Paul Revere ) writes:

American in particular, is the prime mover of the English languge
right now. Track a word or phrase and its likely as not to come
from Black Ghetto talk.

I would be very surprised to learn that half of the words in modern usage are
derived from "ghetto talk". Is this contention based on research?

only if they are in marketing, especially "technology" marketing
("technology" is the study of technique. what techies refer to as
"technology" is actually "techinique")

And, since agreed upon meanings are unimportant, when you hear ghetto kids
talking you know exactly what they mean?

no moreso than technology. I was studying under a prof who went to Nortel
and asked the techies what they thought the different technical words they
used mean. there was a wide variation. you'd think technical words would
be precisely defined.

boats are the same. what's a "punt" in one place is a "skiff" somewhere else.
(in gaelic the same word is used for coracle and canoe.)
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