I joined this listserv right before going on spring break.  When I
returned today, I found all the interesting material from you guys and
gals ready for my perusal.  It has amazed me that all these academic
people do not seem to understand that we speak and write a multiple
language in this country and always have.  No, I am not speaking about
French, Spanish, etc., but the English language itself.  Twain's love of
language and it variety are reflected in his tremendous use of dialect.
One can make fun or satirize that which one greatly admires.  I believe
he would approve of so-called academic jargon as well as he did riverboat
jargon.  That is part of the beauty of our language and the power of its
staying power, among other things of course.  Some of you put down this
academic jargon as being unreadable.  It is no more "unreadable" than
Twain is to many people.  Talk to any teacher of American literature in
high school.  Many of them will tell you that students often struggle
with Twain's use of dialect.  Do we throw Twain out.  I do not think so.
We acknowledge the complexity and beauty of our language at its various
levels.  It is not simply whether to use "big" words or "small" words: it
is the knowing of when to use a particular form of English.  I just
thought I would share my feelings.

Nick Huffman