https://padlet.com/vlg269/zi7fo4k1y0uujeg7 en-us 2022-09-07 13:21:13 UTC 2025-10-09 14:48:30 UTC hello@padlet.com vlg269 https://padlet.com/vlg269/zi7fo4k1y0uujeg7/wish/2298219053 Growing up in New Jersey I heard the phrase “yous guys” and “yous”  more than the average person. I never thought it was odd until relatively recently when a family member said it around a friend that I met at NYU (who is not from the northeast) and they immediately commented saying, “you mean you guys?”. Even writing this now there is a red line below “yous” trying to tell me that the word is incorrect. Typically the attitude around “yous guys” is that only those who think their family is in the mafia, “rednecks”, and people from New Jersey, Philadelphia, and Long Island use it (see Urban Dictionary definitions) and while being from any of those areas is not inherently an insult, there is a widely held preconceived notion about the people in those areas that is not positive (see meme about NJ). When looking into the origins of “yous” and “yous guys”, I found that it was created by Irish immigrants who were switching between Gaelic and English as Gaelic has a second-person plural and English does not so they figured they’d add an “s” to the end of “you” (see Chicago Tribune article). This phrase later found itself being seen as less educated in the mid-1900s, “It was part of the vocabulary of the show's main character, Archie Bunker, who was portrayed as an unsophisticated bigot. In popular culture, ‘youse’ became associated with cabdrivers, bartenders and other blue-collar white ethnics, who were thought of as reactionary and uneducated. Philadelphia Mayor Frank Rizzo, a tough-talking Italian ex-cop, said ‘youse.’ Baby boomers didn't want to sound like ‘Archie Bunker types,’ so they stopped saying ‘youse.’” (Chicago Tribune). People that weren’t a part of those groups deemed it incorrect because of the associate tied to being a part of the groups that do use it. I do not think their dislike is justified because I do not think there is a right and wrong way of speaking, but given that I am from an area that uses this phrase I am definitely biased. Also, given that Merriam-Webster has a definition for "yous", I think that disliking the phrase is more so rooted in disliking the groups who say it and the association with saying it as well. I don’t see anyone in particular advocating for its use because I feel like those who use it are not concerned with the opinions of those who don’t. I also think that because the generation that started the phrase “yous” and “yous guys” are all either old or have passed away, there is no desire for the younger generations advocate for something they did not create and something that is seen as wrong by everyone else. I personally am very neutral about the usage of “yous” and “yous” guys as it never became integral to my vocabulary and I have friends and family that do and do not use it. I do, however, think that as we are straying away from using gendered language, the use of phrases like “ya’ll” and “youse” could increase in popularity. ]]> 2022-09-15 12:59:07 UTC https://padlet.com/vlg269/zi7fo4k1y0uujeg7/wish/2298219053 vlg269 https://padlet.com/vlg269/zi7fo4k1y0uujeg7/wish/2298220310 2022-09-15 12:59:50 UTC https://padlet.com/vlg269/zi7fo4k1y0uujeg7/wish/2298220310 vlg269 https://padlet.com/vlg269/zi7fo4k1y0uujeg7/wish/2298221990 2022-09-15 13:00:49 UTC https://padlet.com/vlg269/zi7fo4k1y0uujeg7/wish/2298221990 vlg269 https://padlet.com/vlg269/zi7fo4k1y0uujeg7/wish/2298226255 2022-09-15 13:03:17 UTC https://padlet.com/vlg269/zi7fo4k1y0uujeg7/wish/2298226255 vlg269 https://padlet.com/vlg269/zi7fo4k1y0uujeg7/wish/2298230064 2022-09-15 13:05:26 UTC https://padlet.com/vlg269/zi7fo4k1y0uujeg7/wish/2298230064 vlg269 https://padlet.com/vlg269/zi7fo4k1y0uujeg7/wish/2308912638 Being from NJ, I very frequently hear, and use myself,  “I don’t want nothing”. While it is not technically wrong from a descriptive standpoint, prescriptively speaking the “correct” thing to say would be “I don’t want anything”. Saying “I don’t want nothing”, or really just using double negatives in general, is seen as a less educated form of speech, an idea reinforced by the article by One Minute English where they state that when being interviewed (not being in a casual setting) one should use “I don’t want anything” instead. I do find myself switching to a prescriptively correct version of speech around those I don’t know or that I am trying to impress (ie. new friends, employers, adults, etc) because my form of speech using the double negative is seen as less educated and I am taken less seriously although they effectively mean the same thing. Another reason for this pattern of speech for myself and my family is that we speak Spanish in the house and in Spanish you always use double negatives, “ella no hace nada” directly translates to “she didn’t do nothing” yet people in Spanish speaking countries don’t face nearly the same level of discrimination for using double negatives as we do in English speaking countries. 

