What I Meant to Say Was...

It wasn’t until I actually stopped to really notice how I speak in different situations that I noticed that my speech changes according to the situation that I am in. I noticed that I speak differently in these situations: at school, at work with my immediate superior, with superiors/when I conduct business, when I am speaking to my mother, when I am speaking with my grandmother, when I am speaking with my younger siblings, and when I am speaking with my friends/fiancé. When I first started reflecting on my own speech, I really had the idea that I would only have two differences in my speech; one type of discourse when I speak to my friends and one type of discourse when I speak to everyone else. This was not the case. When I speak at school, I do a combination of things. I attempt to speak in a seemingly intellectual manner, but because I got along with my teachers so well when I was in high school, I also allow a bit of my personality to come through in my speech. It’s a formal speech, but it’s not so sterile that I sound like Ben Stein in Ferris Bueller’s Day Off. When I speak to my immediate superior at work, I speak in an informal yet respectful manner. We work closely together so that allows for the informality, but she is also my superior so I take that into account when I am speaking to her. My speech with her is somewhat conscious.

When I speak to any other authority or when I am conducting business, I do assume a very formal, sterile sort of speech. This is because of my respect for him and as well as my willingness to adhere to certain social standards. When I speak to my mother, it is more informal than when I talk to my immediate superior at work and contains more colloquial language, but there is still a level of respect in my speech that I am conscious of and try to maintain. When I speak to my grandmother, I actually regress a little bit. I become a tad childlike when I speak to her. This is a response to the fact that she still speaks to me as if I am a child. My manner of discourse with her is very instinctive, and has not changed in 21 years. I have a very authoritative yet loving tone and style of speech when I speak to my younger siblings. I am the second oldest of seven and I had a hand in raising the five siblings under me. They respect me and I respect them, but to do what they are told and when I say something that I mean it. This speech is very instinctive as well. When I speak to my friends and my fiancé, my speech is totally informal and full of colloquialisms. I am conscious of the fact that I don’t need to speak in a formal manner with them, so I can relax and allow whatever comes to my mind to come out of my mouth. None of are offended easily and things said between us would be acceptable if said to a total stranger. What was interesting to me when I started to observe myself is how smooth my transitions between the different discourses were.