Big Daddy’s Rap

Ten years ago, in December of 1996, the Oakland Unified School District Board of Education passed a resolution establishing the teaching of Ebonics (aka Black English) in its schools. Since that time, portions of the King James Version of the Holy Bible have been translated into Ebonics. The following is a translation of the Lord’s Prayer from English into Ebonics. I have included the English version in parentheses:

BIG DADDY’S RAP (THE LORD’S PRAYER)

Yo, Big Daddy upstairs, (Our Father, who art in heaven)

You be chillin’ (Hallowed be thy name)

So be yo hood (Thy Kingdom come)

You be sayin’ it, I be doin’ it (Thy will be done)

In this here hood and yo’s (On earth as it is in heaven)

Gimme some eats (Give us this day our daily bread)

And cut me some slack, Blood (And forgive us our trespasses)

Sos I be doin’ it to dem dat diss me (As we forgive those who trespass against us)

Don’t be pushin’ me into no jive (And lead us not into temptation)

And keep dem Crips away (But deliver us from evil)

'Cause (For)

You always be da Man, G

Straight up. (Thine is the Kingdom, the power and the glory, forever and ever)

Aa-men (Amen)

Some Biblical purists might object to the translation of the Lord’s Prayer into Ebonics, but those individuals who support such a translation say that it is an attempt to reach, in a language they can understand , the people who are in most need of the message.

What is your view?

A Point of Clarification:

In Oakland, 53% of the students in public schools are black. But blacks make up 71% of those enrolled in special education classes. After noting that nothing seemed to be helping to teach students standard English, the Oakland school board voted unanimously in 1996 to recognize black English as a unique language and use the knowledge of it to teach standard English.

The intent in Oakland was not to simply accept that black students speak differently and leave it at that. Rather, Oakland decided that, in order to teach black children what has been referred to as "standard English", it might be helpful to show them the difference between "standard English" and what they grew up speaking at home, much in the same way we would show, say, Asian children the difference between their language and English.

In other words, the intent was to use the language (Ebonics) that the students were speaking in order to teach them “standard English". Isn’t that what we want the schools to do?

UPDATE:

These three blog posts have proved to be controversial. I am posting here a comment made by The Vessel with my reply. The Vessel used his usual wit against those bloggers making negative comments about the posts.

Whit;

Are you possessed? You, with your stirring up controversy and asking questions that you find interesting even though it could possibly offend people who come here of their own freewill and read what you've written. You must be Satan, or at least his third or fourth cousin once removed. How dare you have a mind that is interested in different people's perspectives on a wide variety of questions which every now and then include certain religions that people may be overly sensitive about. Now, if you wanted to ask questions about Islam and if that particular religion breeds terrorists, I am sure no one would be offended. You would probably get a lot of Amens! But to ask questions dealing with the beliefs of the poor persecuted Christians. Shame on you Whit! Shame! Shame! |< << >> >|

by The Vessel (PM , CC ) on Sunday July 30, 2006 @ 11:45 AM (del)

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

The Vessel:

I did not begin these posts with the intent of denigrating the Lord's Prayer or the Christian Bible. After reading a newspaper account of the translation of the Lord's Prayer into Strine, I decided to do some research on the topic. My desire was to bring to my readers a Strine translation of the Lord's Prayer as well as any other Bible verses I might find.

As I continued my research, I decided to expand the post to include the translation of the Lord's Prayer and other Biblical verses into other languages and dialects. I did that, not to mock the Lord's Prayer or the Christian religion, but simply because I thought it would be interesting; and I thought that many, if not most, of my readers would agree.

My post certainly was in keeping with the purpose of blogging on Blogstream: "A blog is like a public diary that anyone can read (or, I might add, not read). You can write about VIRTUALLY ANYTHING you want. The whole point of a blog is that you are sharing your thoughts, desires, hobbies, hopes, dreams, or whatever."

I think a reading of the comments I have received on this and the other two posts will indicate that I have been unjustly "crucified", shall I say? The feeling of hostility and hate from some so-called Christians was palpable. I sometimes find it difficult to deal with the narrow parameters that some people place upon their thinking. |< << >> >|

by Whit's Whittlings (PM , CC ) on Sunday July 30, 2006 @ 1:11 PM (del)

Just a Smidgen of Pidgin

Of all the the translations of the Bible, the King James Version is the most popular. But all the Biblical purists who want to retain the “thee’s and thou’s” and verbs ending in “eth” should remember that Jesus didn’t speak the King’s English. Today, there are dozens of versions of the Bible. The reasons so many versions exist is because the Bible has come to be so many different things to so many different people.

In Hawaii, there are many of the local people who can’t understand the words in the King James Version of the Bible. For these people, the Bible has been translated into Pidgin English. Pidgin English originated as a form of communication used between native and non-native English speakers in Hawaii. It supplanted the Pidgin Hawaiian language used on the plantations and elsewhere in Hawaii. It has been influenced by many languages, including Portuguese, Hawaiian, and Cantonese. It also has been influenced to a lesser degree by the Spanish spoken by Mexican and Puerto Rican settlers in Hawaii. Today, most people raised in Hawaii can speak and understand Pidgin to some extent.

