So what do you do if someone *actually is* articulate?

Perhaps my choice of major inclines me toward a bit of linguistic snobbery, but I really find great aesthetic appeal in listening to an articulate speaker, regardless of race, age, or gender. The articulater, the better!

Am I a bad person?
:shrug:

But only because you made up the word "articulater" for use in a statement regarding the proper use of language. :P

But, yes, I agree. :D

And I'm glad that you enjoyed my malapropism.

something often lost in the low signal to noise atmosphere nowadays.

:P

Seriously, though. I enjoy fighting with some of the 'only my way is the right way' liberals that are here.

they are like reverse reactionaries. they exhibit right wing thinking patterns all the time.

i wonder if they are closet freepers trying to lampoon liberal thought.

I'm quite the articulate typist, but I'm very inarticulate when I speak.

Unless you mean its general lack of typos, in which case I salute you, of course!

But I certainly admire articulate writing, too.

If I get a message that says "Do u have a pic 4 me?" or "U r hawt" it irks me to no end, especially if the person typing it is over 25. An ex of mine had a great grasp of the verbal language but his writing skills left alot to be desired. He was finishing a bachelors and would complain often that he got poor grades on his papers. I told him he'd be alot better if he typed like he talked, and that when I got email from him sometimes I felt like I was reading an email from a 4 year old. I don't know if he took my advice or not, but he did finish school.

I knew a number of engineering students comfortable with subjects the very description of which would cause my eyeballs to bleed, yet they couldn't write to save their lives. That was my first real exposure to the (obvious in retrospect) fact that intelligence (which these people had in abundance) didn't equate to effective writing. And vice versa, for that matter!

that is SOOOO hawt!

He is THE ARTICULATER.

:P

:hi: I love it too.

why would you be a "bad person" for that? :shrug:

Chalk it up to ignorance, but at least it was innocent ignorance, rather than an effort to couch my racism in flowery, Orwellian descriptors. Not that such deceptiveness seems common here on DU, but whenever the word appears in political speech, a red flag pops up.

I can see how the term can be viewed as patronizing and/or back-handed, though, and it's a shame that it can't readily be used as a compliment without risking an unintened subtext.

The whole column is good. A black columnist's view.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/02/01/AR2007020101495.html

An Inarticulate Kickoff

By Eugene Robinson
Friday, February 2, 2007; Page A15

What is it, exactly, that white people mean when they call a black person "articulate"?

(jump)

I realize the word is intended as a compliment, but it's being used to connote a lot more than the ability to express one's thoughts clearly. It's being used to say more, even, than "here's a black person who speaks standard English without a trace of Ebonics."

The word articulate is being used to encompass not just speech but a whole range of cultural cues -- dress, bearing, education, golf handicap. It's being used to describe a black person around whom white people can be comfortable, a black person who not only speaks white America's language but is fluent in its body language as well.

And the word is often pronounced with an air of surprise, as if it's an improbable and wondrous thing that a black person has somehow cracked the code. I can't help but think of the famous quote from Samuel Johnson: "Sir, a woman preaching is like a dog's walking on his hind legs. It is not done well; but you are surprised to find it done at all."

Articulate is really a shorthand way of describing a black person who isn't too black -- or, rather, who comports with white America's notion of how a black person should come across.

Whatever the intention, expressing one's astonishment that such individuals exist is no compliment. Just come out and say it: Gee, he doesn't sound black at all.

no problem. But the problem is that it's often used to describe an African-American who is merely speaking standard English.

It's like when some women at the 2000 Republican convention said of Condoleezza Rice, "She so well-dressed and articulate."

Well, Ms. Rice is about average as a public speaker. What the Republicanite women were actually saying was, "But we thought all black people wore K-Mart clothes and talked like rappers. Here's one of the few who doesn't."

You want to hear articulate? Listen to some of those British actors and authors being interviewed on talk shows. Their way with words is amazing and delightful.

Another fine example is a joint press conference with Bush and Blair. Bush sounds like a caricature of a caricature of a cartoon wannabe rancher, while Blair sounds like he just stepped stepped off the stage at The Globe.

And as for Dr. Rice, the endless praise of her insight and brilliance annoys the hell out of me. I've never heard her say anything that a reasonably alert person couldn't have gleaned from watching the news.

"Articulate" is a perfectly good, innocent word that has been corrupted by having a bunch of negative connotations attached to it. Perhaps some day we'll be able to reclaim it for normal conversation...

if one speaks to their subordinates in clear, exacting terms. One must learn to leave loopholes, room for interpretation, to speak in shades of grey when addressing the underlings in many companies.

I never encountered so much passive voice in speech and writing until I entered the corporate world. God forbid anyone make a statement about anything.

:sarcasm: