Getting things -on

Call me daft. Call me old. Call me daft and old, or even old and daft-- but what is it with my freshman comp students lame desire to add the word "on" to any everyday word to make it smack of ghetto-fabulousness? And, moreover, since when is ghetto-fabulous language appropriate in academic writing?

A few years ago-- one student wrote about "getting [his] dance on" at the smarmy and horrible Wayside-- a bar many upperclassmen call The Wastedside. And just recently, another girl wrote about "getting [her] drink on." What the hell does that mean?

Truly, when I say, "I am putting my pants on," or, "I am putting this lid on," it's not because I'm trying to adopt a certain tone. I guess I just don't understand the youthful desire to affect any tone, other than the one you were meant to have.

I wish it would mean something when I tell them to write authentically. But, to write authentically, I guess that means you have to live authenthically as well-- because that's how you learn to listen to, and even like, the voice you were gifted with. This desire is one of the main reasons I tell me students: focus on "I", not "you." We're interested in YOUR experiences, not in you telling us about ours.

(I'm going to) Get my write on.