New York ----------- 62,200

3) Bronx Borough, New York ---------------- 49,400

4) Queens Borough, New York ------------- 49,000

5) Palm Beach County, Florida ------------- 26,900

6) Miami-Dade County, Florida ------------- 23,400

7) Westchester County, New York ------- 18,200

8) Hartford County, Connecticut ---------- 17,100

9) Orange County, Florida -------------------- 16,900

10) Nassau County, New York -------------- 16,600

11) Essex County, New Jersey ------------- 12,500

12) Fairfield County, Connecticut --------- 12,100

13) Prince George's Co., Maryland ------- 11,100

14) Philadelphia County, Penn. ------------ 10,100

15) Dekalb County, Georgia ------------------- 9,900

16) Suffolk County, Massachusetts ------- 8,200

17) Gwinnett County, Georgia ---------------- 7,500

18) Hillsborough County, Florida ------------ 7,300

19) Saint Lucie County, Florida -------------- 7,000

20) Suffolk County, New York ---------------- 6,800

21) New Haven County, Connecticut ------ 6,400

22) Los Angeles County, California ------- 5,900

23) Cook County, Illinois ------------------------ 5,700

24) Harris County, Texas ----------------------- 5,300

25) Bergen County, New Jersey ------------- 5,200

26) Manhattan Borough, New York -------- 5,100

27) Montgomery County, Maryland -------- 5,100

In 2014, the median age of Caribbean immigrants was 48 years, compared to 44 years for the general immigrant average. The median age of Jamaican immigrants was 49 years old. According to the Migration Policy Institute's tabulation of census data, 6% of Caribbean immigrants were under the age of 18, 76% between the ages of 18 and 64, and 19% were 65 and older.

In 2019, the median age of Jamaican Americans was 37 years old (U.S. Census Bureau 2019).

Caribbean immigrants are more likely to be proficient in English compared to the general immigrant population. In 2017, only 2% of Jamaicans were Limited English Proficient (LEP). By 2019, the figure had reduced to just 0.9% of Jamaicans who were LEP (U.S. Census Bureau 2019).

Caribbean immigrants perform better than the general immigrant population in terms of high school graduation rates.

In 2017, 24% of Jamaican immigrants had a bachelor's degree. This was higher than the Caribbean average of 21% (compared to 31% in the general immigrant population).

In 2019, 30% of Jamaican Americans had a bachelor's degree. This is higher than the American average of 24.3% (U.S. Census Bureau 2019).

76% of Jamaican immigrants are working age (18 to 64). An estimated 30% of Caribbean immigrants are in the service occupations, 21% are in sales and office positions, and 25% are in management, business, science, and arts occupations and only 9% of Jamaican immigrants are in construction and maintenance jobs. Jamaicans specifically, 32-37% seek management, business, science, and arts positions. According to the Migration Policy Institute, Jamaican immigrants to the United States consistently compose of a high share of skilled professionals. Caribbean immigrants tend to have a higher employment participation rate than the American average.

In 2014, the median Jamaican immigrant yearly income was $51,000 with a 13% poverty rate. The median Jamaican immigrant income is higher than the average Caribbean immigrant income, which was about $41,000 with a 20% poverty rate (and Dominican immigrants income is as low as $32,000 with a 24% poverty rate) (U.S. Census Bureau 2014). According to World Bank data, in 2014, the Caribbean as a whole was sent $9.7 billion, 8% of the US GDP as remittances, not including Cuba, which is estimated to send $1.8 billion.

In 2019, Jamaican Americans had a median household income of $62,044, higher than the American average of $57,761. Jamaican Americans had a poverty rate of 11.2%, lower than the American average of 12% (U.S. Census Bureau 2019).

Jamaican Americans have one of the highest rates of homeownership among Latin American and Caribbean immigrants in the US.

Largely, Jamaican-Americans have successfully integrated with the parent African-American culture of the United States, either domestically or abroad. Discussed are examples of their impressions and/or influences.

Many cultural events in Jamaica are also observed by Jamaican Americans in local public celebrations or in the privacy of their homes.

Many Jamaican Americans have also been very influential and successful in Hip hop music. DJ kool Herc is credited with inventing rap/hip hop music and is known as the "founding father of Hiphop". Other famous rappers and DJ's such as Busta Rhymes, The Notorious B.I.G., Special Ed, Pete Rock, Canibus, Heavy D, Joey Bada$$, Slick Rick, and Bushwick Bill are all of Jamaican heritage.

Jamaica's most popular musical forms are reggae and dancehall. There are also others such as "dub poetry" or chanted verses, Ska and Rocksteady, with its emotionally charged, celebrative beat. Jamaican Americans also listen to a great variety of other music such as: jazz, calypso, soca, rap, classical music, gospel and "high-church" choirs.

Notable Jamaican-American actors include Jada Pinkett Smith, Kerry Washington, Sheryl Lee Ralph and Harry Belafonte.

In Miami and Brooklyn, especially in the neighborhood of Flatbush along Flatbush, Nostrand, Utica and Church Avenues, one sees groceries filled with a variety of Caribbean cuisines, including sugar cane, jelly, coconut and yams.

In New York City, Jamaican Americans participate in the Caribbean Labor day parade in Brooklyn annually and dress in lavish and colorful costumes during the Brooklyn celebration along Eastern Parkway.

A number of Jamaican Americans have excelled in international competition and carried home many trophies. Donald Quarrie won the 200 and the 4 × 100 meters relay Olympic Gold Medal. Merlene Ottey won the 200 and the 4 × 100 meters relay. George Headley, who was born in Panama in 1909, transported to Cuba, grew up in Jamaica. and lived in the United States. Sanya Richards-Ross won gold in the 400 metres after finishing third at the 2008 Summer Olympics. Richards-Ross has also won Olympic gold in the 4×400 meters relay at the 2004 Summer Olympics, the 2008 Summer Olympics, and the 2012 Summer Olympics. She was the best 400m runner in the world for a decade, ranking No. 1 in the world from 2005-2009 and again in 2012.

Several Jamaican-Americans, including Jeff Cunningham, Robin Fraser, and Mark Chung have played for the United States national soccer team.

There have also been many Jamaican-American NBA players including Patrick Ewing, Ben Gordon, Andre Drummond, Roy Hibbert, Andrew Kennedy, and Omari Johnson.

Notable Jamaican-American NFL football players includes Patrick Chung, Atari Bigby, Nevin Lawson, Orlando Franklin, Kenrick Ellis, Ryan McBean and Laken Tomlinson.

