Musings from Brian J. Noggle

Journalist Overstates Importance of Variant Spelling

In a story on FoxNews.com entitled Hip Hop Artists Rewrite Dictionary, Jennifer D'Angelo fawns over variant spellings used by hip-hop and rap artists, such as Nelly ("Hot in Herre"), Mya ("My Love Is Like … Wo"). and Christina Iwannabareall ("Dirrty"). She goes so far as to assert:

Every generation invents its own slang (think of the ever-changing synonyms for "cool.") But this crop of artists is changing the spellings of already established English words. I beg to differ. Ms. D'Angelo is forgetting:

Song Title:	Artist:	Year:
"Tip Toe Thru' The Tulips With Me"	Tiny Tim	1968
"Gimme Dat Ding"	Pipkins	1970
"Tuff Enuff"	Fabulous Thunderbirds	1986
"C'Mon And Get My Love"	D-Mob featuring Cathy Dennis	1990
"Nothing Compares 2 U"	Sinead O'Connor	1990
Source: The Billboard Book of One Hit Wonders

Song Title:	Artist:	Year:
"Do Ya Think I'm Sexy"	Rod Stewart	1979
"I Gotcha"	Joe Tex	1972
"Outa-Space"	Billy Preston	1972
"Pop Muzik"	M	1979
"Use Ta Be My Girl"	The O'Jays	1978
Source: The Billboard Book of Gold & Platinum Records

Song Title:	Artist:	Year:
"Betcha By Golly Wow"	The Stylistics	1972
"C'mon Everybody"	Eddie Cochran	1958
"Don't You Worry 'Bout a Thing"	Stevie Wonder	1974
"Every 1's a Winner"	Hot Chocolate	1978
"Lawdy Miss Clawdy"	Lloyd Price	1952
"Rockit"	Herbie Hancock	1983
"U Got The Look"	Prince	1987
Source: The Heart of Rock and Soul

And I didn't even dig into my copy of Billboard Top 1000 Singles - 1955-2000, okay?

So D'Angelo has discovered a trend in song titling that has extended back 50 years at least. Perhaps she should have gotten a government grant of some sort to unearth it.

The difference, of course, between then and now is that some people, including some educators, are trying to legitimize these alternate spellings in written communication. In the name of self-expression, of course. However, half of written communication is expressing what you want to express. The other half is conveying that meaning so that the reader can understand.

Hence, variations in song titles are okay, because the actual communication is aural; that is, the recipient gets the benefit of a beat you can dance to and inflection. However, in written communication, standard spelling, syntax, and semantics alone convey all meaning, so if you're busy "expressing your individuality" by writing gibberish and higherglyphics, you're losing readers. Sorry to dent your self-esteem.

So what're my points?

Variant spelling in song titles and lyrics isn't a new phenomenon.
It's okay for song titles and lyrics, but not for "the dictionary."
I have a lot of cool books about music.

- posted by Brian J. @ 9:47 PM