The New Testament has been translated into Pidgin, so almost everyone in Hawaii can understand it, Here is the Lord’s Prayer in Pidgin:

God, you our Fadda.
You stay inside da sky.
We like all da peopo know fo shua how you stay,
An dat you good an spesho inside,
An we like dem give you plenny respeck.
We like you come king ova hea now.
We like everybody make jalike you like,
Ova hea inside da world,
Jalike da angel guys up inside da sky make jalike you like.
Give us da food we need fo every day.
Let us go, an hemo our shame
Fo all da kine bad stuff we do to you,
Jalike us guys let da odda guys go awready,
An we no stay huhu wit dem
Fo all da kine bad stuff dey do to us.
No let us get chance fo do bad kine stuff,
But take us outa dea, so da Bad Guy no can hurt us.
Cuz you our king,
You get da real power,
An you stay awesome foeva.
Dass it!"

Here is the Biblical verse for John 15:4 in English and Pidgin:

“Abide in me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself, except it abide in the vine; no more can ye, except ye abide in me.”

“Come tight wit me, jalike I stay tight wit you guys. Da branch no can make fruit if no stay tight wit da vine. Same ting, you guys no can do notting if you guys no stay tight wit me.”

And John 13:34-35 “A new commandment I give unto you, That ye love one another; as I have loved you, that ye also love one another. By this shall all men know that ye are my disciples, if ye have love one to another.”

“[Jesus say:] "I give you guys one new ting you gotta do: show love an aloha fo each odda. Jus like I get love an aloha fo you guys, dass how you guys gotta get love an aloha fo each odda. If all you guys get love an aloha fo each odda, den everybody goin know you my guys."

My Bible or Yours

I have just finished reading an article about “Strine”, and the publication of the second volume in the popular “Aussie Bible” series in Australia. Strine translates the Holy Bible into Australian slang. The author, Kel Richards, states that the purpose of the slang Bible is to increase the ranks of believers in a country where only 9 percent of the people are regular church goers. His Bible translation takes the obscure language of the King James version with all its thees, thous, and verilys and reconfigures it into the vernacular of the Bushmen of Australia. Richards' text uses a wide variety of Australian colloquialisms along with a casual writing style that might not appeal to everyone. Although some people might think that the translation is slightly cheeky, it is not meant to be irreverent.

Here are some examples of the translations Richards has done.

Let’s start with an excerpt from Genesis:

“Out of the blue God knocked up the whole bang lot and said, “Let’s have some light and bingo - light appeared.”

The next example deals with a translation of Adam and Eve and the fall of mankind in the Garden of Eden:

“THERE was this sheila who came across a snake-in-the-grass with all the cunning of a con man. The snake asked her why she didn't just grab lunch off the tree in her garden. God, she said, had told her she'd be dead meat if her fruit salad came from that tree, but the snake told her she wouldn't die. So she took a good squiz and then a bite and passed the fruit on to her bloke. Right then and there, they'd realised what they'd done and felt starkers.”

An excerpt from the 23rd Psalm reads as follows:

“God is the station [ranch] owner, and I am just one of the sheep. He musters me down to the lucerne flats, and feeds me there all week.”

Here is a translation of the Good Samaritan:

The Good Samaritan, in which Jesus tells the story of a man attacked by robbers who is ignored by a priest and a Levite before being helped by a Samaritan, is translated into the sort of language found in any Outback pub or city building site.

"A bunch of bushrangers attacked him, stole his dough, and left him as good as dead. A big wig from the Temple happened to pass by, took one look at the bloke, crossed the road, and hurried off. Another official who was on the road that day did the same.

"Then a really ordinary bloke (a grubby old street sweeper you wouldn't look twice at) passed by and felt really sorry for him. So he used his first-aid kit to patch him up, and then put him on his old nag, took him to the nearest pub and took care of him."

And a translation of Luke 2.8-14

“There were some drovers camped out in a paddock nearby, keeping an eye on their mob of sheep that night. Their eyes shot out on stalks when an angel of the Lord zapped into view, and the glory of the Lord filled the air like a thousand volts of electricity. The angel said: 'Stop looking like a bunch of stunned mullets. Let me give you the drum, the good oil, it's top news for the whole crew -- everyone, everywhere. Today in that little town on the hill a rescuer has been born: he is the Promised One, the King, the Lord.

"And here's how you'll find him: the nipper is wrapped up in a bunny rug, and lying in a food trough. And before you could say, 'Well, I'll be blowed!' the whole sky was filled with more angels than you could count, all singing away at the top of their lungs (if angels have got lungs, that is): 'God is great! God is bonzer -- and to everyone on this planet who's on God's side: peace and goodwill…”

Well, there you have it. What do you think of it?