There are also several Jamaican-American world-renowned boxers including boxing greats Mike Tyson and Floyd Mayweather Jr.

Jamaicans have been involved in American political issues since the 1800s. John B. Russwurm fought against slavery and co-founded America's first black press, Freedom's Journal, in 1827. Ferdinand Smith co-founded the National Maritime Union and was considered one of the most powerful black labor leaders in U.S. history. Marcus Garvey became one of the most influential activists during the 1920s and 30s and it was Garvey's ideas that had a profound influence on the views of American civil rights leader, Martin Luther King. Some academics and experts claim Garvey "helped paved the way" for the American civil rights movement.

Renowned Jamaican-Americans from this group include former Secretary of State and four star general Colin Powell, Vice President Kamala Harris, former National Security adviser Susan Rice, "Mother of the Pell Grant" Lois Rice, former Governor of New York David Paterson, and lieutenant governor of Virginia Winsome Sears.

Walt W. Braithwaite helped transform the field of aerospace design, driving the development of computer-aided design/ computer-aided manufacturing (CAD/CAM) systems at Boeing. Braithwaite also made a significant contribution to the development of the Initial Graphics Exchange Specification (IGES). Braithwaite's common data format and translators from Boeing were subsequently used as the basis for developing the IGES protocol.

Yvette Francis-McBarnette was a pioneering paediatrician who was the first to use prophylactic antibiotics in the treatment of children with sickle cell.

Karen E. Nelson published the first ever comprehensive human microbiome study.

Paul S Ramphal is Adjunct Assistant Professor of Surgery at the University of North Carolina and inventor of the (Ramphal) Cardiac Surgery Simulator. The Ramphal Simulator is used in the training of many cardiothoracic surgery residents in the United States.

Robert Rashford co-invented the world's first portable 3D non-destructive evaluation (NDE) system. The system was used in the maintenance of the United States Government's Hubble Space Telescope. He also invented a protective enclosure for use transporting orbital replacement units (orus). Rashford designed and developed unique spacecraft support systems for the Upper Atmosphere Research Satellite (UARS) Airborne Support Equipment (UASE) at the Orbital Sciences Corporation (OSC). At General Electric, he designed and tested a variety of spacecraft for both commercial and military applications. At Bechtel Corporation, he designed a nuclear reactor support structure. He has designed numerous highly complex engineering systems that successfully flew on board NASA's Manned Space Flight Programs.

Mercedes Richards was a pioneering scientist who was the first astronomer to make images of the gravitational flow of gas between the stars in any interacting binary; the first to image the chromospheres and accretion disks in Algol binaries; the first in astronomy to apply the technique of tomography; the first astrophysicist to make theoretical hydrodynamic simulations of the Algol binary stars; the first astronomer to discover starspots on the cool star in an Algol binary and the first astrophysicist to apply novel distance correlation statistical methods to large astronomical databases.

John Henry Thompson, who studied and worked in the US, invented the Lingo programming language used in Adobe Director. The language is used for animation, web design, graphics, sound and video games.

1. N. Samuel Murell, "Jamaican Americans." in ^ Gale Encyclopedia of Multicultural America, edited by Thomas Riggs, (3rd ed., vol. 2, Gale, 2014), pp. 523-536. Online

2. ^ Arnold, Kathleen R. (2015). Contemporary Immigration in America: A State-by-State Encyclopedia [2 volumes]. ABC-CLIO. ISBN 978-0-313-39918-3.

3. Jones, Terry-Ann. ^ Jamaican Immigrants in the United States and Canada: Race, Transnationalism, and Social Capital. New York, NY: LFB Scholarly Piblishing LLC, 2008. 2-3; 160-3. Print.

4. ^ Bureau, U.S. Census. "American FactFinder - Results". factfinder2.census.gov. Archived from the original on 2015-01-18.

5. U.S. Census Bureau (2019). People Reporting Ancestry American Community Survey 1-year estimates. Retrieved from <^ https://censusreporter.org>

6. U.S. Census Bureau (2019). People Reporting Ancestry American Community Survey 1-year estimates. Retrieved from <^ https://censusreporter.org/data/map/?table=B04006&geo_ids=31000US12580,31000US47900,31000US36740,33000US148,33000US548,31000US37980,31000US12060#column%7CB04006102,sumlev%7C310

7. ^ Roberts, Sam (7 April 2016). "Yvette Fay Francis-McBarnette, a Pioneer in Treating Sickle Cell Anemia, Dies at 89". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331.

8. ^ Richards, Merecedes (30 September 1995). "Chromospheric Activity in Algol Binaries". Archived from the original on October 24, 2021.

Bishop, Jacqueline. My mother who is me: life stories from Jamaican women in New York (Africa World Press, 2006).

Ferguson, Gail M., and Marc H. Bornstein. "Remote acculturation: The 'Americanization' of Jamaican islanders." International Journal of Behavioral Development 36.3 (2012): 167-177. Online

Horst, Heather A., and Andrew Garner. Jamaican Americans (Chelsea House, 2007).

Kasinitz, Philip, Juan Battle, and Ines Miyares. "Fade to black." in Ethnicities: Children of immigrant America ed by Rubén G. Rumbaut and Alejandro Portes. (2001): 267-300.

Murell, N. Samuel. "Jamaican Americans." in Gale Encyclopedia of Multicultural America, edited by Thomas Riggs, (3rd ed., vol. 2, Gale, 2014), pp. 523-536. Online

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Jamaican Americans are an ethnic group of Caribbean Americans who have full or partial Jamaican ancestry. The largest proportions of Jamaican Americans live in South Florida and New York City, both of which have been home to large Jamaican communities since the 1950s and 60s.

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Wikipedia Reference: [31% of California are Mexican]

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Wikipedia Reference: [31% of California are Mexican]

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California is the most populated U.S. state, with an estimated population of 39.2 million as of January 1, 2022. It has people from a wide variety of ethnic, racial, national, and religious backgrounds.

California is the most populated sub-national entity in North America. If it were an independent country, California would rank 34th in population in the world. It has a larger population than either Canada or Australia. Its population is one third larger than that of the next most populous state, Texas. California surpassed New York to become the most populous state in 1962. California's population growth has slowed dramatically in the 21st century. In 2010, the state's five most populous counties were Los Angeles County, San Diego County, Orange County, Riverside County, and San Bernardino County, with Riverside County having the largest percentage increase in population. The largest metro areas in California, as of 2010, are Los Angeles, San Francisco- Oakland- San Jose, San Diego, Riverside-San Bernardino, and Sacramento. From 2006 until 2016, the state lost a net population of about 1 million people from emigration to other states, yet the population of the state continued to grow due to immigration from overseas and more births than deaths.

