Thread by @runmyheart, A thread for other white English users on HABITUAL BE & why [...]

taru

runmyheart

A thread for other white English users on HABITUAL BE & why you should probably quit trying to use it

NB: I’m a white European non-native speaker of English.

Okay: I’ve been increasingly noticing the use of ”habitual be”, a grammatical structure in AAVE/BVE esp. on kpop stan twitter. It’s not great for a couple of reasons: 1) it’s considered appropriative by many 2) non-AAVE speakers use it ”incorrectly” & thus sound a bit silly.

Now, usually when it’s suggested non-black ppl should eradicate all AAVE from their English I’m skeptical, because purely from a linguistic POV it’s very tricky to say ”don’t use loan words from source x” & expect ppl to stop saying ”bae” & ”yeet”, that’s not how language works.

Lexical words are the most easily transferred element between languages/dialects, which is why the use of ”homie” & ”woke” is so widespread. But it seems to me like the use of ”habitual be” by white people (& non-black POC) is esp. problematic in that it looks like a deliberate

attempt to co-opt a grammatical structure that doesn’t come naturally to non-AAVE speakers in order to sound cool. You can read about the original grammatical purpose & use of habitual be here: https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Habitual_be">https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Habi...

In this article on AAVE & the question of appropriation, Eleanor Tremeer mentions ”verbal blackface” which seems like an apt phrase in this context. https://www.babbel.com/en/magazine/cultural-appropriation-drag-slang-aave/">https://www.babbel.com/en/magazi...

Is It Cultural Appropriation To Use Drag Slang And AAVE?

So you want to describe your new 'bae' as 'woke' and your weekend as 'lit,' but where do drag slang and AAVE come from (and should you be using them at all?)

https://www.babbel.com/en/magazine/cultural-appropriation-drag-slang-aave/

This is another good article https://www.google.fi/amp/s/www.feminuity.org/blog/using-bve-as-a-non-black-person-is-appropriation%3fformat=amp">https://www.google.fi/amp/s/www...

Using Black Vernacular English (BVE) as a Non-Black Person Isn’t “Woke” if You Don't Understand the...

In North America, BVE is often used by non-Black people for social capital, misusing it in attempt to be relevant, relatable, or for credibility. Due to the privilege of “standard English,” Black...

https://www.google.fi/amp/s/www.feminuity.org/blog/using-bve-as-a-non-black-person-is-appropriation%3fformat=amp

Also, I keep seeing e.g. white British people using habitual be on Twitter in a way they presumably don’t in speech!

In conclusion: if you’re a white person using a lot of AAVE/BVE on social media, maybe consider why you’re doing it & whether it’s okay.

bumping this thread

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