Wronging English by Ruanni F. Tupas
Wronging English
(2002, revised May 2008)
T. Ruanni F. Tupas
Filipino linguist Ma. Lourdes Bautista has recently come out with her latest book which gives us more empirical evidence of Philippine English or, to some, "bad" English. For many decades now, scholars have fought not only for the recognition of the many
Englishes in the world, but for the importance of their use as our way of getting back at the English language. After all, they say, English is also an Asian language.
Those of us who have access to the Internet surely have had our share of what a friend calls "e-jokes" (Erap jokes), as well as lists of ways to manipulate English to create new meanings or simply, to amuse people. Here are some of them:
Notice on the window of a restaurant:
Wanted: Boy Waitress
Would you know what sort of shops these names refer to?
Candies Be Love
Christopher Plumbing
Elizabeth Tayloring
Let's Goat Together
Meating Place
Saudia Hairlines
The Fried of Marikina
Fagofyt
A menu in a seafood restaurant has these entrees:
Isda best,
Pusit to the limit, and
Hipon coming back
Certainly, part of the reason we find them funny is because we assume that they are not the way we use English "properly"; they wouldn't be jokes in the first place if we didn't find anything wrong with them. For those of us who have the means to learn "proper"
English (not everyone has this means), these uses of English never fail to amuse, yet we will never call them our own. To us, ‘good English’ is what separates us from those who may not even understand why the jokes are funny.
But ‘good English’ -- never mind if this term is vague -- did not fall from the heavens. It was created as part of the multibillion dollar (or pound) business and cultural industry of the so-called native English-speaking (American, British, etc.) nations to make the world dependent on the English language.
Every time we say that someone speaks "bad" or "corrupt" English (or, as we call it in the province, inglis kinamatis), we
(2002, revised May 2008)
T. Ruanni F. Tupas
Filipino linguist Ma. Lourdes Bautista has recently come out with her latest book which gives us more empirical evidence of Philippine English or, to some, "bad" English. For many decades now, scholars have fought not only for the recognition of the many
Englishes in the world, but for the importance of their use as our way of getting back at the English language. After all, they say, English is also an Asian language.
Those of us who have access to the Internet surely have had our share of what a friend calls "e-jokes" (Erap jokes), as well as lists of ways to manipulate English to create new meanings or simply, to amuse people. Here are some of them:
Notice on the window of a restaurant:
Wanted: Boy Waitress
Would you know what sort of shops these names refer to?
Candies Be Love
Christopher Plumbing
Elizabeth Tayloring
Let's Goat Together
Meating Place
Saudia Hairlines
The Fried of Marikina
Fagofyt
A menu in a seafood restaurant has these entrees:
Isda best,
Pusit to the limit, and
Hipon coming back
Certainly, part of the reason we find them funny is because we assume that they are not the way we use English "properly"; they wouldn't be jokes in the first place if we didn't find anything wrong with them. For those of us who have the means to learn "proper"
English (not everyone has this means), these uses of English never fail to amuse, yet we will never call them our own. To us, ‘good English’ is what separates us from those who may not even understand why the jokes are funny.
But ‘good English’ -- never mind if this term is vague -- did not fall from the heavens. It was created as part of the multibillion dollar (or pound) business and cultural industry of the so-called native English-speaking (American, British, etc.) nations to make the world dependent on the English language.
Every time we say that someone speaks "bad" or "corrupt" English (or, as we call it in the province, inglis kinamatis), we