]]> 2022-09-22 14:42:26 UTC https://padlet.com/vlg269/zi7fo4k1y0uujeg7/wish/2308912638 vlg269 https://padlet.com/vlg269/zi7fo4k1y0uujeg7/wish/2308913582 2022-09-22 14:42:57 UTC https://padlet.com/vlg269/zi7fo4k1y0uujeg7/wish/2308913582 vlg269 https://padlet.com/vlg269/zi7fo4k1y0uujeg7/wish/2308914729 2022-09-22 14:43:34 UTC https://padlet.com/vlg269/zi7fo4k1y0uujeg7/wish/2308914729 vlg269 https://padlet.com/vlg269/zi7fo4k1y0uujeg7/wish/2308915607 2022-09-22 14:44:02 UTC https://padlet.com/vlg269/zi7fo4k1y0uujeg7/wish/2308915607 vlg269 https://padlet.com/vlg269/zi7fo4k1y0uujeg7/wish/2308916301 2022-09-22 14:44:22 UTC https://padlet.com/vlg269/zi7fo4k1y0uujeg7/wish/2308916301 vlg269 https://padlet.com/vlg269/zi7fo4k1y0uujeg7/wish/2308916801 2022-09-22 14:44:38 UTC https://padlet.com/vlg269/zi7fo4k1y0uujeg7/wish/2308916801 vlg269 https://padlet.com/vlg269/zi7fo4k1y0uujeg7/wish/2308923935 Another example is the pronunciation of “ll”, "r", and “s” in Spanish. If you asked an Argentinian and a Cuban to both say “my name is __ and you will call me later today” the Argentinian would say, “mi nombre es __ y me [ʃ]amarás más tarde hoy” using the voiceless post alveolar fricative to pronounce the “ll” while the Cuban would say “mi nombre e[]  __ y me [ʎ]amará[] má[] ta[l]de hoy” using the voiced palatal lateral approximant for the “ll’, the post alveolar lateral approximant for the “r”,  and dropping the “s” from the ends of the words completely. While both sentences mean the same thing, the Cuban accent/dialect is seen as worse and less educated than the Argentinian way of speaking. This is because the prescriptively correct way of speaking Spanish is based off of Spain and Mexico and the further an accent varies from those two the worse it is perceived as shown in the study done at FIU. Having my parents be from Argentina and Cuba I have an especially odd accent that I get made fun of for by my friends from Mexico and Spain. While I am comfortable speaking in my accent in front of them, when speaking Spanish in a classroom setting, when tutoring someone, or when meeting someone new or important I do my best to switch to a Spaniard way of speaking to be better perceived. ]]> 2022-09-22 14:47:40 UTC https://padlet.com/vlg269/zi7fo4k1y0uujeg7/wish/2308923935 vlg269 https://padlet.com/vlg269/zi7fo4k1y0uujeg7/wish/2319554409 The first example I found is in Washington Heights of a row of storefronts. I found that in this predominantly Latin neighborhood there were many storefronts written either half or entirely in Spanish. This kind of advertising makes sense for the area the stores are in because a large portion of the population speaks Spanish primarily and may not speak English at all. An example is the “Casa de Empeño” or the pawn shop. On this storefront, all of the big and bold text is in Spanish, ie. “compramos oro y reloj” and “joyeria”, to draw in more people in that neighborhood but because there will always be people that speak just English in these neighborhoods (not growing up speaking Spanish, gentrification, etc.) they included on the windows the phrases “pawn shop” and “we buy gold” in English to ensure they can get the most amount of information across to everyone and increase the number of people who come in. The same principle goes for the bakery next door which advertises they sell “bizcocho para todo tipo de eventos” and “cakes for all types of events” in order to appeal to both Spanish and English-speaking groups. In contrast, my second example is in West Village, one of the most expensive zip codes in the US where the majority of people living there, as well as passing through there, are to a certain extent wealthy and white. On the window of this luxury store, Sandro is advertising for their seasonal sale on their windows entirely in English. They are aware of the kind of people their store attracts (their SES and somewhat correlated with their primary language as well). Having family that doesn’t speak English very well and having grown up around neighborhoods like Washington Heights, I was exposed to Spanish storefronts more often than not as a kid because that is what my non-English speaking family understood best. Because of this, the part of my family that doesn’t speak English perfectly like myself is less likely to enter a store like Sandro and if they do they will likely not be aware there is a sale going on as advertised in the windows. There is also a sense of comfort granted when entering an establishment you know will speak your language and understand you that is not provided in neighborhoods like West Village. ]]> 2022-09-29 14:51:56 UTC https://padlet.com/vlg269/zi7fo4k1y0uujeg7/wish/2319554409 vlg269 https://padlet.com/vlg269/zi7fo4k1y0uujeg7/wish/2319556074 2022-09-29 14:52:49 UTC https://padlet.com/vlg269/zi7fo4k1y0uujeg7/wish/2319556074 vlg269 https://padlet.com/vlg269/zi7fo4k1y0uujeg7/wish/2319557705 2022-09-29 14:53:44 UTC https://padlet.com/vlg269/zi7fo4k1y0uujeg7/wish/2319557705 vlg269 https://padlet.com/vlg269/zi7fo4k1y0uujeg7/wish/2319558752 2022-09-29 14:54:20 UTC https://padlet.com/vlg269/zi7fo4k1y0uujeg7/wish/2319558752 vlg269 https://padlet.com/vlg269/zi7fo4k1y0uujeg7/wish/2329370840 Something that exemplifies covert prestige is the stereotypical Italian New York accent. The way that Italians from New York pronounce certain words like “mozzarella”, “capicola”, and “sfogliatella” (to name a few examples) is different than is prescriptively correct, ie. differently from mainland Italy. While dropping the last vowel in these words and rounding out sharp plosives to be more velar is not necessarily a bad thing, it is definitely a distinguishing feature of New York Italian speech. This exemplifies covert prestige because it is a feature held by this one group of people in particular and can be easily spotted by outsiders to classify a person as belonging to that group. I feel like this variant is seen as pretty neutral if not slightly negative as it is essentially exclusively blue-collar Italian families that use this variant (which is very neutral) but because of the long history of the mafia in New York, it is also associated with the mob. A friend of mine uses this variant in her day to day as she and her family are New York Italians and she said that growing up, and even to this day, when people meet her and/or her family one of the first things that she is asked is if they are a part of the mafia. Whether they are joking or not is not the problem, the issue is that the first association people have with her speech pattern is something that she and her family have no ties to at all and something that is very negative. She feels most comfortable speaking this way around her family and others that use the same variant as her as this speech pattern is a big part of her identity, but because of the connotation to the mob, when she is in a more professional setting or around people she is not familiar with that don’t speak like her, she will use a more prescriptively correct varient. ]]> 2022-10-06 13:28:40 UTC https://padlet.com/vlg269/zi7fo4k1y0uujeg7/wish/2329370840 vlg269 https://padlet.com/vlg269/zi7fo4k1y0uujeg7/wish/2349065827 I am choosing to do my paper on ordering. I have collected a few data points but have not been able to reach my target as I have been very sick this week. I am planning on spending a considerable amount of time this weekend and different coffee shops/fast food chains that attract different people (ie. starbucks vs. dunkin) and recording the way the people order as well as their demographic. ]]> 2022-10-20 13:35:14 UTC https://padlet.com/vlg269/zi7fo4k1y0uujeg7/wish/2349065827 aldenmccollum https://padlet.com/vlg269/zi7fo4k1y0uujeg7/wish/2351203703 Hi Lola, I'm sorry to hear you've been sick. I'd be happy to meet with you if you need help coming up with a plan to get caught up with data collection.
- Alden]]> 2022-10-21 20:03:39 UTC https://padlet.com/vlg269/zi7fo4k1y0uujeg7/wish/2351203703 vlg269 https://padlet.com/vlg269/zi7fo4k1y0uujeg7/wish/2359995471 I am about 3/4 of the way done with collecting data. I have data collected at "high end" cafes like Felix Roasting Co. but would like to get more on more casual places like bodegas/delis or even the pete's coffee shop in Kimmell as well. I am hopeful that I will be done collecting data over the weekend. ]]> 2022-10-28 02:39:14 UTC https://padlet.com/vlg269/zi7fo4k1y0uujeg7/wish/2359995471 aldenmccollum https://padlet.com/vlg269/zi7fo4k1y0uujeg7/wish/2360512389 It sounds like you're making good progress, Lola, and I'm confident you'll be able to get all 120 tokens, hopefully before Monday's recitation.
- Alden]]> 2022-10-28 12:03:50 UTC https://padlet.com/vlg269/zi7fo4k1y0uujeg7/wish/2360512389 vlg269 https://padlet.com/vlg269/zi7fo4k1y0uujeg7/wish/2368460417 In this article, the author discusses words and phrases that women should include in their vocabulary that they should learn at a young age in an attempt to not be belittled by men daily. While the article is very general and basically recounts anecdotal stories from different women’s conversations with men, I do find it very convincing because I personally encounter and observe this happening to other women every day. As we discussed in class, women do use language differently than men do as women typically use it to foster intimate relationships with the people around them and try not to seem superior to anyone while men do the opposite and feel the need to be seen as superior and independent to the people around them (Tannen’s model). While the women in these examples may be utilizing “women’s language”, it is very clear that the men see them as subordinate which is why they are more likely to talk over a woman than a man. I find it both interesting and disturbing that we need to teach women and girls to say things like “stop interrupting me” and “I just said that” and that I inherently view these phrases as rude when in reality they are just establishing boundaries. While I personally use more secure or “strong” language in my day to day conversations than the average person might, especially with friends and family, I find it sort of ironic that I have been described my whole life as someone who is very confrontational and can come across as intimidating when in reality I just don’t like when people interrupt me and I talk more like a man than how a women supposedly should. While this article is biased in the sense that there is no objectivity when talking about how someone should or should not speak unless we are speaking prescriptively, I do not think it is biased because it is written by a woman about experiences she and other women have had with men and serves as a guideline for how to navigate a male dominated world.

