"Articulate"

[nancylebov]

[Poll #1232733]

Addendum: If anyone's got access to the OED, could you post their definition?

Comments

[onceupon.livejournal.com]

I think it is entirely situation-dependent - just like most other adjectives. It's all about context because it can be deeply backhanded and/or patronizing, or just a nice compliment. It depends on the speaker/writer and the object and the circumstances - there is no general rule.

[goodbyemyboy.livejournal.com]

This exactly.

[rm.livejournal.com]

Totally situation dependent. But yeah, I increasingly see it in a veiled racist useage.

[nancylebov.livejournal.com]

Until recently, I thought it was an entirely legitimate compliment, and I wouldn't at all mind hearing it applied to me.

However, I recently read a discussion of how badly it can blow up, and checked the definition, and I think I see where the ambiguity is. "Articulate" (if we aren't talking about bones) means well-spoken. I grew up in an environment where accent wasn't at all an issue, so I assumed it meant being able to make one's meaning clear. It turns out that it can also mean just making the sounds of the language well, and that's quite a patronizing sort of compliment.

[cellio]

This comment was the first I've ever heard that this term might be objectionable to anybody. I, like you, thought it was about what you say, not how you say it. The "how", to me, is enunciation (which doesn't have an adjectival form), and in the context of vocal performance it comes up all the time. If "articulate" is slopping over into that space now, then I'm disappointed. (I also don't plan to change my usage.)

"I was expecting someone taller."

[gildedacorn.livejournal.com]

>This comment was the first I've ever heard that this term might be objectionable to anybody

News to me too.

Now, if it's said to you by someone who meets you face-to-face for the first time after they've been talking to you on the phone for months and never used such a term before, *then* I'd get suspicious.* But it's not in the definition of a perfectly good word.

Re: "I was expecting someone taller."

[cellio]

Sure, any positive word can be turned negative, depending on context, tone of voice, etc -- this is why sarcasm works. I'm glad to hear I'm not the only one who considers the word, on its own, to be reasonable.

[crystalpyramid]

I read this right after rolling out of bed, and was trying to figure out how the verb "articulate" had any of these meanings.

I think used as a sincere compliment, "articulate" is never used alone, because it's not a very strong compliment. Used alone, it has somewhat patronizing overtones — it's a word I associate with a school setting, people learning to express themselves, although certainly not all adults can. Used with something else "charming and articulate" or "detailed and articulate" it can be fine.

I also think that, while it's not a strong compliment to say a politician is articulate, it's easier to get away with when we're used to having a leading politician who's definitely not.

[madfilkentist]

I'm amazed that there are people who read your journal and apply a double standard, that being articulate is something for white people but not black people.

Barack Obama, whatever I think of his politics, is very articulate. Is someone going to say "Blacks shouldn't be articulate"?? And do those people have the gall to claim that I'm racist?

[nancylebov.livejournal.com]

See my comment above. It's a word with a double meaning, and where the emphasis falls depends a lot on context.

It's racist to think that blacks generally can't speak clear English and should be complimented when they do. Unfortunately, "articulate" has apparently been used that way so often that it's not necessarily a compliment.

[cucumberseed.livejournal.com]

Not to put words in the mouth of those who chose the option, but I assume they were thinking of the way Sen. Biden used it on Sen. Obama, which was fairly patronizing (especially coupled with the descriptors "clean" and "fairy tale"). In that context, "articulate" implies you're surprised to find a black person who is articulate, stir in the mythology around dialect sometimes used by some African Americans, and you get a pretty easy logical trap to step into that it's always patronizing, because it's always expressing surprise. That said, most of the time, it is going to sound like that. The single exception, should there be one (a statistical certainty) is on your side as long as you're claiming it's not always like that (one instance of not disproves always), but, I think a preponderance of times, especially in light of its recent well-known use, it is.

[dr-zrfq.livejournal.com]

Perhaps I am in the minority overall, but I use "articulate" as an adjective to mean someone who is good at making themselves correctly understood in whatever language and dialect they're using. One can be just as articulate while speaking "Afro-English" (or whatever the term du jour is) of various local flavors, as one can while speaking "Southern" or "Boston" or "Des Moines" or "WCBS" or "WGN" or "KNX"... or German or Japanese or Swahili! (It will help a lot, naturally, if one's audience at least understands the language.) And one can be equally INarticulate with any of those as well.

EDIT: having noe read the rest of the thread, yes, it is very context dependent. In my own experience the context was usually stated out loud though.

[whc.livejournal.com]

I think the spread of answers supports "It's become an unuseable mess"

[cucumberseed.livejournal.com]

Conext is all important.

[mazzie.livejournal.com]

That was pretty much my reaction. I can't even pronounce it without context. :)

[jennythe-reader.livejournal.com]

It absolutely depends on context, the tone of voice of the person doing the speaking, and the state of mind of the person doing the listening.

[metahacker.livejournal.com]

"An articulate person" -> compliment
"An articulate black man" -> could be a backhanded compliment ("wow, he's surprisingly articulate -- for a black guy!")

I have never heard it used in your alternate fashion, that of the denigrating "well, he articulates well -- he can actually pronounce words!". Ar-tick-you-lut is different than ar-tick-you-late, and the latter isn't an adjective to my ears.

[nancylebov.livejournal.com]

I'm not dead certain about the pronunciation meaning-- it was a deduction.

[dcseain.livejournal.com]

I have never heard it used in your alternate fashion, that of the denigrating "well, he articulates well -- he can actually pronounce words!".

