Got an interesting e-mail today.  Of course, it came from someone that didn’t want to use his or her real name.  It typically goes like that.

Hey Bomani,
I think you have the most interesting take on sports of anyone at the station.  It is unfortunate that part of your style is terrible grammar.  Saying  “ain’t”  every now and then is ok but you say ” ain’t no” in practically every sentence. (?)
What’s the point?  Are you trying to appeal to a young demographic??    I don’t get it. 
I turn the station because you sound like a stereotype and you know what I am talking about.   ( Is it not cool to sound like you finished college?)
Disgusted in Orange County

I suppose I should start by saying thanks. From there, I kinda wonder how this kind listener doesn’t see the connection between his seemingly disparate points.
If I were being self-indulgent and literary, I’d say I sound like someone that lives between worlds but truly inhabits none but his own.  That’s only if I were that sort of guy, though.  Instead, I’ll just say I speak like I speak.
On my show, I talk with you the way I would talk with you if you were hanging out in my living room.  In my living room, the last thing I’m concerned with is whether nouns and verbs agree.  In private company, you have the advantage of doing things with language that allow you to deviate from the rules of grammar to convey a range of emotions.  If it sounds funny or cool, I can roll with it.  The spoken word allows unparalleled flexibility when it comes to making words pop.
And I use it.  Gonna use it ’til I use it up, in fact.  Check the archives of this blog if you don’t believe me.
The purpose of communication is not to follow rules, but to get thoughts, ideas and feelings across.  I could be wrong, but I think I take care of that on my shows.  If the grammar offends your sensibilities, I’d hate to hear what you think about some of the things I say.
Now, is it cool to sound like you didn’t go to college?  Well, it’s isn’t necessarily uncool, particularly if you didn’t go to college.  
Of course, I don’t sound like that.  I’m not sure it’s my place to say that, but I’m pretty sure I sound like I went to college no matter what I’m saying or talking about.  I started college the day I was born, and I’ve never really stopped going.  That’s the world I came from.
One thing I learned from college — and it’s something I learned from both those that did and didn’t attend school — intelligence doesn’t have a standardized sound.  What gets so many people fooled is thinking that sounding “polished” is the same as being smart.  It’s not.  That thinking is nothing but a con game, one that separates the washed and unwashed but does little else.
I’m smart.  I sound smart.  Why?  Because I’m smart and, when I talk, this is what smart sounds like.  Sounds different if I’m on a job interview or dealing with one of those fuckers at tech support, but it’s all smart.  I couldn’t hide it as a kid, so why try now?
The connection, you ask?  I have enough faith in my insights — or whatever the hell it is that I offer on the air — will shine through whatever diction I use.  You can say I don’t speak properly, but you can’t say I don’t speak clearly.  That you understand me is what’s most important (after not cussing, which really requires me a great deal of energy).  That you hear it as I think it comes next.  Whether or not you think I went to college is wayyyyy low on the list.
My shows are mine.  My house, if you will.  Anyone’s welcome to hang out.  The FCC might affect how I speak, but the opinions of an English teacher will not.
I leave you with a listener that seems to get my point.

Professor,
I just had to write in and comment on the e-mailer this AM and your response regarding the use of impactful grammar…
Einstein once said (and I’m paraphrasing here) that you really don’t understand something unless you can explain it to your grandmother.  In other words, part of any conversation is knowing your audience.  
Many of the students I work with are nursing majors who are in the front line (so to speak) in combating illness and injury.  One thing they must do is communicate with the patients and the family about what is going on…a skill that is not emphasized by the MDs themselves.  Different assignments in my courses have different goals in terms of communication levels.  Some papers and presentations are formal while others are not.  In fact my favorite assignment is what I call a ‘Grandmother Summary’ (I know…it needs a much better name).  Students have to write a short paper summarizing a particular topic as if they are talking to their grandmother.  I often get a better handle on just what the students have LEARNED as opposed to MEMORIZED with this assignment.
Long letter, but I do have a point (somewhere).  You know your audience and you speak TO us, not AT us.  I don’t always agree with your views but I love your shows because you support your views and do a tremendously entertaining job at presenting them.
Great work.
Kevin