Watch a little bit of the news shows, and before you know it they are showing video of Michelle Obama explaining how non-elite she and Barack are. "Talking" becomes "talkin," "bringing" becomes "bringin" -- make that "g" sound and you're Harvard, not homey.
Another little bit of interesting word usage is "me and Barack." Examples here and here. In school we learned to say "she and I" or "him and me," always putting the other person first in the listing.
If you listen to enough interviews you'll hear bosses refer to themselves and their employees as "me and my team" or some such, always putting the others in second place honoring their perceived place in the hierarchy. Works the same way when a star athlete refers to the others on the team. "Me and my teammates."
So it's hard to know whether Ms. Obama is merely dumbing it down for the audience or simply describing the totem pole from the top down, as she sees it. It's an interesting development in either case.
George, another possibility is that she is just one more example of the general decline one sees (and hears) in good grammar, even among educated people who spent more than a little time in the classroom, memorizing the rules and practicing proper presentation. I'd hate to think it is a case of someone 'dumbing-down' their presentation ..... which is a dumb thing to do.
Posted by: Jeff | April 20, 2008 at 05:31 PM
Jeff, that's a possibility that I didn't consider, but if you think it's possible then it's certainly worth considering. If that is the case, though, it's a little like spinach on the front teeth. It's telling that no one has felt comfortable enough to correct her.
Posted by: Geo | April 21, 2008 at 06:30 AM