DW 2A

People often regard AAVE as ‘poor English’ or ‘slang’; however, what most people don’t realize is that it is becoming more acceptable and common than ever before. Today’s media sources, such as newspapers, websites, and TV shows, are filled with black slang. Before being assigned this project I though it would be difficult finding a website that commonly appropriated Black English. My results yielded the opposite. I found that many websites used it and I just never noticed it before. The first one I found was filled with Black English in the headline as well as the articles themselves. TMZ.com is a celebrity gossip and news website that was created as a collaboration between American Online and Telepictures. TMZ stands for Thirty Mile Zone and was created in the 60’s. This website used Black English in many forms to connect with the younger generation who visits the site.
Phrases, such as “And ain’t this sweet…”, “The dude on ‘Project Runway’”, “…beat the crap out of…”, and “…the most friggin’ sweet ass unedited clip…”, grace the articles on the TMZ website. Words like ‘ain’t’ and ‘dude’ are not commonly seen in the most news websites. These are both Black English sayings. Words like this would not commonly be seen on other news websites such as CNN or Fox News. TMZ uses very relaxed written speech on its website. The website not only uses Black English in the articles, but it also uses it in headlines. The various headlines for photo albums, videos, and main articles are dripping with AAVE. Some of the few hundred photo album titles read: “Gotcha”, “Beggin; and pleasin’” “ Shop ‘Til you drop” and “Wiggin’ Out”, just to name a few. These words are missing ending constants and mixing words together. For example, the ‘g’ in ‘begging and pleasing’ was dropped and ‘got you’ was turned into ‘gotcha’. These are both examples that would have been supported by Smitherman’s “It Bees That Way”. She explains how examples of AAVE have dropped ending constants and mixed words. Black English is more common than people think. It is becoming a larger part of everyday language.
TMZ.com is just one example of a website that uses Black English. The number of sites that are beginning to appropriate Black English into their everyday language is huge. Sites are using AAVE to connect with a larger audience. They may be using it to attract the African American race, or in most cases the younger generation. Websites the report popular news and gossip, like TMZ and People, contain more Black English than other sites like academic or primary information sites. This is because it grabs attention. Also, using more common words and slang makes topics easier to understand. Popular websites are not as formal or serious as other sites, which makes the use of Black English on them appropriate.