http://www.firebrand.com/watch/SONY_PS2-BATTLEFIELD-69/194
http://www.firebrand.com/watch/EBAY-TOYBOAT-30/73

Here are those videos again. hopefully it worked this time :)

Sometimes I wonder at myself. Most of the time I HATE advertising. I hate the idea that someone is out there, using their talents just to get at my money. I hate the idea that products are aimed particularly at me. I also hate that its such an acceptable thing, in the business world, to do this.

On the other hand, I admire them for being so smart about what they do. There are some ads that I think are clever; like the mercedes bens ad. That add was cool! It makes me want to go and see what a mercedes benz looks like so I can associate the car with the ad.

What Z said in his movie was true, that the more you learn about something, the more critically you think about it (like design), which puts pressure on designers to do a good job. I took a design class last semester, in which we studied this in depth, and its so true that words and images together are so powerful! I was going to show an example of a commercial that i liked, and while searching I found so many awesome commercials!! Video's are scary powerful because they use written word, images, and sounds. I thought these ones were cool:

http://http://www.firebrand.com/watch/EBAY-TOYBOAT-30/73
http://BATTLEFIELD-69/194

Pride

What struck me most was the Ebonics ad. The image itself in grayscale with Martain Luther King jr.'s back turned with the painful statement, "I has a dream."
I must shamefully admit that it did sound like a foolish way of speaking; I has a dream. But the whole thing was skillfully rendered to shame Ebonics, even to the point where I wanted to instinctively look around and see if anybody was emotionally hurt (even though there was no one there). I thought that most Blacks took pride in Ebonics, but with all these readings I suppose I should know better now that many don't. The style of the ad successfully invoked shame and hurt; even to me who has no relation to its topic.

I was also greatly confused by the car ads. I couldn't decide their motive either way. They seem honest in their efforts, but what makes me suspicous, is what would motivate them to be so? They are very honest and friendly and open, sponsering all of these events and giving all of these benifits-- but why would they do this so suddenly? Perhaps the social benefit. They would be Heros; wise ahead of their times, it would seem. People aren't afraid to buy from heros, and I imagine they would do so liberally simply to support the cause. Clever the ads, though... they look just like any other, just with some subtle word play... except for the Volvo ad-- that certainly was not very subtle. That one was kind of... scary. I'm almost glad I didn't have to see it.

Though I could hardly understand a word he was saying (as he spoke so quickly and further numbed my senses with every curse) I understood the message about the ugly myspace pages. This idea has been introduced to me in my previous English class and also by my Dad in his web-page experimentation. He actually has a great book that shows you how to make a good web-page by showing you examples of absolutely horrible ones. I'll have to find the title and post it later-- it's a really good book. I would not give the 3rd-degree to those who design their pages poorly, but it's practicality is not justified in any way. To many flashy graphics, jumbled pictures, bright and complex backgrounds, and flashy text tend to distract and make the page hard to read and to navigate. I would not say they are ugly... but they do cause a good deal of pain at times. Such pages do not seem worth the effort to read them, even if they really are. However much you would like to express your personality in your page-- too much creative liberty and too little thought and planning can scare people away. One can express themselves just as well in simple, easy to follow formats. It's only natural to be afraid and recoil when a lot of loud and flashy images jump out at you without warning.

Money hungary

As I was reading the gay and lesbian car ad articles I was jealous and a little upset. First, I think that it is not cool that homosexuals can get a 3,000 dollar discount for having a rainbow card. I guess that I could get a rainbow card and get the discount too, it is just a card.
Secondly, the statement that the car guy makes about not just wanting peoples money. I definitely think that the goal of all car manufacturers is to get us to spend a lot of our money on their product.

Advertisements are one of the most common and omnipresent forms of visual rhetoric. Consider this ad, for instance, part of the Got Milk campaign. What does the Hulk have to do with milk? The answer is: Nothing. The milk celebrities are chosen for their relationship not to the dairy industry but to their audience. If this ad is successful, it makes you want to buy and drink milk not because you trust the Hulk's authority in issues of milk purity or personal health (after all, he is computer-generated), but because you recognize him and his character has a certain cultural currency or popularity that its advertisers hope will transfer onto their product.

That's how it works with all the Got Milk ads -- from those featuring Austin Powers, to those with Hillary Duff, Nelly, Jason Kidd. What is making you buy milk isn't the authority of the celebrity as a spokesperson for milk, but rather their cultural status -- and the fact that they are willing to look ridiculous to sell a dairy product. To a certain degree, the ads themselves have become part of the argument: people are waiting to see who is hip or hot or cool enough to be in the latest Got Milk ad.

