iamshadow21
Amateur Forensics Geek
- Joined
- Oct 8, 2022
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My late stepfather, who was a Cook Islander who spoke English his whole life (though it wasn't his first language) used to use gender pronouns interchangeably. Especially with pets. Other things, he'd mix up, too. My mum's best friend who is Aboriginal was removed from her parents and institutionalised at a very young age due to governmental policies of cultural genocide and has the same quirks of language, even though the institution punished speaking anything else but English. Her first language was Kriol, and always will be.This reminded me of a story. I had a friend who'd lived in the U.S. for quite a while and spoke excellent English with only a trace of an accent.
He was once watching a tv show and the cop told the bad guy, "You have the right to counsel." He wanted to know if it was really true that when you're arrested you can ask to speak with a therapist.
Equal access in the court systems and other areas cannot be understated as to its importance. Just because you can order a coffee and chat with your colleagues does not mean you understand the quirks of jargon specific to legal settings.
MOO