...The root of why the slang words are created and seem to grow in popularity instantly and, sometimes, die off just as quickly is something that has been studied but a complete explanation for the process is yet to exist. There are many reasons, such as music, politics, and technology that create new slang terms and explain their growth. To analyze some of the reasons why and how specific slang words have appeared and disappeared in American culture throughout the last sixty years, I will interview a person from another generation about their experiences with slang in their time and compare it to my own experience of slang in today’s society. To understand the evolution of slang I interviewed my boyfriend’s dad, Bruce. I interviewed Bruce over...
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...* In a restaurant, eat an apple with a knife and fork. * Eat chicken with your hands in a restaurant. * Fill a wine-glass to the brim. * Put your elbows on the table during a meal. * Speak with your mouth full. * Put your hands below the table while you are seated at the table during a meal. * Take a bite out of your piece of bread (or a bread roll) and put it back on the table. * Use your hand to remove food from around your mouth. * Dunk biscuits or toast in coffee before eating it. Smoking * Smoking during a meal. * Smoking in a restaurant. * Smoking in someone’s house. * Smoking in the car. Slang Words that are not a part of standard vocabulary or language and are used informally are called slang. These words are mostly used in speech rather than in writing. Slang can be divided into four different types; country slang, urban slang, gay slang and common slang. Country slang is used by those who are in the rural parts of a country, while urban slang is spoken by those from the city or by African-Americans. Gay slang is used by gays,...
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...Slang, informal, nonstandard words and phrases, generally shorter lived than the expressions of ordinary colloquial speech, and typically formed by creative, often witty juxtapositions of words or images. Slang can be contrasted with jargon (technical language of occupational or other groups) and with argot or cant (secret vocabulary of underworld groups), but the borderlines separating these categories from slang are greatly blurred, and some writers use the terms cant,argot, and jargon in a general way to include all the foregoing meanings. Origins of slang Slang tends to originate in subcultures within a society. Occupational groups (for example, loggers, police, medical professionals, and computer specialists) are prominent originators of both jargon and slang; other groups creating slang include the armed forces, teenagers, racial minorities, ghetto residents, labor unions, citizens-band radiobroadcasters, sports groups, drug addicts, criminals, and even religious denominations (Episcopalians, for example, produced spike, a High Church Anglican). Slang expressions often embody attitudes and values of group members. They may thus contribute to a sense of group identity and may convey to the listener information about the speaker's background. Before an apt expression becomes slang, however, it must be widely adopted by members of the subculture. At this point slang and jargon overlap greatly. If the subculture has enough contact with the mainstream...
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...linguists have endeavoured to clearly define what constitutes slang.[1] Attempting to remedy this, Bethany K. Dumas and Jonathan Lighter argue that an expression should be considered "true slang" if it meets at least two of the following criteria:[1] It lowers, if temporarily, "the dignity of formal or serious speech or writing"; in other words, it is likely to be considered in those contexts a "glaring misuse of register." Its use implies that the user is familiar with whatever is referred to, or with a group of people who are familiar with it and use the term. "It's a taboo term in ordinary discourse with people of a higher social status or greater responsibility. " It replaces "a well-known conventional synonym". This is done primarily to avoid discomfort caused by the conventional synonym or discomfort or annoyance caused by having to elaborate further. Michael Adams remarks that "[slang] is liminal language... it is often impossible to tell, even in context, which interests and motives it serves... Slang is on the edge."[2] And while efforts like Adams' open slang up for discussion, introductory definitions like his and Partridge's "Slang To-Day and Yesterday" offer "little more than a sketch" of what slang is.[2] [3] Slang dictionaries, collecting thousands of slang entries, offer a broad, empirical window into the motivating forces behind slang.[4] While many forms of language may be considered "sub-standard", slang remains distinct from colloquial and jargon terms because...
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...research will focus on how to avoid using the rude and not useful words especially in high schools. When non-native speakers use the language in informally way, in particular teenagers, that would confuse them because they don’t realize that they speaking impolitely. Furthermore, that would make difficulties in differentiate between what is appropriate "formal" and what inappropriate "not formal". By a survey with a questionnaire divided into two sections, first one is for the English teachers and another one is for the students, it's...