Advertisements make these sort of arguments all the time. Think of the ads that use celebrity spokespeople. From Nike (i.e. Michael Jordan) to KFC (Jason Alexander) to Pepsi (Britney Spears), companies trade on celebrity status to sell products. That is, their ads make arguments centered specifically around celebrity appeal.

Advertising industry has a great deal of power to persuade people and manipulate their minds to make them buy any kind of products. Using the right visual and rhetorical aids can make any kind of goods and services look great and attractive to buy it.

Bacardi & Company uses image of attractive woman who is more heavily emphasized than any other element in the picture. Showing the sex appeal persuades people, who are walking by this billboard, stop and start staring at it. In addition, wordings that say LIBRARIAN BY DAY. BACARDI BY NIGHT. I think evoke in people a human nature. The imagination of sexy librarian in a bar persuades you to go to the bar and actually drink some Bacardi while waiting for the beautiful woman.

Regards to the smoking ad

Pictures and visual art can have a positve or a negative influence on others. In regards to smoking, The camel years ago was labeled as a stud or a cool guy but in all reality smoking destroys our bodies and thats not cool. By seeing ads such as these we create this belief that we can look cooler. Image has a huge impact on us even if we dont realize it. A visual image can say a million words. Hopefully the images that we present or incounter may effect us in a positive way.

Cool Joe the camel is now not so cool from smoking. Dont turn out like Joe a "deadbeat."

The Truth about smoking is that it makes you sick.

I think that how words are used, decorated on paper, and how visuals are used play a BIGrole in manipulating or persuading people to think or choose a certain way when it comes to advertising. I've really noticed this in food and beer ads and commercials. Those who designed the ads use beautiful women or men to sell their product. As if those who purchase it will be great looking and have gorgeous sexy friends. Not only are they selling alcohol and food but sex as well. Even though food and sex may not relate, those who have viewed such ads will always have that vision with them and remember the product that was advertised. That's what the producers of the product want.

blog 4 pic

This is the image I was trying to post before.

Blog 4

I think in every business someone is trying to manipulate someone, look at the fast food restaurants, they make their food look so big and crisp in their ads but in the end it is always just a peace of meat on two buns that doesnt look half as good as the ad. I have come across a lot of help wanted ads that say, "MAKE 100K in 6 months" what they fail to tell you in the add is you either have to pay something to start making money, or they dont let you know that is is possible to make that much but not unless your going to sell1000 alarms or set 5000 appointments. Manipulation is part of the business world these days and everyone will use it to get an edge. I liked these two ads because the position they were put in, to have a Macdonalds board right below a child obesity billboard was kind of ironic.

visual rhetoric/ integrating words and images

i thought the zefrank show was true completely like reality tv is so manipulative it drives me insane. and so many people like live by those shows and there really is nothing that intellectual or anything on them, its just the fact that they are designed to manipulate you so well into being addicted to the show so you feel like you have to watch it. I think that's insane being addicted to a tv show. Of course, tv spawns many manipulations and its perfect for it you know cuz everyone watches tv generally. i was gonna include this cool commercial in here that had to do with the reading on pg 42- 47 about the gay and lesbian customers, but i can't figure out how to do it so i just have an image instead. =) this image is actually pretty much what the video was, i actually like this better.

Buy it

In my position at work I get to come up with my own advertising for gyms, car dealerships, and design graphics for anybody who comes to our print shop. I must say that my least favorite is designing ads for car dealers because the information in car dealer ads is misleading and full of lies and fine print. Anything can be manipulated to appear to be something else. That ad about Ebonics strikes emotion in anyone. You might be offended or agree but few would be fence sitters. On a side note I constantly find myself diverting off from links to videos and articles from this course to spending lots of time looking at these blogs by people talking about stuff from their point of view. It is very interesting.

Visual rhetoric

I find it interesting that visual rhetoric reflects a certain framing, and not mere contemplation of an image. It's no surprise then that advertisers strongly employ visual rhetoric in their campaigns, like in the Mercedes-Benz ads, where they connected positive words in their ads. There are also images, known as motivators, which have positive, inspirational visual rhetoric. But on the other hand, their doppelganger, some of which I think are pretty funny:

I am having a hard time with posting

I am having a hard time with publishing posts onto this website and it is frustrating me. If can give me any kinds of tips that would help me, that would be very helpful cause I have been very frustrated with. wny help would be appreciated.