As of 2006, California had an estimated population of 37,172,015, more than 12 percent of the U.S. population. This includes a natural increase since the last census of 1,557,112 people (i.e., 2,781,539 births minus 1,224,427 deaths) and an increase due to net migration of 751,419 people. Immigration resulted in a net increase of 1,415,879 people, and migration from within the U.S. resulted in a net decrease of 564,100 people. California is the 13th fastest-growing state. As of 2008, the total fertility rate was 2.15.

No single ethnic group forms a majority of California's population, making the state a minority-majority state. Hispanics (of any race) are the largest single ethnic group in the state. Spanish is the state's second most widely spoken language. Areas with especially large Spanish speaking populations include the Los Angeles metropolitan area, the California-Mexico border counties of San Diego and Imperial, and the San Joaquin Valley. Nearly 43% of Californian residents speak a language other than English at home, a proportion far higher than any other state.

In 2011, there were an estimated 2.6 million undocumented immigrants residing in California. California is home to almost 25% of the country's undocumented population, making up 6% of California's residents overall. Two-thirds of California's undocumented population have lived in the state for more than 10 years.

About 52% of California's public school students in the 2011-12 school year identified themselves as Hispanic or Latino and 26% as non-Hispanic Caucasian. The following ethnic groups made up the rest of the statewide public school student body: Asians (11%), African Americans (7%), Native Americans (0.7%), and Pacific Islanders (0.6%). Students of mixed race made up about 2% of the public schools. Hispanics have made up the majority of the state's public schools since 2010. Los Angeles Unified School District, the largest school district in California and second largest in the nation, is 73% Hispanic, 10% African American, 9% non-Hispanic Caucasian, 6% Asian, 0.5% Native American, and 0.4% Pacific Islander.

Racial/Ethnic makeup

According to 2018 US Census Bureau estimates, California's population was 59.5% White (36.6% Non-Hispanic White), 14.7% Asian, 13.8% Some Other Race, 5.8% Black or African American, 0.8% Native American and Alaskan Native, 0.4% Pacific Islander and 5.1% from two or more races. The White population continues to remain the largest racial category as Hispanics primarily identify as White (58.2%) with others identifying as Some Other Race (34.4%), Multiracial (5.1%), Black (0.7%), American Indian and Alaskan Native (1.1%), Asian (0.5%), and Hawaiian and Pacific Islander (0.1%). By ethnicity, 39.3% of the total population is Hispanic-Latino (of any race) and 60.7% is Non-Hispanic (of any race). If excluded from racial categories, Hispanics are the largest racial/ethnic group in California.

In 2015, California had the largest ethnic/racial minority population in the United States. Non-Hispanic whites decreased from about 76.3 - 78% of the state's population in 1970 to 36.6%% in 2018. While the population of minorities accounts for 100.7 million of 300 million U.S. residents, 20% of the national total live in California (2008).

California has the highest number, and second highest percentage, of Asian Americans by state. Only Hawaii has a higher Asian American percentage than California. While New Mexico and Texas have higher percentages of Hispanics, California has the highest total number of Hispanics of any U.S. state. Hispanics are the largest single ethnic group in the state.

The largest named ancestries in California are Mexican (25%), German (9%), Irish (7.7%), English (7.4%) and Italian(5.8%); there are 65 other ethnicities with sizable populations in California including Arabs, Albanians, Australians, Brazilians, Canadians, Haitians, Iranians/Persians and Somalis as examples. Both Los Angeles and San Francisco have large numbers of residents with English, French, Italian, Iranian/Persian, German, Russian and Scandinavian ancestry.

California has the largest population of White Americans in the U.S., totaling 21,453,934 residents as of the 2010 census. The state has the fifth largest population of African Americans in the U.S., an estimated 2,299,072 residents. California's Asian population is estimated at 4.9 million, approximately one-third of the nation's estimated 15 million Asian Americans. California's Native American population of 285,512 is the third-largest of any state, behind Arizona and Oklahoma.

Since the 2000 U.S. Census, California has been known as the second state in US history (after Hawaii since its statehood in 1959) to have a non-white majority when excluding Hispanic Whites, and since 2014, the first state to have a Latino plurality surpass other racial/ethnic groups. The media discussed the possibility of Latinos becoming a majority in the 21st century, for the first time since statehood (1850) when massive immigration of Anglo-Americans during the California Gold Rush of 1848-49 reduced Spanish speakers to 20 percent of the population.

California has over one million residents each with Spanish or Portuguese ancestry, with communities along coastal parts of the state such as San Diego, Long Beach, Camarillo, Santa Clara Valley (including Cupertino, Gilroy and San Jose), Salinas Valley, Santa Maria Valley, and San Joaquin Valley. A small wave of Danish, Dutch and Swedish immigrants founded towns like Lathrop near Stockton, Artesia near Los Angeles, Kingsburg south of Fresno, Solvang north of Santa Barbara in the late 1800s and the private community of Sveadal located 15 miles south of San Jose and populated entirely by members of the Swedish American Patriotic League. Small colonies of early 19th century Russian settlement under the Russian American Company are in Fort Ross, Calistoga and the Russian River Valley in Sonoma and Napa counties. California also has the third largest Greek American population in the United States, behind New York and Massachusetts. The Los Angeles Harbor area of San Pedro has a sizeable Croatian American population. Small Amish/ Mennonite colonies exist in an area bordered by the towns Oakdale, Riverbank and Ripon near Modesto and in Reedley, Sanger and Orange Cove near Fresno in the San Joaquin Valley; and in the outer Salinas Valley.

The most important Italian community in California is in North Beach District at San Francisco. 60% of Californian Italo-Americans are from northern Italy. Others numerous groups are from Tuscany and Sicily. Many Italians also live in San Diego, with Little Italy having San Diego's largest Italian population.

There is also a large Dutch community in California.

Hispanic and Latino Americans

Latinos, mainly Mexican Americans, form major portions of the population of Southern California, especially in Los Angeles, as well as the San Joaquin Valley. The city of Los Angeles is often said to be the largest Mexican community in the United States. Census records kept track of the growth since 1850, but Mexicans and Mexican-Americans have lived in California since Spanish Colonial times. However, the number and percentage population of Latinos living in California increased rapidly in the late 20th century.

