I Like The Way I Talk

I like the way I talk. The words I choose to use, the ways I put those words together, how I ask questions, the ways I respond to questions, every single characteristic and mannerism I have, I have chosen. And the reason I choose them is simple: they make me happy.

Words are collections of sounds with meanings. That belief is why the musicality of language matters so much to me. I care about how my words sound. I have a large enough vocabulary that I can choose countless synonyms or sentence structures - I can say any given thought in a dozen ways on average. Therefore, what matters most is picking the one that is most pleasant to my ears and mind.

And, the combination of exposure to people's verbal styles and my own experimentation with language has produced a style of language that I very much enjoy. It is a combination of standard and nonstandard language. It has academic prose and colloquial banter. It switches between outdated Ebonics and Shakespearean English. It can be either circuitous or direct.

In general, though, it is distinctly mine. And I really like it that way.