I am having a hard time with posting pictures

If anyone has any ideas on how to post pictures onto the blog please let me know. I have been trying very hard to post a picture with my last 2 posts and I have not been having very much luck and it is frustrating me very much. All the help that I can get would be appreciated. I have put pictures up on the web before, I just don't know what is going on with this website and me.
-Thanks

Advertising

I was searching everywhere for a great video or something to put on my blog and I ran across this video. I found it so interesting because I realized that advertising is everywhere. Even if we don't notice it.

Blog #4

Yeah I finally figured out how to put this picture!  This is the ad I was trying to show you all last night when I did my blog.  This Dove as is part of their self-esteem fund, Campaign For Real Beauty.  Take the word wrinkled for example.  Many women cringe when the word is spoken.  We despise wrinkles and spend millions each year trying to prolong smooth skin.  But in this as its embraced, even celebrated.  As they say, "Love the skin your in." 

I had an interesting experience over the winter break. I play in a taiko group (taiko = big japanese drums) and in the group is an employee of the clothing store Black Chandelier. During December, the store put on a fashion show, and our taiko group got to play at it, and I got a small dose of the world of fashion. When it came to the fashion show, there were many components to its visual rhetoric. The theme of the show was "Caspian," and it was very interesting how they managed to take this region of western Asia/fantasy novel and turn it into not just the fashion show, but a specific feel and look. Notice the promotional poster to the right. The slightly diabolical looking columns with intricate ornamentation, the girl's long, strait, bright red hair, the guy's neck tatoo and heavenward look with cool-guy sunglasses, and the dramatic pose where we can't tell if he's holding her up or she's pulling him down, all the while wearing really good clothing. It's really weird! My life isn't like this, and yet the whole grand design is kind of alluring, and I've been having a hard time thinking what this whole fashion show was supposed to convince me of, and how they went about doing it. Why were people paying $100 for front row tickets? I think part of the intrigue is the larger-than-life-osity. When someone says "models," I either think of toy trains or the most beautiful of women living the most glamorous or lifestyles. But when I got there and saw the women, I was surprised. They really weren't the most beautiful people I've ever seen, but rather, they were a lot like the people in the poster: mysterious, dramatic, hyped-up, and not like you or me. Beauty can fit into those categories, but not necessarily. I actually think that the ugly intermingling with the beautiful (interplay of opposites idea) makes people think "there's something else going on here, something bigger I can't understand." Add to the models the setting, the clothes, the makeup, the lights, the music, and (of coarse) the taiko, and you have an event. I still don't know what it all means, though.

Beautifully Ugly

The attention of one can be captured differently than another. As for myself, visual rhetoric is a very powerful tool and certainly grabs my attention. These particular ads for Mac (that I'm sure most are familiar with) are such a simple and amazing advertisement tool. They make it so plain and simple for the consumer to see that a Mac is the way to go.

As for the other articles, my eyes were most definitely opened. I would have read that Subaru ad "Get out and stay out" and it wouldn't have crossed my mind for a second that it was geared at the gay/lesbian community. I think of Subaru as a an all-terrain, all-wheel drive vehicle that the outdoorsy type would be attracted to. However, if this ad were in a gay/lesbian magazine or newspaper, then that quote would certainly make sense in that it's geared towards gays/lesbians. The Mercedes-Benz article was very captivating in that it was very simple and made me focus on the words that were conveying the fact that this car is one of performance, fun, and designed for safety. The visual rhetoric behind that advertisement is genius. As for the "I Has a Dream" ad, it is very deep and powerful in that it causes the reader to think. Lastly, the Ugly Myspace Designs video to me was educational for the most part. I appreciated what he said about how so many try so hard to make things ugly. It's true though. People expend time and talent into making something as ugly as possible. In my way of thinking, if the individual tries so hard to make something so hideously ugly, it will be beautiful. Beautifully ugly!

