Mario Gonzalez
November 17, 2017
English 111
Dean Ramser
Slang is Everywhere Slang is the use of words and phrases in an informal way. We often use slang to make communicating easier. Slang can be used in both speech and text and affects the way students communicate. We use slang in text to express emotions such as, “LOL.” Slang is also commonly used in our everyday lives. Although, slang can be used to make communication with another individual easier it can also lead to problems with the way they act at school. Slang can also cause people to feel excluded from a certain social group. Without the knowledge of the lingo people will feel left out. Understanding the uses of slang can help determine what kinds social
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Usually a younger individual will use more slang than an older person would. For example, I interviewed my younger brother and asked how often he uses slang. He stated, “ I use slang every day when I am with my friends at school.” Younger people try to use slang to make it simpler to communicate with one another or to try and say things without an older person understanding them. For example, one will say, “ I feel you.” When you first read that you will think that they are physically touching them, however that is not the case. What that actually means is they know what the person is saying or they understand their situation. Another example is “fam.” “Fam” is used to signify a close friend. Normally “fam” would be used to describe family. According to Ryan Lytle’s article, “How Slang Affects Students in The Classroom” an interviewee stated, ‘For future students of high school and college, this is the language they're growing up with.’ Slang is also commonly used in middle school where my younger brother is currently in. This language he uses can include and exclude others in numerous ways, and can also impact the way students speak or write in a school environment. Slang that younger people use can include people because of the terms that are used. “Fam” is a popular word used and can bring people together because it signifies a close friendship. It can also create an issue with others feeling left out because …show more content…
In my experience with videogames I have also used slang to communicate. Whenever I lose a game of FIFA, I will often say, “I choked.” Choke is commonly used when someone is having a difficult time breathing. In this case however, it is used to show that I lost undeservedly. Choking in a video games means you lost when you were once in the lead or in control of the game. This can also be used in real life sports. If for example, the Lakers were winning and dominating the game, but at the end the Warriors won the game, it would be considered a “choke.” According to Sheila Collins’ “Slang influences Today’s Society. That’s so Dope”, Collins states, “ Even though slang is widespread, some people think it is an inappropriate distortion of the english language.” Slang is used everywhere. Regardless of the environment, you will always encounter slang. Slang used with sports is just one of the many forms of slang used in the United
In the article, “Does Im Make U dum”, the author states how instant messaging has made us become “dum”. The issue of using popular texting abbreviations like, “lol”, “brb”, or “gtg” can either be an effective or unproductive way of expression. Using abbreviations through texting are so commonly used by children, teenagers, and adults. Statistics show that children are younger than ever for when they are first exposed to mobile phones and text messaging. A 2005 ChildWise study that one-in-four children under the age of eight had a mobile phone.
The constant changing of technology and social norms makes difficult for different generations to understand one another and fully relate to each other. Diction and slang change as years pass and what is socially acceptable may have been prohibited in the previous generations.
According to Payne, casual language is a form of Registers of Language defined as, “Language between friends and is characterized by a 400- to 800-word vocabulary. Word choice is general and not specific” (27). The family was able to communicate throughout their community using casual language; however, they could not switch from register to register when needed. As validated by Donny’s story, children are greatly influenced by those around them. Children are most likely to follow in their parent’s footsteps, which contribute to the cycle of low
The language has been used in writing before and many books use this type of language so they can build a connection to the real world. It is vital for teens especially in 8th grade and above to learn how important it is to stray away from these potentially hurtful words and how this type of language can set a certain tone to a
diatribe, is popular in schools country-wide. In its way, this is a tour de force of black English and underworld slang, as
In the essay if Black English Isn’t a Language, Then Tell Me, What is? by James Baldwin and Mother Tongue by Amy Tan both shows idea of uses of slang and language in different context. In the essay if Black English Isn’t a Language, Then Tell Me, What is? Baldwin states that how language has changed and evolved overtime, Baldwin describes how black English were used as white English, in civil rights movement where blacks were treated as slaves and the used slang language to communicate so that the whites won’t understand. This slang was taken from black language and now everyone uses to make the communication short. In the essay Mother Tongue Tan explains that how language could affect people from different culture. Tan states that how Asian students in America struggle in English. Tan also states that her mother is smart but she couldn’t communicate in English. Tan thinks that’s a big disadvantage for her mother and people coming from different countries cannot show their talent because of their weakness in communication.
Language use is an important social activity within these subcultures and can show how resistance is a central theme among the participants. ‘Subcultures emerged in relation to dominant culture, reacting against blocked economic opportunities, lack of social mobility, alienation, adult authority and the banality of suburban life.’ (Haenfler, 2004: 407) Youth subcultures attract a lot of attention from media as the members tend to be highly visible and take part in activities that the categorised ‘ordinary’ people wouldn’t engage with. This subculture is studied to help express and explore the changes within society and changes within the future. In Harvey Sacks reading, (1984), he describes the kind of work that ‘ordinary’ involves: ‘So one part of the job [doing being ordinary] is that you have to know what anybody/everybody is doing: doing ordinarily. Further, you have to have that available to do. There are people who do not have ...
