Year: 2019

Mia Carter

English 1101

Professor Carrie Hall

 

   The mutt

 

      Not to long ago me and my best friend went to the ice skating rink. And while there we met some boys that are around the same age as us. As we all try to skate we started talking and asking each other where we’re from what school we go to. When we get to the topic about nationality i always know someone is going to have a weird reaction and but my answer. When it comes to be my turn answering the question I kept thinking to myself like how are they going to react and how I’m going to react to their reactions. When answering the question all the different words came to mind of what they could call me. As I stand there to hear the surprising comments from them i watch as everyone made a different face. And everyone’s face was of surprise,  asking me “ Are you sure you’re black?, why are you so white?” Growing up, it wasn’t uncommon for people to assume I’m was white or hispanic. Or the case be that i’m actually mixed. Being mixed is a bad thing it’s just people’s reactions to when you tell them what you really are. But, in my family we are all mutts. We’re all mixed a family of mutts.

 

       Coming form a family where everyone is mixed isn’t something surprising to me. There was always something new and different to try from each and every part of the family that is different. Growing up in a neighborhood were people were mostly black, hispanic and asian you always get you’re just white or hispanic. Telling people i’m not hispanic was always a surprise to them, “ like really you’re not hispanic? Like not at all not even part?” my answer is always no. I have to explain that i’m mixed that i’m half polish and half african american. People’s second reaction is always “ you’re WHAT? You’re black, you don’t look black? Wow you really are a damn mutt.” Hearing the word mutt always has a different effect on me based on the person that says it and how they say it.  In my family we call each other mutts that’s because we know it doesn’t hurt when saying to each other and we aren’t saying it as a bad thing. But when some people say it, the word always comes off different. You feel like they’re talking bad about you like wow you aren’t pure. Like have you ever felt different from others or bad because you wasn’t the same as your friends. One thing that is big is what side do you take. Like for me it’s like i’m i going to choose my polish side more then my african american side when it comes to things or i’m i going to be a “mutt” and be my own self.

 

        The word mutt is used in many ways. Being derogatory word used to call a racehorse slow in poor condition, to call a dog that is mixed bread, a person who is awkward and ignorant, an unattractive woman. But the word is also used in a derogatory word against people of mixed race. The world’s history lies as another insult. It comes from the word “muttonhead,” another American word that also means”fool.” “Muttonhead” had been around since the early 19th century. At the same time was anti- miscegenation. The time when law criminalized both marriage and sexual relationships between people of white decent and black decent. These two things are hard on the mixed community. Being called a mutt is like being call dirty. And not being able to marry who you truly love because you’re different and that if you have children with this person your kids are dirty because they are mutts.

  Mutt is a word that’s is used that much by people my age. But you still hear it being used around. Have you ever been called a mutt? I have I also been called Oreo,polablack because I’m half polish and half black, mixed baby and some other things. All these names have the same thing in common someone being multiracial. However some of these names make us feel unwanted, uncomfortable and just confused about who we are and want to be. You think like by being multiracial will I get this job are they going to like me for me or are they going to judge by what they see or what on paper. Being multiracial isn’t a bad thing but people do make us feel bad about who we are. We just want to fit in like early one else and not have to pick one side over the other. We just want to be judge by who we are as a person not by the looks and nationality.

 

During the years of 2009 – 2012, if you were a person who watched a lot of tv and was a fan of reality tv and was fond of MTV then you probably at least once came to hear of a show called “Jersey Shore”. The show had brought viewers a different look on the face of reality tv. Even though the show wasn’t popular at first it would come to take the world by storm. The premise of the show being 7 random people coming to be roomates in a rented shore house where they would drink, party, tan, and have a grand old time for the price of working at a shore store. This would go on for every summer from 2009 up until 2012 and each season bringing something new to the table, whether it be a new place like italy or miami, to all new cast members and new drama. Although hearing mention of the show around the time it came out to the public, I wasn’t really into the genre of reality tv and all the drama considering I was only nine years old. However, I came around to watching all 6 season of the show 6 years later from the time it stopped airing. What I had found to get to that point however was literally me watching a few episodes of the sequel to the franchise, dubbed “Jersey Shore: Family Vacation.”