What catches your attention

As we all go through life, we see so many different companies that are trying to catch our eyes with flashy words like "fun", "performance", or "flashy." Or they throw in images that seem enticing. The media tries to get us to think that we need to get a certain item or to go on a certain diet or program. before we actually know what we are getting into. I found the Mercedes ads very interesting and intriguing because it discusses words that are used to raise the attention of many of us to make us think that we just gotta have it. It is fascinating the way that the media and many different companies do this. I have to say myself, that I have been in this kind of fascination that as to say I want this and want it now. I guess that the media is doing their job. But some I believe how they do it and the reasons are for the good, for example smoking or drinking and driving, I believe that the media is finally beginning to show what happens to those who do smoke or have the habit of drinking and driving. It makes me happy and it has needed to happen for a long time.

Straight talk?

As I was reading through the examples of advertising that we were assigned one stood out above the rest. It stood out not because of it's power, rather it stood out because it felt ironic. Ironic because the first thing my eyes were attracted to were the words:

Straight
talk from
Coors

Then the article proceeded to use acronyms that are difficult to understand. I recognize that the advertisement is geared toward the gay, lesbian, bisexual and trans gender (GLBT) community but the use of multiple other acronyms that are less common left me with the feeling that they were not trying to be as "Straight" as the advertisement proclaims in the beginning . The over all idea of the article is that Coors Brewing Co. is
despite what a political candidate named Pete Coors had said about gay issues. I recognize that the advertiser is using a play on words that the gay community could identify with by using the word straight, but to follow that up with the use of the acronyms HRC, GLAAD, GPAC, and even GLBT I was left with the feeling that they were not necessarily trying to speak clearly or "straight".

It catches your eye

About the readings:  I was actually kind of shocked at the "I has a dream" poster.  I expected it to be quite the opposite of what it actually was, then I caught on to the fact that it was Dr. King in the photo, as if to say he would turn his back to the use of ebonics.

In thinking about what to post, I went to advertising, specifically the type that drives me crazy.  More and more, ads are not giving the whole message, just a phrase at the end of a commercial that doesn't really have meaning, or a few words on a billboard.  These ads do to me exactly what they're intended to do: I can't stop thinking about them until I find out what the "product" is.

The photo I've posted is from one of these "ads," though I'm not sure if it's the exact photo.  The billboards are up all over SLC, saying "JohnTyler10.com."  It's been driving me nuts because I can't tell if it's a presidential campaign thing or what.  Turns out, it's an ad for Reagan billboards disguised as them trying to educate Utahns as to who the 10th president was since most don't know. 

"change Your Job"

hope this make you laugh and makes you see why so many dont want to leave there jobs i stumbled across this by accident after haveing problumes in my job. so this would give me reason to feel like im in a box all the time.

Visual Rhetoric

Getting your point across, especially in advertising, requires advertisers and advertising agencies to often do their best to act on the most basic of human needs and desires. When analyzing human nature it is easily understood why sex, humor, entertainment, social recognition and lifestyle all play such a prevalent role in our lives and social situations. The reason I chose this picture is because it is amusing and also plays on the prevalent role of celebrities in advertising.

Visual Rhetoric

While searching for an interesting picture to post, I came across this image and it made me think. Thanks to the series of commercials with the Spanish speaking chihuahua , we all know how to say I want Taco Bell in Spanish. Just by a few advertisements like this one, it is now a common phrase.



I enjoyed looking at all the different examples in the text book. I thought the one about Subaru was interesting. I was not aware that Subaru often appeals to the gay community. That shows that everyone interprets advertisements differently because I could have just seen the statement "get out and stay out" as going on a trip. But now that they explained it, I can see how it can be seen as coming out of the closet.

I also liked the example in the book about the Mercedes-Benz. It felt like it forced you to imagine a Mercedes, whether you were interested in buying one or not. You saw the words safe and fun and it made you think what those words really meant, and if Mercedes was really that. Not just coming out and saying this car is so wonderful, safe and fun, it brought it to you in a different and fresh way.

Well, when you look at this advertisement for this kind of beer. It makes you laugh, and truly it is funny. But to some people, its not.

A weird thing it does, all at the same time. Is make you think how fat people can repulse you or someone else. The use of images combined w/ text & symbols is a very powerful thing in persuading someone.

This image is polarized. Funny or disgraceful to people. This image by itself can create bickering.

___________________________________

(Z-Frank video)

That was quite amusing, but to me it was not funny. He had some good points to that. It was more of a eye opener than funny. Still enjoyed it though.
____________________________________________________________________

I thought it was interesting that not only can words lead us to an opinion of somethings, but they can also lead us astray. Don't tell me that the above pic doesn't throw you off at all! I did love the ugly myspace pages video, it was interesting that the guy doing the video didn't see them as just ugly, but as expression something that the media is afraid of. Also, helvetica, naw it is all about tacoma lol!

blog 4 visual rhetoric and integrating words and pics.

