Friday, March 2, 2018

Why ax?


I've often thought about why some people say "ax" instead of "ask", and I think I even began to research it for this blog at one point, but a friend just posted this to Facebook, and it goes so much further than I would have that I'm just going to post it.
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8 comments:

  1. SheilerMarch 13, 2018 at 7:54 AM

    This is gold! I have gone from having a beef with friends who use Ax instead of Ask, to wondering why..lazily wondering and not doing anything about to learn why. Until now, that is. Which reminds me, Seana: you should become facebook friends with Bert Vaux. He's a cool dude and a linguist who frequently posts such things on facebook. Or maybe I should friend you and then friend both of you. Yous. Youse.

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    1. seana grahamMarch 13, 2018 at 11:43 AM

      Yes, I thought it was great too. Happy to be able to follow Mr. Vaux, and to be friends with you there, though be forewarned, I almost totally just ranting about outrageous things going on in this country on Facebook, which I'm sure can get old.

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    2. SheilerMarch 13, 2018 at 5:37 PM

      Oh god, do I ever rant. I mix things up, my outrage with images of one of my brothers, who's an easy target. Cigarettes up his nose. Wearing high waisted PJ pants. That type of deal. I thought I sent a friend request but maybe I got the wrong Seana Graham?

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    3. seana grahamMarch 13, 2018 at 6:01 PM

      Just saw it. We are now officially friends. Let the rants begin. Or continue.

      Delete
  2. Loan OfferApril 10, 2018 at 2:37 AM

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  3. UnknownMay 9, 2018 at 9:27 AM

    This comment has been removed by the author.

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  4. UnknownMay 9, 2018 at 9:30 AM

    Interesting. But it's kinda crazy she's trying to push her agenda of racism and class inequality. Im sure that most people using “axe” don't know that it was used since the 8th century. Further, being black I can attest to the fact that most people who speak Ebonics do not have a strong command of the English language. It appears that she's defending the exception...

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    1. seana grahamMay 24, 2018 at 1:07 PM

      Hi Skye, Sorry I missed this before. First off, I don't mean to say that all black people pronounce the word as 'axe'. But certain communities do and it sounds right to them. Like my dad, who was white, used to say 'chimbley' instead of 'chimney' because that's how it had been pronounced in his Northern Illinois farming community. He was well educated and pronounced most things like his Californian daughters did, but even hearing us say that word 'right', he still said 'chimbly'.

      Most of us don't know how long the particular words we use have been around or where they came from, but it's interesting to look at the background just in a historical sense. That's pretty much what this blog is all about. Thanks so much for taking the time to comment here.

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