California also has the largest populations of Hispanics/Latinos in the country. Most of the state's Latinos have Mexican ancestry, having the largest Mexican population in the United States, making up about 31 percent of the state population. California has a large and diverse population, having the largest Central American, especially Salvadoran population in the United States. Guatemalan Americans are spread out in Southern California after previously being centered in Los Angeles between 1970 and 2010. California also has many Cuban Americans, Puerto Rican Americans, Honduran Americans, and Nicaraguan Americans, along with people of Chilean, Colombian, Peruvian, and other South American ancestry. Los Angeles has had the United States' largest Central American community, as well as the largest Mexican American community, since the 1910s. In fact, the 1900 census record finds 319 to 619 out of 100,000 residents in the city of Los Angeles were "Spanish" or "Mexican". (see Demographics of Los Angeles). Nearly 31 percent of Los Angeles itself is of Mexican descent, having the largest Mexican population of any city in the United States. 12,392 Belizeans also live in California.

In Mariposa County, there is a very small community of Californios or Spanish American people as they identify themselves, that dates back before the U.S. annexation of California. Hornitos is home to an estimated 1,000 people and many have Spanish heritage. The community's "Spanish" Californio culture is closely linked with Mexico and other Latin American nations.

Little Arabia is an ethnic enclave in Orange County, California, the center for Orange County's Arab Americans, who number more than 24,000 (as of 2000). It is sometimes referred to as "Little Gaza" which was a play on the original designation of this area as the "Garza Island." Little Arabia grew significantly in the 1990s with the arrival of immigrants from the Middle East, and is the home to thousands of Arab Americans predominantly hailing from Egypt, Syria, Palestine and Yemen.

More than 500,000 Iranian Americans live throughout Southern California, including about 20% of the population of Beverly Hills. Iranian American communities also flourish in the San Fernando Valley, Orange County, San Diego and the San Joaquin Valley. The majority of Iranian Americans immigrated after the Pahlavi dynasty was overthrown in 1979.

California is also home to many Armenian Americans; the highest concentration of Americans of Armenian descent is in the Greater Los Angeles area, where 166,498 people have identified themselves as Armenian to the 2000 Census, comprising over 40% of the 385,488 people who identified Armenian origins in the US at the time. Many of these live in Glendale north of Los Angeles, as well as a large community in Fresno. The size of the Armenian American population is disputed, however. According to a 1988 news article, California had about 500,000 ethnic Armenians with over half of them living in the Greater Los Angeles area.

More than 1,300,000 Jewish Americans live in California, the majority of whom are Ashkenazi Jews.[citation needed ] In addition, there are more than 250,000 Israeli Americans live in the Los Angeles area, according to the Israeli American Council. There are also significant Israeli American populations in the Bay Area, San Francisco, and San Jose areas of Northern California. The largest Karaite Jewish population outside of Israel exists in the Bay Area, consisting of several hundreds descendants of refugees from the Egyptian Karaite community, as well as some recent converts. Their community is centered around the only Karaite synagogue outside the Middle East, Congregation B'nai Israel, located in Daly City. The Moroccan Jewish community in California is one of the largest in North America, approximately 10,000 Moroccan Jews reside in the Greater Los Angeles area, mostly in Pico-Robertson, North Hollywood, and Beverly Hills. Many are the descendants of community members who first emigrated to the United States in the aftermath of World War II. Many others came later in the 20th century from Israel, and beginning in the early 21st century from France due to increasing antisemitism there. The community has their own synagogues as well as a community center.

There is also large population of Assyrian/Chaldean descent living in the Central Valley, with large communities in Modesto, Ceres and Turlock, as well as throughout the Central Coast and the California Desert (i.e. the Coachella and Imperial valleys). San Diego has one of the largest concentrations of Chaldean immigrants in the United States.

About an estimated 3,000 Moroccan Americans are living in Los Angeles, Long Beach, and Santa Ana.

California has 2.3 million African Americans as of 2010, the largest population of Black or African Americans of the western U.S states, and the 5th largest Black population in the United States. Cities that have the largest share of African Americans and have historically been Black cultural centers include (11 largest in the state): Compton, Inglewood, Long Beach, Los Angeles, Oakland, Richmond, Riverside, Sacramento, San Bernardino, San Diego and Vallejo.

Most African Americans in California have origins from Southern states like Louisiana, Texas, Arkansas and Oklahoma.

There are many other cities and towns in the state with sizeable African American populations. These include:

Northern: Berkeley, Dublin, East Palo Alto, Emeryville, Fairfield, Hayward, Marin City, San Leandro, and Suisun City.

African Americans are approximately 7 percent of the state population. The state percentage of African Americans has dropped in the 1990s and 2000s, though the state's overall number of African-Americans has increased in that time period. The black population in East and West Oakland and South Central Los Angeles - places where they held the majority for decades - has greatly decreased as the black middle class has relocated to nearby suburbs, including those in the Inland Empire and Antelope Valley in Southern California and the Sacramento metropolitan area in Northern California. Many African Americans have also moved to the South, where their grandparents may have come from in the " Great Migration" of the mid-20th century.[citation needed ]

As of 2010, California's Native American population of 362,801 was the most of any state. It also has the most Native American tribes, indigenous to the state or not, but the majority of known Californian Indian tribes became extinct in the late 19th century. The U.S. Census includes Latin American Indian, especially immigrants who belonged to indigenous peoples or who have Amerindian heritage from North and South America.

The Cherokee Nation is the largest tribe in the state with a population of 22,000 in 2020, although the number of Cherokee descendants are at 110,000 in the earlier census taken in 2010 and any persons residing in California of Cherokee descent may surpass 600,000 according to demographers. Their tribal nation is in the northeast part of Oklahoma but they live across the state and neighboring states. They are often descendants of Dust Bowl refugees in the 1930s and 1940s who migrated to the state's farming counties and urban areas for jobs. The largest urban American Indian communities are Los Angeles/Long Beach, San Francisco/Oakland, Sacramento, and San Diego areas.