Finding the Right Word

Speaking at a joint news conference on Tuesday to welcome al-Maliki’s visit to the White House, President Bush was searching for a word to describe the conditions in Iraq. He started off by saying, “The conditions in Iraq are....” After a pregnant pause, in which he began searching for a word to describe conditions in Iraq where over 6000 Iraqis have died in sectarian violence in the last two months (an average of 100 new bodies each day), our word-challenged President got that "deer-in-the-headlights" look for just a moment. I was thinking that this time he was going to get it right - searching for the perfect word for the occasion. Finally, he produced an anemic “terrible!” “The conditions in Iraq are terrible!”

I am listing a number of words that the President had to choose from. See if you can find a better word to describe the present conditions in Iraq, and explain why you think that is a better choice.

The adjective “terrible” has 4 senses (first 3 from tagged texts)

· 1. (11) awful, dire, direful, dread, dreaded, dreadful, fearful, fearsome, frightening, horrendous, horrific, terrible -- (causing fear or dread or terror; ``the awful war"; "an awful risk"; "dire news"; "a career or vengeance so direful that London was shocked"; "the dread presence of the headmaster"; "polio is no longer the dreaded disease it once was"; "a dreadful storm"; "a fearful howling"; "horrendous explosions shook the city"; "a terrible curse'' )

· 2. (2) atrocious, abominable, awful, dreadful, painful, terrible, unspeakable -- (exceptionally bad or displeasing; ``atrocious taste"; "abominable workmanship"; "an awful voice"; "dreadful manners"; "a painful performance"; "terrible handwriting"; "an unspeakable odor came sweeping into the room'' )

· 3. (1) severe, terrible, wicked -- (intensely or extremely bad or unpleasant in degree or quality; ``severe pain"; "a severe case of flu"; "a terrible cough"; "under wicked fire from the enemy's guns"; "a wicked cough'' )

· 4. frightful, terrible, awful, tremendous -- (extreme in degree or extent or amount or impact; ``in a frightful hurry"; "spent a frightful amount of money'' )

If you have a better word or phrase than those listed, please state it and tell us why you think it better describes the conditions in Iraq.

Doing Dumb and Stupid Things

A couple of days ago, I was reading LinLou’s blog at “Bits and Pieces Make Up a Life”. In the post, she described some of the experiences she once had as a cashier at a theater in San Francisco. She concluded her post by describing a dumb thing she did that completely embarrassed her. When the theater owner’s daughter told LinLou that she was German Jewish, LinLou replied that that was what she was. The daughter asked if she was indeed German Jewish? She replied, “No, I’m just German. After a moment of complete silence, LinLou suddenly realized that she had said something incredibly stupid and embarrassing.

LinLou’s post reminded me of a stupid and embarrassing event that happened to me as a young man within a few weeks after arriving in San Francisco from back East. Where I grew up, there were no Spanish-speaking individuals that I had ever encountered, and I had never seen a Mexican. One of the advantages of growing up in that milieu was that I had absolutely no prejudice against Mexicans when I arrived in California. One of the disadvantages was that I knew virtually nothing about the Spanish heritage of Mexicans.

A few weeks after my arrival, a friend of mine asked me to go on a blind date with him. It turned out that the young ladies we were dating were lovely, young Mexican-American maidens. We went to a Mexican restaurant where I began engaging my date in conversation. My first, dumb, stupid question was to ask her if she spoke Mexican. That didn’t go over too well. Then later, when the waiter brought our food order to the table, I saw the tacos and exclaimed, “Wow! I didn’t know they made potato chips that large!” There was an explosion of laughter as they told me that they were tortillas, not corn chips. I was devastated. Man! What a dumb and stupid thing to say!

For the rest of the evening we talked about places to visit in San Francisco.

Can you recall the dumbest and most stupid thing you ever said or did? Tell us about it.



What is the difference between dumb and stupid

dumb [dum]
adj (comparative dumb·er, superlative dumb·est)
1. unintelligent: regarded as having or showing a low level of intelligence (informal insult).
2. offensive term: an offensive term meaning unable to speak.
3. temporarily speechless: temporarily unable to speak because of shock, fear, surprise, or anger.
4. done without speech: performed or expressed without using speech.
5. intentionally silent: deliberately not speaking or refusing to speak.
6. computing not programmable: able only to transmit information to or receive information from a computer, and not able to process data.
e.g: "a dumb terminal"
7. producing no sound: designed or adapted to produce no sound.
8. lacking human speech: lacking the power of speech because not human.

[Old English . Ultimately from an Indo-European word meaning “sensory or mental impairment” that is also the ancestor of English dull and doldrums.]

stu·pid [stpəd]
adj
1. unintelligent: thought to show a lack of intelligence, perception, or common sense.
e.g: "a stupid mistake"
2. silly: irritatingly silly or time-wasting.
e.g: "had us playing stupid games"
3. expressing irritation: used to express anger, annoyance, or frustration (informal).
e.g: "I can’t get the stupid thing to work!"
4. dazed: in a dazed state, for example, from shock, fatigue, or from the effects of drugs or alcohol.
e.g: "almost stupid with tiredness"

[Mid-16th century. From Latin stupidus , from stupere “to be stunned.”]