The DEA is seeking "ebonics linguists"

**jmur5074** · 08-24-10, 03:46 AM

It may be raising some eyebrows, but the Drug Enforcement Administration insists it needs to hire at least nine people fluent in Ebonics.
The DEA's Atlanta office has been looking for Ebonics "linguists" since at least May, when job vacancies were posted online.
According to one posting, the linguist's duties would include "monitoring varying numbers of communications intercepts during any given shift" and then providing "reliable and accurate transcriptions."
An agency official, said there is nothing "racial" about the job, and described white rapper Eminem as "one of the best speakers of Ebonics there ever was."

More at the link:

FOXNews.com - For Hire: Fluent Ebonics Speakers for DEA Jobs

**lewisipso** · 08-24-10, 04:20 AM

Linguists? Really?

**Ducky** · 08-24-10, 07:58 AM

There is a theory that lingual shifts don't happen fast within a literate culture as the written word also serves as a pronunciation guide. New words get added, old ones may drop from use, but the base language remains the same. Evidenced by the fact that Shakespeare doesn't need translating into modern English in order to be enjoyed - it may be a tad difficult to follow at times but overall is still recognizable as the same language we speak today, some 400 years later. That Ebonics has had such a major shift away from its parent language, presumably English, suggests that the culture that spawned it is in fact subliterate. Not just illiterate, indicating the lack of knowledge, but subliterate indicating the lack of interest in the written word. Fortunately subliterate cultures, by virtue of their own intentional ignorance, often don't survive long.

(re: "jive")
Jiveman #1: Sheeeet, man, that honkey mus' be messin' my old lady got to be runnin' col' upsihd down his head!
(Golly, that white fellow should stay away from my wife or I will punch him.)
Jiveman #2: Hey Holm, I can dig it! You know he ain't gonna lay no mo' big rap upon you man!
(Yes, he is wrong for doing that.)
Jiveman #1: I say hey sky, s'other say I won say I pray to J I get the same ol' same ol.
(I knew a man in a similar predicament, and he ended up being sorry.)
Jiveman #2: Knock yourself a pro slick. Gray matter back got perform' us' down I take TCBin, man'.
(Don't be naive Arthur. Each of us faces a clear moral choice.)
Jiveman #1: You know wha' they say: See a broad to get that bodiac lay'er down an' smack 'em yack 'em.
(Early to bed, early to rise, makes a man healthy, wealthy and wise.)
Together: Col' got to be! Yo!
(How true!)
Together: Sh010039et!
(Golly!)

Attendant: Can I get you something?
Jiveman #2: S'mo fo butter layin' to the bone. Jackin' me up. Tightly.
Attendant: I'm sorry I don't understand.
Jiveman #1: Cutty say he cant hang.
Woman : Oh stewardess, I speak jive.
Attendant: Ohhhh, good.
Woman : He said that he's in great pain and he wants to know if you can help him.
Attendant: Would you tell him to just relax and I'll be back as soon as I can with some medicine.
Woman : Jus' hang loose blooood. She goonna catch up on the`rebound a de medcide.
Jiveman #2: What it is big mamma, my mamma didn't raise no dummy, I dug her rap.
Woman : Cut me som' slac' jak! Chump don wan no help, chump don git no help. Jive ass dude don got no brains anyhow.

**Captain America** · 08-24-10, 11:51 AM

Originally Posted by Ducky

There is a theory that lingual shifts don't happen fast within a literate culture as the written word also serves as a pronunciation guide. New words get added, old ones may drop from use, but the base language remains the same. Evidenced by the fact that Shakespeare doesn't need translating into modern English in order to be enjoyed - it may be a tad difficult to follow at times but overall is still recognizable as the same language we speak today, some 400 years later. That Ebonics has had such a major shift away from its parent language, presumably English, suggests that the culture that spawned it is in fact subliterate. Not just illiterate, indicating the lack of knowledge, but subliterate indicating the lack of interest in the written word. Fortunately subliterate cultures, by virtue of their own intentional ignorance, often don't survive long.

(re: "jive")
Jiveman #1: Sheeeet, man, that honkey mus' be messin' my old lady got to be runnin' col' upsihd down his head!
(Golly, that white fellow should stay away from my wife or I will punch him.)
Jiveman #2: Hey Holm, I can dig it! You know he ain't gonna lay no mo' big rap upon you man!
(Yes, he is wrong for doing that.)
Jiveman #1: I say hey sky, s'other say I won say I pray to J I get the same ol' same ol.
(I knew a man in a similar predicament, and he ended up being sorry.)
Jiveman #2: Knock yourself a pro slick. Gray matter back got perform' us' down I take TCBin, man'.
(Don't be naive Arthur. Each of us faces a clear moral choice.)
Jiveman #1: You know wha' they say: See a broad to get that bodiac lay'er down an' smack 'em yack 'em.
(Early to bed, early to rise, makes a man healthy, wealthy and wise.)
Together: Col' got to be! Yo!
(How true!)
Together: Sh010039et!
(Golly!)

Attendant: Can I get you something?
Jiveman #2: S'mo fo butter layin' to the bone. Jackin' me up. Tightly.
Attendant: I'm sorry I don't understand.
Jiveman #1: Cutty say he cant hang.
Woman : Oh stewardess, I speak jive.
Attendant: Ohhhh, good.
Woman : He said that he's in great pain and he wants to know if you can help him.
Attendant: Would you tell him to just relax and I'll be back as soon as I can with some medicine.
Woman : Jus' hang loose blooood. She goonna catch up on the`rebound a de medcide.
Jiveman #2: What it is big mamma, my mamma didn't raise no dummy, I dug her rap.
Woman : Cut me som' slac' jak! Chump don wan no help, chump don git no help. Jive ass dude don got no brains anyhow.

Why did the movie "Airplane" soundly pop into my head.

**ms1600** · 08-24-10, 02:46 PM

Originally Posted by Captain America

Why did the movie "Airplane" soundly pop into my head.

Surely, you can't be serious.

**Captain America** · 08-24-10, 03:17 PM

Originally Posted by ms1600

Surely, you can't be serious.

I am serious and stop calling me Shirley.

**gopherpuckfan** · 08-24-10, 07:33 PM

I'm bout ta throw in on dis. I keeps it real-ah cause i'm all about my scrilla.

**luckyme** · 08-24-10, 10:12 PM

Originally Posted by Ducky

Fortunately subliterate cultures, by virtue of their own intentional ignorance, often don't survive long.

Unfortunately in this day and age, we the working class have been tasked with taking care of these people. They have a better chance of surviving than we do I think.

**sgtbear111** · 08-24-10, 10:46 PM

The Fed Govt must already have the "million man math" experts crunching numbers and telling us that US budget will balance if they spend more of our money.