28 July 2009

Clueless!

What are they talking about? It looks, from the title and pictures, that the entire video is some sort of dance about bastard children, and not only that, there is a question of who fathered about 100 of 'em. (?!) Every now and then, I hear an English word like "no" or "I" or "whatever," but literally, the entire film is gibberish to me. I have a BA in English from a respected university. I was a journalist. I can write. But I can't understand the video!! Is it just me? Can you understand what they are talking about? Am I supposed to understand it? Is it social commentary? A joke? It bothers me that I don't get it. This must be sort of maybe a little of what people with language disorders feel like.

12 comments:

  1. Well, I understood it, but after about thirty seconds I was irritated enough to turn it off. Enough already.

    From what I got in the seconds I watched--the song is about a girl placating (read "lying to) her jealous boyfriend, assuring him she wasn't running around on him with her former boyfriend.

    Apparently a whole generation of teens from the 90s thought this was a great song. Why? I have no idea, but then "Elvira" got on my nerves as well.

    Don't worry about getting it. We're obviously not the intended audience, Mrs. C.

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  2. That's just my baby's daddy

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  3. ugh, so annoying. I don't see how anyone can sit there and listen to it. Even the Maury Povich show is degraded down to just helping people find the fathers of their baby. Does he do shows about anything else at all?

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  4. Almost as bad as hearing a two year old talk or my three year old when she has a melt down.

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  5. Mary, I lived all through the 90s and never heard the song until last night!!

    Is that what they're saying, anon? "Just" my baby's daddy?

    Virginia, I sat and listened to it TWICE. I still do not understand what they're saying. Maury Povich is... not a show I watch. I understand his English well. Um, but not some of his guests.

    DF, bet your two and three year olds speak a little clearer and have a bit of diction.

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  6. WAIT! Virginia, I remember he did another show helping this really really fat lady, "Peaches," understand that not everyone wants to see her in shortshorts and a tiny top. She never got it but continued to "shake it" for the camera to the hysterical hoots of the audience.

    Yeah, I think that was during an oil change or something. They NEVER have anything good on there.

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  7. Oh yes! I remember this jam from the 90's. This song is funny, we used to sing it.

    It's about a guy (the one on the cell phone) calling his girlfriend, suspicious that she's being unfaithful but being that she's like every girl in the 'hood she has a baby daddy who is usually not her man because in the 'hood they make babies and then the relationship is over. But they still "knock boots" sometimes when there's nothing else to do.

    In real life it's just sad but when that's what you're surrounded by, it's a 'laugh to keep from crying' type of thing. But the real sad part is most of these people think it's no big deal.

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  8. Wow. Howcome everyone else understands what is going on but me? I CANNOT understand their English.

    (It is English, right?)

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  9. Ha! Yes, it is mutilation of the English language.

    Who dat is?

    Dat just my baby daddy!

    Male to his girlfriend: Who is that male voice I hear in the background?! (He doesn't trust her--she may be what they call a cheap triflin' ho, meaning she sleeps around and lies about it.)

    Female: That's just my baby's daddy. Meaning, that's just that loser that I'm done with--you know, the father of my child--no one for you to worry about--no one with whom I want to pursue a relationship or have sex.

    I knew a lot of people in high school who actually spoke like this, sad to say.

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  10. WOW. Sherry, you're good at this! My husband saw the video and said he understood it as well. He said he knew people who spoke like this, too!!

    I honestly think that's an uncanny ability, but he doesn't see anything special about being able to understand that.

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  11. OK, living outside of the United States for many years, I have come to see that most countries have their official written language, as well as many regional "dialects" that can be almost unintelligible to speakers of other dialects.

    Dialects like this happen throughout European countries such as Germany, France, and Spain, as well as England!! England has far more regional dialects in small areas than we have in America.

    Now looking back at America, it is easy for me to say that this black English is a sub-culture, and sub-dialect of mainstream American English.

    Furthermore, to fit in that culture you MUST speak like that. It is the black culture itself (according to a black American friend I used to have) which forces its members to choose to speak like THIS, OR to be called "whitey" all the time and ostracized for speaking mainstream English as a normal middle-class person would do. My friend chose to speak normal English. Her sister chose the black English route. Each time her sister had friends over, her sister begged my friend to try to speak "black" English around HER friends!

    As far as this video, I could understand a few words of it, but really couldn't make sense of it at all without the good explanation kindly provided by your other readers!

    Eileen
    Dedicated Elementary Teacher Overseas (in the Middle East)
    elementaryteacher.wordpress.com

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  12. Eileen, I remember when G would start to say "don't gots none water" or the like when he was younger. He is autistic, but he received speech help for this ONLY because it was not "cultural."

    Um, in other words, because his parents didn't speak that way? They SAY "no child left behind" but they don't really mean it.

    This is the same country that brought you "ebonics."

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