Week 7: What did you say?

Lippi-Green’s “linguistic facts of life” are powerful reminders that language is deeply tied to power, authority, and identity.

• One of the most valuable takeaways is the recognition that “All spoken language changes over time” and that all languages are equally capable of communicating complex ideas. This challenges the myth that some dialects are “lesser.”
• Lippi-Green’s historical example stood out: “If Caxton had to print the Bible in ten different dialects of English, there would be little or no profit in the venture… The solution was to print the Bible in one variety of English, and then to convince everybody that that was the best kind of English.” This shows how “standard” English was born out of profit and power, not natural superiority.
• The humorous but telling remark attributed to Miriam “Ma” Ferguson resonated with me: “If English was good enough for Jesus Christ, then it’s good enough for the schoolchildren of Texas.” It reveals how myths and misinformation are used to justify language oppression.
• I was struck by the analogy: “But aren’t they the same thing, just as water is water whether it flows, or freezes so that we can walk on it? Isn’t it just a matter of presentation?” This made me reflect on how often spoken and written language are wrongly treated as identical, even though they function very differently.
• Personally, I connected with the section about language correction as social rejection, like when people police “improper” English, not because they don’t understand, but to distance themselves socially. I’ve seen this happen at work (when I first started with the Courts)when colleagues mocked accents or regional phrases.
• Today, in the current political climate, the reading feels even more relevant. Heightened distrust of immigrants can easily translate into more scrutiny of accents and non-standard English in workplaces, reinforcing exclusion under the guise of “professional standards.”
• I believe Standard White English will become more heavily policed—not just for immigrants, but also for U.S.-born citizens from certain regions (the South, inner cities) whose speech patterns differ from the so-called norm.
• What worries me most is Lippi-Green’s point that language standardization is less about clarity and more about control. In workplaces, language expectations can become tools for gatekeeping promotions, limiting job opportunities, or silencing dissenting voices.

Language is not broken when it varies, and people are not deficient when they speak outside the so-called standard. The myth of Standard White English serves those who already hold authority, while silencing and marginalizing those who don’t. Ultimately, the way we talk about language is also the way we talk about people and deciding who belongs and who does not.