Date: Wed, 6 Dec 1995 07:54:45 -0500

From: "Dennis R. Preston" preston[AT SYMBOL GOES HERE]PILOT.MSU.EDU

Subject: Re: Language and Intelligence



We all believe that you can get to a person's inteligence by noting the way

they speak:



Spose you ask the following:

'A puppy is to a dawg jes lahk a kitty is to a (choose one):

a. cat

b. poodle

c. hawk

d. skyscraper



People who say 'Ah reckon hit's a 'a,'' or 'Dat ansuh be 'a'' are (if the

test is a good one, and I do not promise that I have done all the necessary

research to determine that it is for all English-speaking populations and

ages) intelligent. You can tell by the language they use; they give the

right answer.

People who say 'In my personal opinion, the correct answer is 'b' are

dumber than home-made shit. You can tell from the language they use. It

contains the wrong answer.

We don't have to write 'The Logic of Nonstandard English' all over again, do we?

Dennis Preston

preston[AT SYMBOL GOES HERE]pilot.msu.edu





I'm just curious to know if anybody out there still holds the belief that

a persons intelligence can be measured by the way they speak?