The reason I bring this up is because, those said 7 roommates were not picked as randomly as it may have seemed. If they had something in common it was the fact that they were all italian or of italian descent. First off, we should ask ourselves as to why this is important, or at least in my case. For one, there goes a term for describing the types of personalities and conflicting characters that each of the cast members possess. The term of course being “guido” or “guidette”. The funny thing about this word is that I had only come to hear it during my watching of the show. They would use the term to describe themselves almost as if in a nutshell, but one question that remained for me were of the origins of the word.

Considering I had previously known nothing about the word, the only thing that was left for me to do was to perform some research on the word. I had come to learn that it was a term used mainly for people of italian descent. Through the show I had come to learn that these “guidos” are known for their 3 step daily routines; Gym, Tanning and Laundry. This was apparent due to it being the only 3 main things that all the guys in the show would do other than clubbing. Upon doing research on the word, I found no articles relating to the word when searching for databases on the word. When searching on websites on the internet I found varying details like the origin of the word being from Saturday Night Live television comic Guido Calabresi’s name or how it originated in Italy. However, these websites of course weren’t exactly reliable considering they home to blog posts or they were wikipedias. So no concrete answers for the origin of the word. The word obviously has made itself a name in the Italian community is something I can say though. Although I am not of Italian or of Italian descent, I can definitely see myself living by some of the habits that one partakes in being a guido. One of those being 2 of the tasks that the guidos of Jersey shore live by. Gym and laundry, although laundry seeming to be one of those things that are really supposed to come naturally. Of course I can’t talk about guido like routines without really discussing upon what a guido is.

So obviously now it’s time for us to discuss what exactly a guido is. A guido or as urban dictionary would put it, is a “A sad pathetic excuse for a male; not necessarily of Italian descent, but most likely; usually native to the New York/New Jersey Tri-State Area”. Other notable qualities of a guido is a guy who spends more time on his hair than his girlfriend, goes out clubbing, or spends a lot of time in the gym. It all basically comes down to someone who overly conducts themselves in a macho manner. That to me was a mild form of the word, for I thought of it as being a douchebag, in which I was somewhat wrong. The treatment people get from these “guidos” can vary whether we’re talking about in the case of relationships or even in friendships. Altogether I was wrong in thinking that however for being a guido isn’t really in the treatment of a person but rather the way you conduct yourself. Something funny that came with learning the term was that I never acknowledged guidos as being their own category when I filter people, but now that I know what they are and what they look like I can pinpoint a guido when I see one. One thing I was able to see was a guidette, but I never knew there was a term for it too.

To summarize, I stumbled upon a show called Jersey Shore in which 7 roomates would bring so much drama and entertainment, overall taking MTV and bringing a new name to reality TV. This would go on for the summers of 2009 – 2012 and viewers would grow to know and love cast members Pauly Delvecchio or “Pauly D”, Deena Cortese, Nicole Polizzi or “Snooki”, Jenni Farley or “JWoww”, Mike Sorrentino or “The Situation”, Ronnie Ortiz Magro, Vinny Guadanino, Samantha Giancola or “Sammi Sweetheart”, and finally, the most despised Angelina Pivarnick. It would be because of this said show that I would come to also stumble upon the term. It can also be noted that due to the popularity and success of this show, other branches like Geordie Shore, Floribama Shore, and Acapulco Shore that take place in other places in the world have also appeared as an option on the screens of reality tv viewers. So until watching the show, I had known nothing previously about the term having never heard it in the first place. After doing my research I would come to learn about a lot of things surrounding the word, however, nothing concrete considering the information was found on websites that were nothing short of being unreliable. All in all though one thing that I know that was concrete was the love for reality tv that I was left with after completing all 6 seasons of the show. For it provided me with all of the drama and relatability that I so craved.

Saalik Jackson

 

    “Nani!?” A Japanese word most commonly used in the English subtitled version of Anime. Anime I’m English dubbed is without a doubt much more comfortable to watch. However, those who do watch the English dubbed version of anime miss out on certain words like Nani. This word when translated to English means “what?”. The actors deliver this phrase with great bafflement in their voices.This word is very popular on the internet amongst anime watchers. In Japan it may just be a common phrase, however, it has become ubiquitous in the United States. There are many memes on the internet that use this word. Nani, a one word phrase, is common knowledge to all anime watchers in both the United States and Japan.