I grew up in the South, and have heard the adjective 'articulate' used in that way, always aimed at non-white or leaning-disabled people. I find that usage abhorrent if aimed at anyone much above the age of 11 or so.

[metahacker.livejournal.com]

Huh! Well, then. Learn something every day.

Is there a pronunciation or emphasis difference when used that way?

[dcseain.livejournal.com]

Nope, just said as Ar-tick-you-lut. It's one of those 'compliments' that's really an insult, or at best a condescencion, like 'Well, bless your heart', though the latter merely indicates the individual is in disagreement and is giving a verbal shrug, possibly indicating TMI depending on body language and how it's delivered.

[cakmpls.livejournal.com]

I agree with the "context is all" comments.

[lisa-marli.livejournal.com]

Republicans are turning it into a smear on Obama. *sigh*

[dcseain.livejournal.com]

Context matters a lot, but to me, it's an insult when used at anyone roughly teenaged or older, as it indicates that their speech pattern is non-standard, or expected to be non-standard based on the individual's appearance.

Exception to that is when complimenting a well-articulated point, which makes clear it's about content, not speech patterns.

So, in summary, it's a compliment when used regarding rhetoric or content, but an insult relative to speech patterns for most above a certain, roughly pre-teen, age.

[ginamariewade.livejournal.com]

A lot of times, "articulate" means "I thought you were going to be really stupid, but you surprised me."

I get it sometimes as a southerner, because southerners aren't supposed to be smart.

[malkingrey.livejournal.com]

As a compliment, "articulate" always struck me as the sort of word that would get used in a letter of recommendation for a student or former employee whom the writer didn't know all that well personally but didn't dislike enough to shoot down, either. One of those boilerplate words.

I don't know if I'd call it specificallyracist on that account, but I can definitely see the recipient of such a compliment in a non-boilerplate situation feeling in some fashion denigrated by it, with the species of denigration -- racism, sexism, classism -- being context-dependent.

[bradhicks.livejournal.com]

Contextual.

[romsfuulynn.livejournal.com]

Now - depends on context. This is true of almost any compliment, though.

I am unlikely to say of some spectacularly beautiful movie star that she has "such a pretty face." In current usage there is an unspoken corollary that there is something wrong (e.g. weight) with the rest of the person.

Beyond that - words evolve. Consider the evolution of the word awful.

Or one of my favorite examples - the word orgasm. In the early 19th century it was closer to tantrum - so a two year old my have an orgasm in the front hall.

Reading period literature or writing something set in another time can really throw us on these things, because lots of words do mean the same thing.

[robtrooper.livejournal.com]

It seems politics has taken this word and used it in a negative context.

I had previously only ever heard the term to be used in the movement of joints context and when anyone communicates in a clear and concise manner.

I believe most words can be formed to be a back handed compliment. It's not the words it's the person using them in a certain way. In the same way knives are not dangerous if only used to cut food or open a box.

This would not stop me using the term in it's correct context.

[nancylebov.livejournal.com]

It's not just politics. There's a popular (probably regional) usage which turns it into an insult.

Unfortunately, intent isn't the only determinant of how a word works. If someone has raw nerves because a word has been used as an insult in their environment, it will not work as a compliment (presumably intended to make them feel good in a straightforward way) no matter how well you mean it.

What do you consider to be the correct context?

[robtrooper.livejournal.com]

It may indeed be regional.

I wonder how long it takes for the cultural use of the word to be added as a definition.
I suppose correct context in my culture which tallies with where you linked the definitions.

[nancylebov.livejournal.com]

If I get the OED definition and it doesn't cover how problematic "articulate" can be, I'll send them a link to this thread.

[avram]

Context-dependent.

[jimtbari.livejournal.com]

Here's the OED's definition:

A. adj. I. Jointed, having joints.

1. Jointed on, united by a joint.

2. Jointed, composed of segments united by joints; e.g. the vertebral column, some sea-weeds.

b. Zool. Of the type of the ARTICULATA.

{dag}3. Of or pertaining to the joints. Obs. rare.

4. Distinctly jointed or marked; having the parts distinctly recognizable.

5. Of things immaterial, in same sense.

6. Of sound: Divided into distinct parts (words and syllables) having each a definite meaning; as opposed to such inarticulate sounds as a long musical note, a groan, shriek, or the sounds produced by animals. Also fig. speaking plainly or intelligibly.

b. articulate-speaking: using articulate speech, speaking articulately, and thus, intelligibly.

7. Hence transferred to hearing, and other sensations, and to thought and intelligence: Distinct.

II. Articled; consisting of or treated in articles.

{dag}8. Formulated in articles; e.g. a system of doctrine, a set of regulations, an agreement. Obs.

{dag}9. Charged or specified in articles. Obs.

{dag}10. Consisting of tens. See ARTICLE n. 15. Obs.

B. n. Zool. An articulate animal, one of the ARTICULATA.

Looks like the daggers (which were images that came through as "{dag}") are to make the highlight which usages are obsolete.

[dcseain.livejournal.com]

6 and 6b Interesting to me, in that there is on mention of the dialectal negative connotations i grew up with. I wonder if that's noted in the North American reference they have.

[nancylebov.livejournal.com]

Thanks very much.

I'm surprised that for both the OED and the Google collection of definitions, the majority are about joints. In my experience, "articulate" is almost always about language.

[theweaselking.livejournal.com]

Insufferably patronising. The summary meaning is "My word! You speak very well, for someone I presumed would be incoherent!"