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...instant messaging and text messaging. People talk in some form everyday whether it be calling a friend to check on them or catching up on different online forums. Language is used to inform the people around us of our different feelings, desires and questions. Through the years, people have been making a list of new vocabulary on the board. Demands on our time have become bigger because of this rise in talking and so we shorten words and sentences. People have become inconvenienced by how much explaining there is and so “slang” is born. These are alternative words or phrases that express either something new or something old in a new way. Its colorful metaphors are generally directed at decency. It is brief, even witty but it can also be disrespectful. Slang, then, contains not just words but words used in a different way in a certain social context. When an individual applies language in a new way to express themselves, they may be creating slang, but the new expression will die unless it is picked up...
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...speaking “differently”. Language is a great thing. It’s what we use to communicate with others. Each country has different kinds of languages with different accents. Communication is used everywhere in the world. Everyone communicates all the time. But communication is much more than just talking and listening; it involves understanding and interpreting. Language can both include and exclude groups of people through the use of slang, family adaptations, and non-natives. First, there are many types of communication that involve slang everywhere in the world. Professional communication or slang in my opinion, is the way someone speaks naturally rather than trying to sound high class or use big words. Just because someone knows bigger, broader words doesn’t make it professional. In George Orwell’s essay, Politics and the English language, he states how language is full of bad habits when he says, “Modern English, especially written English, is full of bad habits which spread by imitation.” This is true because bad habits do stick, just like slang. The world communicates with slang which makes it hard for some to communicate. Professional communication can be looked at as a way in which someone presents themselves, rather than the way they speak. There is no legitimate right way of speaking English but the way in which one best interprets it. People easily adapt to slang wherever they go. Slang is defined as a type of language that consists of words and phrases...
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...to the opinions of mankind, requires that Americans should recognize slang adopted into language. We hold these truths to be self-evident: that language is expression of thought, in the form of speech or written symbols, that have agreed-upon meanings. That, many large speaking languages contain dialects, or other versions of languages within a community, that are different in some aspects of grammar, pronunciation, or vocabulary. That, because language is a form of one’s own ideas and expression, everyone possesses his or her own individual language, or idiolect. That, not only does perception change language, but that language changes perception. That, through the course of history, idiolects have shaped dialects, which have shaped language, which in turn, have shaped concepts. Conservatives, indeed, will dictate that languages will follow a narrow path toward a standard language. And accordingly, expression will follow the rules and guidelines that limit thought, rather than the ability to rethink old vocabulary and enrich new ones. When we speak, write, learn, and think in a slowly evolving vocabulary, which does not adapt to the more rapid introduction of cultures, concepts, fashion, and technology, we must add new meaning to conventional vocabulary. Such has been the language of Conservative American English speakers and writers, who have discouraged the use of creative language and the use of dialects and idiolects....
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...Archaic words These words are no longer in everyday use or have lost a particular meaning in current usage but are sometimes used to impart an old-fashioned flavor to historical novels, for example, or in standard conversation or writing just for a humorous effect. Some, such as bedlam, reveal the origin of their current meaning, while others reveal the origin of a different modern word, as with gentle, the sense of which is preserved in gentleman. Some, such as learn and let, now mean the opposite of their former use. 1. Abroad-out of doors 2. Accouchement-birthing 3. Advertisement-a notice to readers in a book Obsolete. Words This label is attached to entry words and senses for which there is little or no printed evidence since 1755. A temporal label commonly used by lexicographers (that is, editors of dictionaries) to indicate that a word (or a particular form or sense of a word) is no longer in active use in speech and writing. 1. “bell, book, and candle” – the popes of old’s favoured way of excommunicating someone, but also a fancy way to intensify your retelling of screeching or railing at someone. 2. “with squirrel” – pregnant. 3. “balderdash” – once an adulterated wine, also an en mode way of saying that something is untrue. Jargon Words Jargon is a literary term that is defined as a use of specific phrases and words by writers in a particular situation, profession or trade. These specialized terms are used to convey hidden meanings accepted...
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...Slang has been around for quite a while in the Americas and has become an integral part of our society. We rely on colloquialisms for the sake of simplicity; it is the heart of each generation’s culture as it lays the basic foundation of language for each succeeding one. Slang truly is the way youth rebel and it helps establish an “emblem of tribe identity” within certain groups. Adult authorities have the power to pick and choose what children can wear or style themselves with. However, what is out of their control is kids’ use of slang words or listening to music containing slang even though they are allowed to because it is natural for them to become exposed to reality and to express their thoughts and feelings in a unique manner. Slang is indeed the “core element of youth culture” that disregards universal regulation....
