Stay Free!: Is the phenomenon of whites talking black universal? Does it happen in other cultures?
Leslie Savan: There is a universal tendency to seek out what sociolinguists call "covert prestige"; that's where a high status group gains prestige by imitating a lower status group. It's not necessarily a white/black thing. In England, upper-class white men have been shown to imitate the speech of working class white men.
SF: Why? Because it makes them sound more masculine and tough?
LS: Yes...
SF: So is it mostly men who do this?
LS: Yes, especially young men. Men are more prone to associate formal speech with being “proper” and being proper with femininity. This is nothing new; it's been true for generations. But more and more now, girls are also aspiring toward a certain toughness. In speech this comes out, say, in You go, girl! Or in women referring to themselves as “guys.”
Ну что, девочки, лихие мы парни?
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