Ze Frank show
“Ugly as a representation of massive learning and experimentation”

As years go by, people are learning how to use new high tech tools. No matter if people think it is “ugly” it is fun and we are using tools that we didn’t have before. We are entertaining ourselves by creating ideas and things we couldn’t awhile ago. We are learning the language of these tools. We are becoming more sophisticated when we learn this new language. We learn these languages because we have to in order to create exciting new ideas and also have a great time.

Visual rhetoric
Companies that use images to communicate messages that persuade us to buy their products are a powerful tool. If you go watch a movie or a TV shows, you are inundated with these nonverbal messages. These pictures change the ways we think, and it also makes a big difference if the words and pictures come together.

Ads are directed at me?

I guess I've never really thought about the ads I see every day or even that they might be directed at me, unless its those annoying truth about tobacco commercials. I get it smoking is bad, now leave me alone! But I guess after the readings and the ads and the myspace thing I have thought more about how people are being paid to come up with these things. They are studying groups of people so they can be more effective in their advertisements. But then every once in a while you get ads that aren't so great, or just strange.

This particular ad caught my attention, other that the bit at he bottom how would you know what its advertising? Who is the target?

Are my thoughts mine, or are they their's?

I enjoyed watching the "Ugly Myspace Designs" because it really opened my mind to what writers and other ad creaters are trying to make me think and feel. In the Mercedes-Benz ads they only show words that will create a positive feeling in the readers mind. After taking a communiations class, I have often found myself wondering why a speaker is directing his speech towards me, so i believe Ze when he says that once you become educated in an area you tend to analyse those areas a little bit more deeper.

The picture above is a tobacco ad that was used to make women think that if they smoked, they would be in control. It makes you wonder what you thought up on your own. or if your thoughts have been in a sense, given to you...

I love these new Dove ads they are part of the Dove self-esteem fund, Campaign For Real Beauty.  With the visual rhetoric photo of the older woman with the quiz like questions makes one think that real beauty comes in all ages and types.

Switchin it up

After reading "The Hows and Whys of Spanglish" it made me recall the thousands and thousands of times that I took part in codeswitching while I was on my mission. I used codeswitching time and time again. Sometimes I would practice codeswitching on purpose while at other times it would just come out. For example, if my companion and I were giving a lesson and 45 minutes had passed and we were feeling that this particular individual didn't want to learn and/or was being combative, I would switch over to English and discretely say something to the affect of "let's go" or "time to leave." While on other occasions I would just be speaking in Spanish with my companion and just out of nowhere I'd start speaking English or be speaking English and mid-sentence bust into Spanish. Personally, I just did whatever was more convenient or which ever way I could express what I was trying to convey at that time. A lot of the time there was bit of Spanish and English mixed together. I loved that time of my life when I had such a hold on the Spanish language from being engulfed in it, that I had the luxury of being able to express my feelings in whichever of the two (if I was talking to someone that also spoke English of course).

Switch the code..switch..switch.. the code!

The observable category "in the head" got me thinking. It is amazing that a bilingual person stores several communicative processes for many different situations that are used at any moment. It seems that these almost habit like processes happen like many none verbal cues that i use in a conversation. I do realize that there is a difference in these examples. The "in the head" processes seem to allow a person to be able to process thoughts in two languages and therefore give more options to send a clearly understood message. It gives a person more options to work with because there are words in Spanish and English that cannot be translated between the two languages. Or there are more intimate meanings to one versus the other. I would love to give specific examples but do not speak another language.

Boom!!! I found it! Alright i might have an example, so one of my friends had me listen to this song called "Tengo Frio" by Ely Guerra. It is a pretty cool song! It has nice mellifluous rhythm. She is singing about the coldness of being lonely. He also tried to verbally translate the song into English while he was playing it and said that it was hard to translate some of the Spanish word and phrase meanings into English. Here are the lyrics in Spanish:

Tengo Frio by Ely Guerra

Es que tengo frio a medio dia
Es que da miedo, es que lastima
Si tengo miedo y si llevo alguna herida
La misma que me lleva a ti.

Y tomo cuenta de los dias
Nadie... nadie puede ver
Si tengo miedo, si llevo alguna herida
La idea es que vengas a mi.