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...bucks district. A very small, quiet town, where the youngsters terminology is mainly influenced by other places in the UK. London would be one of the main places in the UK where the youth of Aylesbury pick up their slang words and "ghetto talk" from. Like words such as "enit", "bruv", "wagwarn" etc are the most common words interpurated from East London. Many phrases such as these may not be familiar with the elder generation as their use of slang is very diffrent to the 21st century terminology of slang words. Along the years slang words have become more and more informal and harder to understand for people who are not common with those types of words. Slang is mainly used amongst people of the age group of 25 and younger. Slang is not used all the time in every day life, it is most commonly used amongst friends and other youngsters who are familiar with that fashion of speech. However, I would, (along with many other youngsters), change my idiolect for those who are older than me, or when I'm in a much more formal situation such as an interview or when I'm speaking with a teacher or my parents. My speech is changed from slang to appropriate English grammar to match the level of formality I am surrounded within. For example around my parents limited amount of slang still exists, such as "mum, we're meeting Aunty jenny at the shopping hall at 4 enit" for example. My words have changed to fit...
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...Examples of Slang Language Slang is a perpetual whirlwind of creativity among the young and avante garde. These groups are constantly breaking new ground with artistic expressions of their lives and the life around them. It’s impossible to be in a hip nightclub, or at a cutting edge art gallery, without the latest slang flying around like confetti. Why do people use slang? There are many answers as there are people who are continually reinventing English as we speak. Teenagers Are Experts One of the first signs of impending adolescence is the desire to put space between you and your parents’ generation, and the fastest way to do that is through the art of language. Teenagers develop their own idioms and expressions that make adults scratch their heads, trying to figure out what the slang means (and if it’s something they should be upset about.) For example: • Emo - If you’re “all emo,” it’s like being a drama queen (a slightly older expression.) Emo was a type of music that seemed to rip at the souls of adolescent angst. It frequently included wearing all black clothing, dying one’s hair pitch black, and having a complexion so paper white that it looked as if the teen had grown up in the basement. To be emo was to be perpetually depressed, moody, and emotional, and perpetually at odds with society (even if it was nothing more than a pose.) • My bad - If a teen has made a mistake, the phrase “my bad” is frequently employed as a cover. It means what it appears to mean: “I...
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...English: “… but if you go to an interview and you can't shake hands, look someone in the eye and speak in the appropriate register, you are not going to get the job or place at university”. Sheffield Spring academy advises its pupils to avoid the use of informal words such as “hiya” and “ta” when they’re in school. The teachers will try to learn the pupils when to use Standard English and when to use colloquial language. Kathy August from The United Learning Trust (ULT) says that by doing this they will enhance their prospects of getting a job or a place at the university; so basically the reason is that you won’t be declined because of your accent. The thing about slang is that it is very appealing to children and adolescents. Slang is part of Black English. Maria Manning researched how it was used in a school and saw to her big surprise that many children of different ethnic backgrounds used slang. The main reason was that they wanted to rebel against a culture that had nothing to offer them. Both white and black pupils, who are from the most deprived parts of England as Sheffield Spring, feel excluded from the “British culture” which represents Standard English. This could be a reason why the “slang prohibition” won’t work. Maybe it will just make them more belligerent against the culture. According to the text “Standard English and Received Pronunciation” some people think that the link between accent and social status is weakening. On the other hand we have some...
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...Like Killing the English Language” Kirk Johnson talks about different slang expressions most kids use today. Johnson believes this is the ideal language for such a modern world and how enriched our language has become. I use all of these expressions that are mentioned in this essay such as “duh” and “like” for example.The usage of this language is used in ways like “I’m so done like I don’t even know why she did that.” The usage of the word “duh” can be explained by this quote, “Well obviously I got my homework done duh.”Other examples of slang language are how some girls in my grade have code names for certain people. Instead of using their names they replace it with the name of a food or object....
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...on how to speak and write. The various ways of communication do not matter if it is the same language or not because slang, text, or more can all be in the same language or in various languages such as Spanglish. Although, we mostly speak Spanish in my family, in various moments we tend to speak Spanglish. Spanglish is a form of bilingualism that consists of English and Spanish. Even though we include a mixture of English and Spanish we understand what we are saying to one another. “Language...
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