In an effort to appear "down", Indians will employ the assistance of generally-unused catch phrases, such as "I feel ya on that, man," or "You know I'm sayin'?" when in conversation with their Black counterparts. Vocal inflection will change to reflect a more urban quality, and an allusion to a recent rap song may even be exercised to enhance believability.
Compare the greeting styles on a typical Monday morning at work.
1. With a White guy:
Ankur: Morning, Todd. Did you have a good weekend?
Todd: Yeah dude, we went over to Fado and got obliterated.
Ankur: Sweet, man. That sounds awesome.
2. Similar conversation with a Black guy:
Ankur: What's crackin', playaaa? What you get into this weekend?
Tyrone: We went over to Fur and kicked it for a little bit.
Ankur: Aw, word? How was the honeys over there? Pretty straight? I wish I rolled. I would've thrown some D on some batch!*
*Allusion to rap song
Saturday, February 23, 2008
# 37: Speaking Slightly "Blacker" Than Usual With Black People
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6 comments:
Did you seriously just name your hypothetical black man, "Tyrone?" Where do Ankur and Tyrone work together?
In my magical utopia, there do exist Tyrones and Ankurs working together in the corporate world (with Indians displaying the same idiosyncrasies as in the real world). Call me a dreamer.
My dream world too has racial equality, diversity in the workplace and Indians who like to speak slightly "blacker" than usual with black people.
But whordebeeeyaaat has the inside track on this. Beenie Siegel vacations in dhaka.
I don't know about that. The only thing that comes up when I boolean search "Beanie Sigel" and "Dhaka" is a report of Beanie going to jail for tax evasion and something about a dude named Dhaka Gibbs beating on his fiance.
Speak in metaphor all you like, but Tanim has spotted him on the bangladeshi streets.
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