]]> 2022-11-03 13:35:56 UTC https://padlet.com/vlg269/zi7fo4k1y0uujeg7/wish/2368460417 vlg269 https://padlet.com/vlg269/zi7fo4k1y0uujeg7/wish/2368461972 In this article, the author provides examples of words and phrases that women should remove from their vocabulary because it makes them sound more passive and insecure. This article, like the first one, is also written as an effort to have women not be talked over or dismissed by men. While some of these phrases I have not heard since I was younger, for example saying that someone does something “like a girl”, I do find myself saying the majority of these expressions daily. Something the author prompts the reader to do is to count how many times they say “sorry” in a day and after trying that activity and prompting a male friend to do it as well I found that I said “sorry” 14 times that day while he had said it once (and it was actually a part of an apology because he had stepped on someone's foot while I was apologizing for things like being in someone's way at the grocery store or taking too long to get my NYU ID out). I also found that I said “does that make sense?” and variations of “I’m no expert” very often as well. In reflecting what we learned in class, this article is a way to dismantle Lakoff’s dominance model as these phrases are a part of “women’s language” and they reinforce the idea that we are dismissive, insecure, and inferior to men. This article does not use quantitative data either but I do find it convincing because like the first article, I find myself and the women around me using these phrases multiple times every day. This article is unbiased in the same way the first one is, this article is written by a woman who is speaking from her experience as well as citing other women's experiences and advice.]]> 2022-11-03 13:36:48 UTC https://padlet.com/vlg269/zi7fo4k1y0uujeg7/wish/2368461972 vlg269 https://padlet.com/vlg269/zi7fo4k1y0uujeg7/wish/2388537215 One instance of emojis being used in a referential way is when a friend and I were figuring out what we wanted to do for dinner. After I had suggested that we get Mexican food for dinner, he suggested we get Italian food for dinner instead. He did this by using a spaghetti emoji and a wine glass emoji to reference Italian food as well as using the Italian flag emoji before (which you can very faintly see in the background of the text). I thought this was a very effective way to tell me that he wanted to get Italian food because I immediately understood what the emojis referred to. I find that my friends and I will use emojis in a referential way more often than my parents, aunts, and uncles will since they tend to use emojis as they would likely say something like “let’s have Italian food” followed by those emojis. 

]]> 2022-11-17 15:57:05 UTC https://padlet.com/vlg269/zi7fo4k1y0uujeg7/wish/2388537215 vlg269 https://padlet.com/vlg269/zi7fo4k1y0uujeg7/wish/2388538850 One instance of emojis being used in an expressive way is when a friend had texted me that she and the person she was staying with in New York were both not feeling well and so she had to cancel our plans for that night. For context, we graduated high school together and she currently attends college far from here so due to distance and COVID we have not seen each other in years. To further express her remorse for having to cancel our plan she added the crying emoji. While I do think that she was being sincere and that the emojis were used as a way to further express that, I have found myself and my friends using the same crying emoji as a way to show that we are laughing so hard we are crying and so I felt it was less effective than she had intended. I think using the emoji with tears welling up in its eyes or the emoji with a single tear running down its face would have been more effective because, as far as my understanding goes, those two emojis do not represent anything other than sadness. 

]]> 2022-11-17 15:58:02 UTC https://padlet.com/vlg269/zi7fo4k1y0uujeg7/wish/2388538850 vlg269 https://padlet.com/vlg269/zi7fo4k1y0uujeg7/wish/2388540185 An instance of emojis being used in a phatic way is the use of little emojis to continue a conversation. In this example, my friend used the super happy smiling emoji to show that he was happy with the plans we had made. While I think the emoji did a good job of telling me he was excited, I do not think it was effective in a phatic way since it did not further the conversation or maintain our relationship in the same way as “how are you” or “what’s up” might have. I think that phatic phrases are much more difficult to produce through emojis because I have found that I and the people I text use emojis to supplement our conversations, not to take over them. To use an emoji in a phatic way, there would have to be a societal understanding that certain emojis like the hand waving emoji for example mean “hey” or “what’s up” as opposed to just a wave. If this were the case, then the emoji would be able to take its place in producing a phatic message but since this is not widely accepted to be the case, sending a waving emoji can mean many things (hello, goodbye, hey, etc.).

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