William Lutz in “the world of doublespeak” states that jargon is the specialized language of a trade, profession, or similar group, such as that used by doctors, lawyers, engineers, or educators” (391). Also to someone not associated with a specific group and their language jargon will not make sense. It is often used by individuals who wish to sound more intelligent or important. As mentioned in “the world of doublespeak” by Lutz that “jargon as doublespeak often makes the simple sound complex” (391). For example, when the news says intruders instead of bad people or execution instead of killing or when lawyers use the term “involuntary conversion” of property when discussing the loss or destruction of property that is considered using jargon. Lutz finds mainly doctors, lawyers and high educators that are responsible for the spread of jargon
The "Roaring Twenties" were a turbulent time in American history. The United States had just returned from the carnage of World War I and was ready to revolutionize their ideas, morals, and most importantly, their presidents. The presidential election of 1920 was a particularly integral election due to the introduction of the right of women to vote and America's social & political unrest. Warren G. Harding, a Republican, defeated Democrat James M. Cox, on a platform that urged Americans to "return to normalcy". Normalcy was a play on words of normality by Harding, which meant to conform to the norm. But the question that stood on many historians was: Why did Americans actually vote to "return to normalcy"? The simple answer was that the nation was ready to recover from their wartime anxiety and wanted a country without financial or political stress and Harding was the president that promised that to them.
Through these different study and friend groups, almost everyone is able to talk with each other in one way or another. The small scale off both the school and class size also help for one person to meet every other person around them. As one of my friends, Scott Noftsger, said, “I really like them except for the “knowing” of all of us of each other’s business.” This, again, shows the immense amount of communication among the students, with word of each other getting around very quickly, for better or for worse. Along with this though, many new abbreviations for words have come up in LCS that I did not understand when I came to the school from another. Words like “Charter,” “The Rock,” “The Park,” and “The Warden” each mean very specific things around LCS that came out of many inside events or jokes occurring around the students here. Although some other schools may use the same terms, the use them in different ways and mean different things by them then we do at Charter. With all of these different occurrences, terms, and way of communication combined, it is easy to see the complex interactions between the students at LCS as a more distinct characteristic of the
So I decide to look deeper into the language of the subculture. What I found was a language that was so divergent to anything else I have heard before. The language of hip hop was almost backwards from the English language. I found that words were interchangeable with other words, for the soul purpose of making them mean other things. For example the word dope could actually mean something cool or awesome, but in the literal sense the word dope actually refers to drugs (Baldwin, James). When first researching this I wasn’t surprised at all because I too use this form of language amongst my friends. I also found that within hip hop culture, people do have the tendency to use explicit language as well, for instance the use of the “F” word is very common but not with everyone in the subculture. The style of rapping is different with each individual and is looked at as something that identifies you in the
In social media you will find many different versions of slang including shorted terms, hashtags, and words that were simply created on social media. This effects the American language because people begin to intertwine social media slang into their daily vocabulary in a face-to-face discussion. You notice kids in the hall way saying things like "dope", or "sick dude", they also make common references to hashtag wcw or mcm. All these examples are not forms found in the standard American English language, and since when did the pound sign turn into a symbolic feature used on social media commonly known as a hashtag? Children of this generation typically don't understand when a parent refers to the pound symbol, so the adult must change their original perception of the pound sign and modify it to hashtag, in order to better relater to their children. The influence of social media on this generation is unbelievable, it's almost becomes hard to understand how we survived without social media and technology. Social media completely occupies our lives and distances us from our original language and social media also allows Americans to become even more lazy by being able to use shortened terms to shorten texting time. Social media strongly impacts our language due to the role it plays in our daily lives, we can't be completely reliant on social media if we plan on keeping our language
Everyone has a word or phrase that purely defines who they are, how they speak or the way they act. In this case, the slang word that defines me most is LOLOL. Almost everyone in American knows the slang word as “LOL,” which stands for laughing out loud. LOLOL means the exact same thing as the slang word “LOL” but it represents a continuation of someone or multiple people “lots of laughing out
Firstly, it is very common for people to believe that Social Media has had a negative impact on the use of language by teenagers . This is because of a variety of reasons. The first being that communicating online is almost like a 'mid-ground between spoken language and written language for communication' [1] The term used for this is 'written-speak' or 'spoken-writing' [2] If young people are continuously using this form of communication, it may have severe ramifications on young people’s communication and literacy skills, as it can lead to the learning of...
As children get older they seem to spend a lot more time with their friends, and a whole lot less time with their parents. Therefore what their friends say and do rub off on them, or they start to adopt what their friends do as right or routine. Even though they have been taught most of their lives that it was wrong, or they were taught what was right. They adapt a new style of clothes and a new vocabulary, mostly slang. And they get new hobbies and new tastes in music, friends have a big impact on all these things.