As of the 2010 Census there were a total of 17,941,286 respondents who claimed to be Asian American and Asian. Out of these respondents in the United States, 30.9% live in California, with 5,556,592 Asian Americans being counted by the 2010 Census. This is a 1.5 million growth in population from the 2000 census, making Asian Americans 14.9 percent of the state's population. Out of those almost 5.6 million Asian Americans in California there are 1,474,707 Filipinos, 1,349,111 Chinese, 647,589 Vietnamese, 590,445 Indians, 505,225 Koreans, 428,140 Japanese, 109,928 Taiwanese, 102,317 Cambodians, 91,224 Hmong, 69,303 Laotians, 67,707 Thais, 53,474 Pakistanis, 39,506 Borneans, Sumatrans, and Indonesians, 17,978 Burmese, 11,929 Sri Lankans, 10,494 Bangladeshis, 6,231 Nepalese, 5,595 Malaysians, 4,993 Mongolians, 1,513 Singaporeans, 1,377 Ryukyuans, and 750 Bhutanese.

Chinese Americans are numerous in San Francisco, Oakland, the East Bay, South Bay, the Central Coast of California, Sacramento, San Diego, and the San Gabriel Valley region of Los Angeles County. The San Francisco Bay Area has a greater concentration of Cantonese-speaking Chinese than any other region in the United States. The Mexican border community of Calexico, California in addition to Mexicali has large numbers of Chinese Mexican Americans, that is, Mexican Americans of Chinese ancestry. Smaller Chinese communities can also be found in San Jacinto Valley, Lake Elsinore, and Victorville.

Southern California has perhaps the largest Taiwan-born Chinese American community in the U.S., particularly in the San Gabriel Valley (i.e. Walnut and Diamond Bar), Buena Park, Cerritos, West Covina, Irvine, communities in the South Bay, Los Angeles and southern Orange County. Many minority groups from China also live in California, for example, there are Tibetan and Mongolian Americans concentrated in San Francisco, Oakland, San Jose, Orange County, and the Los Angeles/Long Beach area.

Large Korean American communities exist in the Koreatown area of Los Angeles, the eastern San Gabriel Valley, the San Fernando Valley, Cerritos/Long Beach, South Bay, Los Angeles, northern Orange County and San Diego area. There is another large Korean American population in the San Francisco Bay Area, and Koreans are growing in number in the suburban Inland Empire region, in cities such as Chino Hills, Corona, Desert Hot Springs and Loma Linda south of San Bernardino. Since 1990, the Korean American and African American populations relocated westward and northward in the Los Angeles area.

California is home to 200,000 Roma of the estimated one million in America. Romani Americans, also known pejoratively as American Gypsies, originated in India and came to the United States via Europe. There is a Romani community in Los Angeles and San Francisco.

California has the largest American population of Southeast Asians, concentrated in the Los Angeles-Long Beach, Sacramento, and Fresno areas. This includes the Hmong and Vietnamese, including Chinese Vietnamese. Long Beach has one of the largest Cambodian American communities in the United States. The neighboring cities of Westminster and Garden Grove have the largest Vietnamese American community outside of Vietnam and are often dubbed " Little Saigon". Vietnamese and Cambodian immigrants also settled in the San Francisco Bay Area, especially San Jose, Santa Clara and Sunnyvale, as well across the San Joaquin Valley and in San Diego.

Over 6,000 Laotian Americans live in the Fresno area, including an even larger Hmong American community, the second-largest of its kind. Other Hmong colonies in the Central Valley of California and Northern California developed since the end of the Vietnam war (1975-79).

California also has a Thai American community of over 250,000, concentrated in Southern California, with small Thai and Southeast Asian communities in Perris and Banning in the Inland Empire region. Los Angeles has the largest Thai population outside of Thailand and is also home to the world's first Thai Town. About 150,000 Indonesians live in Southern California, primarily the Los Angeles and San Diego areas.

There are also many Palauan Americans in southern California, specifically in the San Diego area. This includes Vista which has a population of 677 Palauan Americans according to the 2010 US Census. Members of the Palauan community often also have Malay, Indonesian, Micronesian, Melanesian, Japanese, and other East Asian ancestries. Many Chuukese or Trukese live in San Diego.

Note: Births in table do not add up, because Hispanics are counted both by their ethnicity and by their race, giving a higher overall number.

Persons of Hispanic origin may be of any race.

As of 2010, 20,379,282 of California residents age 5 and older spoke English at home as a primary language, while 10,672,610 spoke Spanish, 1,231,425 Chinese (which includes Cantonese and Mandarin), 796,451 Tagalog, 559,932 Vietnamese, 367,523 Korean, 192,980 Armenian, and Persian was spoken as a main language by 203,770 of the population over the age of five. In total, 14,644,136 of California's population age 5 and older spoke a mother language other than English.

Comparatively, according to the 2007 American Community Survey, 42.6 percent of California's population older than five spoke a language other than English at home, with 73 percent of those also speaking English well or very well, while 9.8 did not speak English at all.

California had the highest concentration of Vietnamese or Chinese speakers in the United States, second highest concentration of Korean or Spanish speakers in the United States, and third highest concentration of Tagalog speakers in the United States. California was historically one of the most linguistically diverse areas in the world, and is home to more than 70 indigenous languages derived from 64 root languages in 6 language families. A survey conducted between 2007 and 2009 identified 23 different indigenous languages of Mexico that are spoken among California farmworkers.

Over 200 languages are known to be spoken and read in California, with Spanish used as the state's "alternative" language. California has more than 100 indigenous languages, making California one of the most linguistically diverse areas in the world. All of California's indigenous languages are endangered, although there are now efforts toward language revitalization.

The official language of California has been English since the passage of Proposition 63 in 1986. However, many state, city, and local government agencies still continue to print official public documents in numerous languages. For example, the California Department of Motor Vehicles offers the written exam for the standard C Class driver's license in 31 languages along with English, and the audio exam in 11 languages. The politics of language is a major political issue in the state, especially in regard to language policy controlling the teaching and official use of immigrant languages.

As a result of the state's increasing diversity and migration from other areas across the country and around the globe, linguists began noticing a noteworthy set of emerging characteristics of spoken English in California since the late 20th Century. This dialect, known as California English, has a vowel shift and several other phonological processes that are different from the dialects used in other regions of the country.

California has the most Roman Catholics in the United States, ahead of New York State, as well as large Protestant, non-religious, Jewish, and Muslim populations. It also has the largest Latter-day Saint population outside of Utah. The state also has a large American Jewish community, the second-largest in the nation, as well as largest in the western U.S., and third-largest in the world, mainly concentrated in Los Angeles, Beverly Hills, San Francisco, Oakland, Sacramento and Palm Springs.