Y es que tengo frio a medio dia
Es que da miedo, es que lastima
Si tengo miedo y si llevo alguna herida
La misma que me lleva a ti.

Y tomo cuenta de los dias
Nadie... nadie puede ver
Si tengo miedo, si llevo alguna herida
La idea es que vengas a mi
La idea es que vengas a mi
La idea es que vengas a mi

Lonely nights, lonely nights
Lonely nights, lonely nights
Lonely nights, lonely nights
Lonely nights, lonely nights

And here is an English translation (by me):

It is why I am cold at noon
It is what gives fear, it is what hurts
If I am scared and if I carry some injury
The same one that carries me to you.

And I take account of the days you gave,
Nobody... nobody can see
If I am scared, if I carry some injury
The idea is that you come to me.

And it is why I am cold at noon
It is what gives fear, it is what hurts
If I am scared and if I carry some injury
The same one that carries me to you.

And I take account of the days you gave,
Nobody... nobody can see
If I am scared, if I carry some injury
The idea is that you come to me
The idea is that you come to me
The idea is that you come to me.

Lonely nights, lonely nights
Lonely nights, lonely nights
Lonely nights, lonely nights
Lonely nights, lonely nights

I think that it is interesting that she chooses to say "lonely nights" in English at the end of the song because it helps me understand everything that she is say in the rest of the song with one English phrase. I think that anyone who speaks just English or both English and Spanish can certainly understand the implied message of the song by the phrase "lonely nights."


[the translation is done by me although i don't speak Spanish. Maybe someone that does speak Spanish can correct my translation!]

Codeswitching

Codeswitching is a good topic because I speak more than one language. Sometimes when I speak to my sister in Italian we go from one language to another. This is partially because we have been forgeting some of the language. I know how terrible it might sound to someone else. Also, where I grew up there are many latin people. Specifically, the Cubans, would do a bunch of code switching. Even among some friends that are able to speak another language it can be easy to switch words gramatically in english. I think it can be interesting when someone codeswitches because they are just trying to express themselves in a better way.

"I Have A Dream,"

While reviewing my home discourse paper, one of the things we needed to note on was what words or phrases created a sense of intimacy or belonging.  Since we just celebrated Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.'s birthday, I figured it would be more than appropriate to blog on his "I Have A Dream," speech.  

I'm sure you are all familiar with this historic speech that made the African American civil rights movement grow stronger then it ever had before.  The power of his sermon was the most intense and influential speech that touch everyone, no matter the color of their skin.

I can't express enough words to say what this sermon means to me.  As an African American, while I listen and reread it time and time again I can't help feeling empowered.   At the same time a sense of calmness sweeps over me, a blanket of security. 

"...I'm free at last, I'm free at last.  Thank God almighty I'm free at last."

The History Channel did a wonderful program of Dr. King and here is a link to a overview of the famous speech.

http://www.history.com/minisite.do?content_type=Minisite_Generic&content_type_id=57771&display_order=1&sub_display_order=3&mini_id=1071

CODESWITCH

I do this everyday. Okay, okay, its not legit. I dont know spanish or any other language besides English, but on some degree, I do this. I work at a bank, and I have taken more than my share of Spanish classes over the years, I often greet people that I know (reguardless of race) with a very American version of "Hola, como esta." (Kind of like in that one mormon movie, Singles Ward). A couple people I work with who do speak spanish usually go off into long Spanish spells, and I pick up a new word every other day. m and the rest of the sentence only makes sense because of SPANGLISH. But, I'd hardly call my part codeswitching, although it did make me realize how much people do it. I agree that using two languages as one doesnt only sound funny and confusing, it can be quite disaterous. For me, and most of who I talk to on a regular basis, we understand the context and sarcasm behind it, and it pieces itself together. But if a member of our bank come in, and we are talking like that (which does happen), they rarely know what is being said. I think it is a good thing that people stick to the language in which they were raised, and if they are here in America, they should mostly stick to their "home language" although Spanglish can be just as much an advantage. I related Zantella to the way co-workers communicate when they are assisting someone. We know what the individual wants, but in order for it to make sense to us (employees), we need to say things like, "What is the Branch Suite code for a member inquiry in the five-o?" or "Would it be in Spectrum with AHCH?" It is like codeswitching into our "home language" and it makes sense to us, although others might get mad or concerned and shoot back with "WHAT DOES THAT MEAN? WHAT ARE YOU DOING?" (mostly because of the fact that we are dealing with the money) As employees it is our grammer to use these words, as it would be in spanish or english. We are the children who have aquired two grammars, and it is much more effective to use a "spanglish" of both the words we use with other emloyees, and words the member can understand.