The word is so used that there is no way that a consistent viewer would not know of the word. Regardless of knowing or not knowing it’s meaning, any anime watcher has at least heard of the word. The word made it’s way from Japanese language in to the

    This word is very popular in the Japanese audio of anime. Anime are animated tv shows that are started in Japan and spread to the rest of the world. Anime has gained a lot of popularity in Japan as well as in the United States.Characters often use the word nani when they are shocked about something that another character did. For example, when a character is hit by a surprise attack he or she might respond with “Nani!?”.  The one word phrase is a remark that is almost equivalent to the saying “excuse me?” Or “I beg your pardon” in a confused tone. A lot of times a character might say Nani because they got hit with an overwhelming attack of mental distraught.

     The word Nani alone is very common in English subbed anime so it’s no surprise that viewers in the United States would know of the word. In addition to how common it is, the word’s popularity in the United States can also be credited to the memes on social media. Kenshiro, a Japanese character from Tetsou Hara’s 1980’s series titled  Fist of the North Star, is the reason why there are so many memes with this word. There is a clip from the series that displays kenshiro attacking people. After kenshiro finishes his brutal assault he then calmly says his signature phrase “Omae wa mou shindeiru”. When translated to English this phrase means “ you’re already dead”. Once kenshiro says this, his enemies would then say “Nani” in a confused tone. After the character screams the word then they collapse and die, just as kenshiro proclaimed. These clips exploded over the internet and get millions of views from people around the world. Not only were people in the United States introduced to the word Nani, but they also are introduced to the other series I had previously mentioned,” first of the North Star”.

     The internet introduces Americans to a lot of things. One of these many things is Japanese culture. The use of social media such as Facebook and Instagram have made it easier to find out certain things. The platforms prove to be very informative. Social media provides information that both does and does not  pertain to you. What makes social media significant is that once something takes off and becomes viral, it’s hard for a person to avoid it. This is the case with the word Nani and the kenshiro meme. It was everywhere on Facebook and Instagram that you could not possibly avoid it. There was no kind of way that an avid user of social media had not seen or heard of the word Nani at least once.  By way of social media, the word Nani had became significantly known in the United States amongst many social media users.

      People who adamantly use Facebook and other forms of social media learn a lot of things. Nani is just one of the words that people may have learned due to the internet. Not only does it hold vast knowledge, but social media can also be an influencer. Depending on how often you might see certain words like Nani, you might tend to use the word in your vernacular. Someone who has often seen or heard this word might introduce it to a friend. Then the cycle continues and the word starts to spread. This is a perfect example of how words and phrases catch on amongst a group a people. For example, the New York phrase “Deadass” had to come from somewhere.  Someone had to hear it and then start using it and in result, made it spread. People don’t often realize it but they make things catch on and go viral just by conversing. Whether it be for 2 days or just 2 minutes, that duration of time speaking about a subject can contribute to it spreading and increasing in its popularity. This is exactly what social media does for different subjects. No matter what the subject is, any thing in the world has the potential to become viral and spread amongst people on the internet.

        The word Nani is most often used in a confused tone regardless of the situation. Whether during a fight or a regular conversation, Nani is typically exclaimed enthusiastically. Usually it is said more enthusiastic than the many other words in the Japanese language. Some words are usually said more calmly and more reserved than Nani. For example, the Japanese  word gomennsai. This word means to apologize in a very polite way. This word is almost the equivalent of apologizing after bumping into a stranger on the subway. The word Nani has become so significant to some anime viewers because this word stands out more than many others.

     Sometimes, but not always, things will become overwhelmingly popular. Things will sometimes get so popular and spread to a lot of media and entertainment. Things get so popular in one place that it inevitably spreads to somewhere else. Television shows at times may reference something that has gotten popular. Some cartoons reference memes that have went viral on the internet. This also happens with songs as well. Unfortunately, to my knowledge Nani has not been a word featured in any media in the United States other than the internet. Nani is a word that a lot of people know but some do not. Only people who often use social media or watch anime would only recognize this word.

       The summarize, things from other countries often influence things in the United States. Anime has become very popular in the United States despite being something that started in Japan. The word Nani has become very known by many people that live in the United States. This includes both people who watch anime and people who don’t partake in it. The word was able to spread from Japan to the United States through the use of the internet, more specifically social media.