California also has large Muslim communities in west Los Angeles, San Diego, Beverly Hills, Orange County, Santa Clara County, and the Modesto area.

Religions indigenous to California includes LaVeyan Satanism. The Eckankar religion was founded in California.

Most Roman Catholics in California are of Mexican, Central American, Irish, German, Italian, Vietnamese, Filipino and Korean ancestry. The population of Catholic Californians is rapidly growing due to the influx of Latin American, Asian, African and Middle Eastern Christian immigrants. In the Archdiocese of Los Angeles, Sunday Mass is celebrated in 42 different languages representing more than 30 ethnic groups from around the world. The Roman Catholic dioceses of Orange, Los Angeles and San Jose have the largest Catholic diaspora of Vietnamese Roman Catholics in world outside of Vietnam, estimated to be about 250,000-300,000 Roman Catholics out of a total Vietnamese California population of 1.3 Million.

The largest Christian denominations in California in 2000 were the Roman Catholic Church with 10,079,310; the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints with 529,575; and the Southern Baptist Convention with 471,119. Jewish congregations had 994,000 adherents, or 3% of the Californian population.

Hinduism, Buddhism, Shintō, Sikhism and Taoism were introduced in part by Asian immigrants. As the twentieth century came to a close, forty percent of all Buddhists in America resided in Southern California. The Los Angeles metropolitan area has become unique in the Buddhist world as the only place where representative organizations of every major school of Buddhism can be found in a single urban center.[verification needed ] The City of Ten Thousand Buddhas in Northern California and Hsi Lai Temple in Southern California are two of the largest Buddhist temples in the Western Hemisphere.

California has the highest Hindu population in the United States, most of them Indian Americans. Many of the prominent Hindu temples including the Malibu Hindu Temple are located in California.

With more than 1,232,000 Jews as of 2015, California has the highest number of Jews of any state except New York. Many Jews live in the West Los Angeles and (esp. west) San Fernando Valley regions of Los Angeles. At the present time, one of California's senators, Dianne Feinstein, is Jewish. Historic synagogues include Beth Jacob Congregation (Beverly Hills, California), Congregation B'nai Israel (Sacramento, California), and Temple Israel (Stockton, California). Chabad, The Rohr Jewish Learning Institute, and Aish HaTorah are active in California.

California also has the largest Muslim community in the United States, an estimated one percent of the population, mostly residing in Southern California. Approximately 100,000 Muslims reside in San Diego.

California has more members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and Temples than any state except Utah. Latter-day Saints (Mormons) have played important roles in the settlement of California throughout the state's history. For example, a group of a few hundred Latter-day Saint converts from the Northeastern United States and Europe arrived at what would become San Francisco in the 1840s aboard the ship Brooklyn, more than doubling the population of the small town. A group of Latter-day Saints also established the city of San Bernardino in Southern California in 1851. According to the LDS Church 2014 statistics, 780,200 Latter-day Saints reside in the state of California, attending almost 1400 congregations statewide.

The Seventh-day Adventist Church is headquartered in Loma Linda in San Bernardino county 60 miles east of Los Angeles, where the church members form the majority of the town's population. The SDA church there has a university, a free hospital and a TV station ( 3ABN or the 3 Angels Broadcasting Network). The town is known for a large number of centenarians.

A Pew Research Center survey revealed, however, that California is less religious than the rest of the United States: 62% of Californians say they are "absolutely certain" of the belief "in God or a universal spirit", while in the nation 71% say so. The survey also revealed that 48% of Californians say religion is "very important", while the figure for the U.S. in general is 56%.

According to Pew Forum there are less than 1% Wiccans and other pagans in state with Central Valley Wicca and Reclaiming Wicca as key.

California's income distribution is quite broad compared to the country's as a whole; its proportions of residents with no income and of residents with income over $100,000 are both higher than the national average. This broad distribution combined with high housing and living costs give California an abnormally high poverty rate. The Census Bureau's Supplemental Poverty Measure, calculated by comparing household income to a locally-adjusted poverty threshold, reports that 20.7% of California's population has income insufficient for their basic needs, as compared to 12.9% for the U.S. as a whole. This calculation of income includes the benefits of California welfare programs such as food stamps and earned income tax credits - without these, the state's poverty rate would be 28%.

The trends of low income in California are complex; from 1975 to 2014, real (inflation-adjusted) incomes have alternated between rises and sharp declines. These incomes have decreased overall for those outside the top 20th percentile, with the bottom 20th percentile seeing an average decline of 1% per year during that period. Correspondingly, the percent of Californians with income below their poverty threshold has risen and fallen, but has on average increased by a tenth of a percentage point per year.

Increasing income inequality has had many effects on Californians' lives, including on life expectancy, which can be taken as a proxy for health or even general welfare. A study conducted by Clarke et al. related life expectancy to socioeconomic status (SES, an index including income and other related factors), finding that Californians in the top 20% by SES live on average six years longer than those in the bottom 20% (81 years, compared to 75). This disparity becomes even more pronounced when intersected with race: White males in the top 20% live 14 years longer than African American males in the bottom 20% (for females, the difference is 10 years).

The complexity of the state's low-income trends were visible when, in response to growing Chinese and Spanish-speaking populations, the city of Oakland implemented the nation's first policy of recruiting bilingual applicants for public-facing city jobs in 2001. This increased the employment of Hispanic and Chinese bilinguals throughout the public workforce, but also lowered (monolingual) Black employment.

^ The following are a list of the indigenous languages: Root languages of California: Athabaskan Family: Hupa, Mattole, Lassik, Wailaki, Sinkyone, Cahto, Tolowa, Nongatl, Wiyot, Chilula; Hokan Family: Pomo, Shasta, Karok, Chimiriko; Algonquian Family: Whilkut, Yurok; Yukian Family: Wappo; Penutian Family: Modok, Wintu, Nomlaki, Konkow, Maidu, Patwin, Nisenan, Miwok, Coast Miwok, Lake Miwok, Ohlone, Northern Valley Yokuts, Southern Valley Yokuts, Foothill Yokuts; Hokan Family: Esselen, Salinan, Chumash, Ipai, Tipai, Yuma, Halchichoma, Mohave; Uto-Aztecan Family: Mono Paiute, Monache, Owens Valley Paiute, Tubatulabal, Panamint Shoshone, Kawaisu, Kitanemuk, Tataviam, Gabrielino, Juaneno, Luiseno, Cuipeno, Cahuilla, Serrano, Chemehuevi

Media related to Demographics of California at Wikimedia Commons

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California is the most populated U.S. state, with an estimated population of 39.2 million as of January 1, 2022. It has people from a wide variety of ethnic, racial, national, and religious backgrounds. California is the most populated sub-national entity in North America.

