I code switch yet it’s often completely involuntary and sometimes nonsensical. Why does the Chicano accent slip out when I’m talking to my Arab Amazigh best friend from New Jersey.

de sícret súperpawer dat coms wiz bíeng multilíngual is dat iou can baisiclie récode eni lángueage accordingue tou eni odère fonolodzy dat ju noł of. idz soł kól! olso ju kan コンフューズ　ザ　ヘック　アウト　オフ　ヨア　フレンズ。

per o in taint a no dart eh oon anay ooriss mah, a veth ess ess mooey deefeetheel

Masking is so funny cause wym I walk around talking like:

Yea I don kno wha it iz yer tryna do but-cha sure as shit aint doin it righ. Yall aint even know whatchall even doin no more an clearly ih shows. Whatcha talkin about? What bout tha stahs? Ya nah I done sweapt'em

And suddenly code switching into:

Hello! Im so sorry, but I do not know how to do this, Could you please assist me? Sometimes, these things can be extremely complicated to understand without proper explanation. Oh, it’s that simple? Thank you!

so my ao3/pornhub linguistics post has gotten semi-popular and I’m reminded of that time a straight guy asked me if I knew what “getting your salad tossed” meant and I was like “no???” and he was like “wow, you’re so innocent” and then explained with this look on his face like he was waiting for me to gasp and clutch my pearls and I was like, “dude, I know what anilingus aka rimming is; I’ve just never heard it called that stupid name before.”

I’m dating myself, I know. This was before everyone started simply referring to it as ass eating, which is certainly the most self-explanatory of all the possible terms for it.

Code Switching and what it is

🧩🔑🪄Part infotainment, part D.I.Y. intuitive scrolling mystery school! Fortified with art, philosophy, memes, music, movies & more!📺 Welcome!🎱#youtuberecommendedchronicles🔮 Find my podcasts #SupplementalBroadcast #PanPanenPiousPropheticPonderings & #BleepzNBloopzandtheOontzOontzOontz on #473x4ndr14 (available on Odysee, YouTube & Rumble)🎙️ Soundtrack & original music available on #C0P3RN1CANR3C0RD5 via SoundCloud & look for #TheC0P3RN1CANDispatch across all major music platforms!!!📻 #TheGreatsResist #TheGreatAwakening #TheGreatTaking #ChosenOnes #Lightworker #Starseed #144K An #OKCopernicus Production. PLUR & art hard!🪬🕯️😱🙏🧿🫶🏼👽👹👼🏼🎪🤹🏽‍♀️🤡🔥🎯🎲🎰🎟️

Ah’ve noticed lately, that due tae mahn increased requirement tae code-switch amongst familia, Ah’ve been sayen ‘why’ “nOrMaLlY” more oft… Auch, due tae both mah fath’s gradually degrading ears und his fath’s semi-Beethovenism, Ah’ve adopted more frequent use of ejective consonants.

sometimes i think i don’t have that heavy of an accent. then i go up north and realize i sound like i came barreling out of one of the hatfields shotguns

I’m such a fucking code switcher.

My friend was on the phone with me friend on the bus and then this guy asked me a question (he was a black guy, idk if that’s important) and we had this whole conversation and I forgot my friend was there. When it ended and I went back to my phone she was like “why did you talk like that” idk man, I just do that subconsciously. I talk how the other person talks/what I think they expect me to talk

… I’m not code or soul switching for people to like me…

That moment when your MIL is using racist language and it’s your job to send the message, “We don’t talk like that here.”

But seriously, it’s not the end of the world if black employees don’t code switch at work. It’s not less professional. It’s a freaking dialect. Stop trying to make them sound lesser because you’re whiter than sour cream.

Faike (fait-que), I’m writing this like near-future revolutionary story, pi le code switching sa va etre une des façon que nos bonhommes se guardes cachées. It’s gonna be pretty cool I think.

Uh oh. A YouTuber cleared their throat. There went the “authentic” voice. Some Black women switch registers, soft to steel, tuned to the room. Not fake. Fluent.

Tell me about your codes/dialects/mannerisms in the tags!

Tonight’s bardic tale is a fable for our times: when the Council of Gold meets for the Joust Most Grand, who really calls the tune? Power, protest, and music clash in Dreamspace. Read, reflect, and decode—magic always finds a way. #BardicTale #DreamspaceDispatch #CodeSwitching

The Council of Gold & The Joust Most Grand

“I know certain forms of code-switching have been responsible for saving our lives as Black people and key to our survival, so in that way I’m not judgmental,” Harriell says. “I understand that my ability to not code-switch is a privilege, but it’s also a privilege my people died for, therefore for me, I have to [be myself] or else I feel as if I’m doing my ancestors a disservice.” (via Code-Switching Is Not Trying to Fit in to White Culture, It’s Surviving It - YES! Magazine Solutions Journalism)

See also Cringe or comfort? Why some Black people ‘code switch’ their accents | Society | The Guardian

Two Chinese cosplayers hanging out. They seem interested in anime-style games! Community! I can maybe relate to them as a fan who’s also Chinese.

I go up to them and start with a compliment on their cosplay in English. I then ask them if their cosplay is from X game.

They look at me and answer shyly and awkwardly in English, like they’re politely answering an outsider’s question.

I end the conversation with a pleasant remark, and step away to the other side of the room to do my own thing.

The two Chinese cosplayers switch to Mandarin to converse.

I still understand the language.

It’s not like they’re gossiping about me specifically. But it doesn’t matter the exact thing they’re discussing.

I am reminded I’m not part of their group.

Always Switching!

Code switching sneaks up on you. Stopped at a gas station out in the countryside where some conservative looking gentleman where hanging out, and i didn’t notice till just now that I deepened my voice and started talking more tersely, masculine and stuff. Weird.