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Patois Advertisement for 'Ting' (Golden Krust, 2020) 

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Patois Advertisement for 'Ting' (Golden Krust, 2020) 

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Translation: Meet me with a Ting!

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Phone Booth found in Bathroom in Pomona, California. 

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Phone Booth Advertisment (Southern California, 2021)

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Phone Booth Advertisment (Southern California, 2021)

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Translation of White Sticker:
3 minutes for $1.
To all of Mexico!

Translation of Red Sticker:
Direct Call with Money
Press 41152
The Number in Mexico

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Entry #2: Linguistic Variables and Variants- Intensification Comments

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Entry #2: Linguistic Variables and Variants- Intensification Comments

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When we began talking about linguistic variables and the various forms of intensification used in general lexicon and/or vernacular, I began to think about the various ways my friends and I said the same thing on a day to day basis. The first linguistic variable example that popped into my head was "deadass," "for real" and "no cap" all various intensifiers used to validate and/or question a statement.

I have cited three examples of usage of these phrases within my personal text messages. When coding these messages based upon region I began to see how each phrase was associated to certain social groups. I am from West Orange, New Jersey. When I was texting my friends from my general community. of practice, I often responded with "deadass" But when I was outside my community of practice and just inside of my social network with my my friend from Irvington, New Jersey the phrase "no cap" was used in substitution to "deadass." I didn't realize in the moment, but subconsciously, when communicating with people outside of my immediate community, the vernacular I used changed, because it was not my immediate subculture.

This idea became even more apparent when analyzing the text message received from my friend from Miami, Florida. My friend belongs to an entirely different speech community than me, therefore the more universally recognized phrase of "for real" was used, rather than my more frequent lingo of "no cap" or "deadass." I believe that although my tendency is to rely on my vernacular of "no cap" or "deadass" each phrase holds different weight depending on the social group I'm apart of. In my hometown of West Orange, the variant that is socially acceptable is "deadass", in the broader New Jersey state, the most common linguistic variant is "no cap" and across the United States, the most recognizable linguistic variant is "for real." Therefore, my conclusion after this research was, I will continue adapt my linguistic variable depending on my social situation, because some of my vernacular is regionally based, therefore it is easier to hold a mutually intelligible conversation when my interlocutor can understand all of my phrases.

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"For Real" in Personal Text Messages with friend from Miami, Florida

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"For Real" in Personal Text Messages with friend from Miami, Florida

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"No Cap" in Personal Text Messages with friend from Irvington, NJ

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"No Cap" in Personal Text Messages with friend from Irvington, NJ

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"Deadass" in My Personal Text Messages with friends from West Orange, NJ

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"Deadass" in My Personal Text Messages with friends from West Orange, NJ

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Entry #1: Language Pet Peeve- Conjunctions Comment

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Entry #1: Language Pet Peeve- Conjunctions Comment

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For my example of prescriptivism language, I thought back to when we were learning grammar and sentence structure in elementary schools. I remembered how my teachers always used to always warn me to never to begin a sentence with 'And' or 'But.'  I always heeded their advice and to this day whenever I start a sentence with 'and' I will always revise it. For this Padlet, I decided to investigate whether or not it truly was grammatically incorrect to begin my sentences with a conjunction or whether it was just prescriptivism and the instilling of the standard language ideology.

I began my research with Merriam Webster, a notable publishing company well known for their dictionaries. Similar to what we learned in class, Merriam Webster explains that around the 9th century as can be seen in "Many translations of the Bible" the standard language used to regularly start sentences with conjunctions like "ands and buts." It wasn't until society arbitrarily (not linguistically) decided to prohibit sentences beginning with 'and'  to "prevent children from stringing together interminable lists of clauses or sentences." Overall Merriam Webster cites the usage of 'and' and 'but' as a sentence starter as perfectly okay, but does note that there "are times when it would be ill-advised to begin a sentence with and or but."

To learn that my entire youth it had been perfectly okay to use conjunctions at the beginning of a sentence was extremely shocking for me. This led me to begin researching the rational behind teacher's indignance against this sentence structure. It seemed to be a shared experience "that schoolchildren have been told not to put [and and but] the beginnings of sentences over the past 200 years."

If we look at the ProWritingAid's explanation of this rule, teacher's disapproval of these conjunctions begin to make a lot more sense. Author Julia Granowicz-Johnson explains that many teachers aim to prevent students from "writing the way they talk." Granowicz-Johnson cites the constant repetition of conjunctions in common American speech amongst teenagers as a reason teachers began to dissuade students from beginning sentences with and or but. When students were prohibited from starting sentences with simple conjunctions, they were forced to think more creatively about sentence structure, which helped them "expand [their] vocabulary."

Grammarly offered another interesting explanation of when it is acceptable to use conjunctions. Grammarly argued that writers should "consider your audience when deciding to structure your sentences this way" hinting that this usage is restricted for lower social groups whereas more dignified groups who would view this sentence structure as an "error."

In my personal opinion, I do believe that students should not be scolded for using conjunctions to begin their sentences, but I do believe they should be pushed to find different ways to begin their sentences. Although I do not agree with the standard variety or a 'right way' to speak, from personal experience, being pushed as a student out of my comfort zone of simple conjunctions into more complex sentence structure, did push me to be a better writer and has helped me to the position I am in today.

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Entry 1: Grammarly: Is it appropriate to start a sentence with a conjunction

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Entry 1: Grammarly: Is it appropriate to start a sentence with a conjunction

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Can You Start a Sentence with a Conjunction? | Grammarly

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There is nothing wrong with starting sentences with "and," "but," or other similar conjunctions. You may, however, encounter people who mistakenly believe that starting a sentence with a conjunction is an error, so consider your audience when deciding to structure your sentences this way.

Consider the example below:

Separating these sentences with a period is a dramatic way to emphasize the contrast introduced by but. Not everyone likes this style, though. It's also possible to connect these sentences with a comma:

Some readers especially dislike seeing the conjunctions or, nor, and yet at the beginning of a sentence. While it may not be an error, starting sentences with these words does sometimes seem melodramatic.

Consider the examples below:

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Can You Start a Sentence with a Conjunction?

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There is nothing wrong with starting sentences with "and," "but," or other similar conjunctions. You may, however, encounter people who mistakenly believe that starting a sentence with a conjunction is an error, so consider your audience when deciding to structure your sentences this way.

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Entry 1: Pro Writing Aid: Beginning sentences with 'And'

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Entry 1: Pro Writing Aid: Beginning sentences with 'And'

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You should never start a sentence with the words "and" or "but"- never.

If that was drilled into your head at some point during your elementary school English lessons, then you're not alone. Most of us were taught this rule in school-and we followed it with every writing assessment, research paper, and book report we ever wrote.

So, if it's improper to start a sentence with the words "and" or "but" then why do so many prolific, notable writers do it? As do bloggers, journalists, and copywriters. It might seem like a rebellious move-but the truth is, it's not really "against the rules" at all.

Telling It Straight

The truth is, it's okay to start a sentence with the words "and" or "but"-if you do it correctly. After all, there is a time and place for everything, right?

First, let's take a quick jump down memory lane to those Schoolhouse Rock! tapes you watched when the substitute teacher didn't know the subject. Ever had the tune to "Conjunction Junction" stuck in your head for no apparent reason? You're not alone.

However, after so many years, do you remember what the function of a conjunction really is? It might seem obvious-a conjunction connects two thoughts or ideas. "And" and "but" are called coordinating conjunctions and are a part of a much longer list of words.

There are seven coordinating conjunctions:

However, the ones we were specifically taught to avoid starting a sentence with are "and" and "but." The good news is, you can rest easy knowing that there is no true grammar rule that says you can't ever start a sentence with one of these conjunctions.

"Contrary to what your high school English teacher told you, there's no reason not to begin a sentence with but or and; in fact, these words often make a sentence more forceful and graceful. They are almost always better than beginning with however or additionally." - Professor Jack Lynch, Associate Professor of English, Rutgers University, New Jersey

Why Were We All Taught a Rule that Doesn't Exist?

Realizing now, ten, twenty, or even thirty years or more later that you were lied to might be frustrating-but your teachers really did have your best interests in mind. While there is no definitive answer as to why we were taught this "rule," the explanation that makes the most sense was that it was meant to prevent kids from writing the way they talk.

Think about it-have you listened to a child or teenager talk for any extended amount of time? If you have, then you can understand exactly what these teachers were trying to avoid.

If you haven't-well, these two examples will help provide some insight...

"We wanted to go to get burgers and they weren't open. But we still got burgers. But we had to go somewhere else to get them. But they weren't as good as the ones we were going to get."
"My friend and I went to the beach yesterday. And while we were on the beach, we saw lots of seagulls and other birds. And this one seagull stole some guys fries while he was trying to eat them! And it scared the guy so much, he jumped nearly ten feet in the air!"
It's one thing to verbally hear a story told in this fashion. But reading it is an entirely different experience. No matter what the word is, you never want to start too many consecutive sentences with the same word. The overuse of "and" and "but" in spoken English is likely the main reason our teachers forbid us from starting a sentence with them in our writing!

When Is It Okay to Start a Sentence with "And" or "But"?

So, if there is a time and place for everything-where is the proper time and place to use "and" or "but" at the beginning of your sentence?

The first thing you want to remember is that you're using this word to connect two thoughts-so your phrase should be able to stand on its own. This means it has a clearly defined subject and verb.

If you remove your conjunction and you suddenly have a sentence fragment that doesn't seem to make sense, then you need to rework your wording. Perhaps this means making your two sentences one-using "and" or "but" with a comma, rather than a period.

You should also take into consideration what you are writing. Different types of writing call for different approaches. The use of "and" or "but" at the start of a sentence sometimes brings a sense of informality. It might be right for your blog posts, whereas more formal coordinating conjunctions like "additionally" or "however" might read better in a white paper.

The bottom line is though, it's never truly off limits. Sometimes it's more impactful to be so precise and direct.

When Should You Follow the Old "English Class Rule"?

In most business writing-especially digital marketing copy like blog posts, emails, and social media posts-you shouldn't stress using "and" or "but" to start your sentence. No one is going to point it out. No one is going to laugh at you. In fact, someone else who doesn't already know the truth might think you're the rebel for being so daring in the first place!

But there are times when you'll want to follow this mock rule. Data-driven content-case studies, statistic focused white papers, text book content, these are places where you might not only see less opportunity to start a sentence with a conjunction, but also where it could be beneficial to avoid doing so.

If you've already got years of practice avoiding starting your sentence with one of these words, then it might take some retraining to find yourself starting a sentence this way. On the other hand, following this rule helps you to expand your vocabulary and use other words and phrases to get your points across. (I could have used "but" to start that last sentence; "on the other hand" adds variety while also giving a stronger sense of weighing up options.)

Breathe Easy Knowing You're Not the Only Misled Student

It's been years now since teachers started drumming into students that they should never-ever-start their sentence with the words "and" or "but." If you're one of likely millions who was taught this lie during your schooldays, don't feel bad. This is just another case of a few people creating a problem for the rest of us.

Since teachers didn't think they could trust some students to be more creative in telling their stories, they restricted everyone. Sure, it worked-you'll hardly come across something written on the internet with repetitive starts, especially not "and" or "but"-but at what cost? Many of us were following a grammar rule that doesn't exist-and probably got irrationally mad that editors missed such a common mistake again and again.

Can you already feel the weight lifted? If you're one of many who has been avoiding using "and" or "but" to start a sentence, don't hold back! It's the freedom that comes with finding out a constraint you've worked around for years is no longer an issue.

Try using this new technique in your writing to create more direct and powerful statements.

Take your writing to the next level:

Whether you are writing a novel, essay, article or email, good writing is an essential part of communicating your ideas.

This guide contains the 20 most important writing tips and techniques from a wide range of professional writers.

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Starting a Sentence with "And" or "But" - Should You Do It?

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You should never start a sentence with the words "and" or "but"- never. If that was drilled into your head at some point during your elementary school English lessons, then you're not alone. Most of us were taught this rule in school-and we followed it with every writing assessment, research paper, and book report we ever wrote.

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Entry 1: Merriam Webster: Beginning sentences with 'And'

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Entry 1: Merriam Webster: Beginning sentences with 'And'

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Is it Ever Okay to Start a Sentence With ‘And’?