codeswitching

I'm not a Spanish speaker at all, but I did take Spn 1010 last semester. I'm not taking 1020 this semester, but I need it for my major, so I'm taking it this next summer. I'm somewhat ashamed to say that my efforts to keep up the little Spanish I learned have been minimal, but I have had days where I try to say and think everything I can in Spanish, and then I'll forget about it for a while, and then I'll come back to it later. I guess it isn't the same thing as what Ana Celia Zentella was saying, but I do feel the need to "reconnect" every so often, partly out of obligation to graduate, and partly because I find it very entertaining and challenging to try to think and talk in Spanish. This is usually triggered when I automatically say some random, simple sentence in Spanish that I get a sort of pleasure from and want to continue doing.

I do codeswitch with my bad Spanish, though. I will only talk in Spanish to my close friends or family who know Spanish, because I'm sure I would sound ridiculous to everyone else. Or when I'm by myself, I'll try to think out loud in Spanish and try to form sentences, but I'll stop if someone comes by for fear of seeming crazy.

Codeswitching

As I was reading through the article about codeswitching I found it all so interesting that the people you are with reflect how you talk. I started to realize that people do this everyday. You wouldn't talk to your grandma the same way you would talk to your friends. And you wouldn't talk to your boss the same way you would talk to your spouse. It may not be a different language, but all of us use different words and even a different tone in our voice when we are talking to certain people.

Cambiar entre codigos

Before reading the article about code switching I had no idea that this phenomenon had been researched. I can recall various times having participated in it and plenty of other times observing people using code switching. It is difficult to pick out instances in English where I might use code switching because it is probably something we very naturally do but it is easier to pick out when switching between two languages for particular purposes. I have a Peruvian friend that I speak with occasionally and our conversation will switch between English and Spanish many times. It seems like we reminisce in cultural experiences we had in Peru in Spanish and speak English more frequently when talking about Utah. I also worked at a computer shop where I spoke Spanish everyday. The owner and a few of the employees were Peruvians and I did a lot of translating between them and the other employees but one thing stood out. My boss would almost always speak to me in English and so would I. I didn't know why that was important but it's easier to see now that code switching describes certain instances where you would speak one language or the other. I've also gone to the West Jordan library where I have eavesdropped on a few conversations of young people and have heard the code switching phenomenon in effect. In one instance one youth used Spanish to put down another and he retaliated with a mix of English and Spanish all in one sentence to mask his apparent use of expletives.

Codeswitching

I feel that most of us are either exposed to code switching or actually do it on a regular basis. It is definitely more noticeable when it is one language to another, but in different social situations I think we are all a part of this phenomenon. I've asked people who speak this way often why it is that they mix their languages, (particularly those who speak "Port-ingles"), why they do it and the response is nearly always "because it's easier" or "because some words have more feeling in my language". And that's what language is: expressing our feelings. These experiences helped me understand the value in expressing the way you feel no matter what language or languages you are speaking.

Codeswitching
"Problem" of codeswitching is part of my current life. I speak 2 totally different languages. English means for me a lazy, colorful, funny language that sounds to me almost like someone is singing, and then Czech that is a hard, strong language but just because it is my mother language it contains lots of emotions. In connection with article from Zentella, I like when she talks about choices of two languages. We have a choice in different situation, in who we spoke what to whom, and when to change language. That's what I experience almost every day. I have to switch the language I speak depending on situation I am in showing respect, expressing feelings etc.
There are also times when I want to express something that is really emotional therefore I would love to speak Czech but I cannot because people would not understand me. In the opposite way, sometimes I feel like speaking English back home but I can't because people who do not speak English would take it disrespectfully.
As Zentella mentioned, sometimes I speak "out of the mouth" and I mix both languages, making up new words of "Czechlish."
Speaking two different languages is advantageous, and because of codeswitching in the appropriate way it is easier to achieve what we desire to express.

"From the Venezuelan heart to American hearths"

Zentella, by way of Gumperz, defines code switching as “the juxtaposition within the same speech exchange of passages belonging to two different grammatical systems or subsystems”. I found this a considerable help in distinguishing between what is actually code switching and what is not in my own life. The focus Zentella gives to how word borrowing can be misinterpreted as code switching is one of the traps I had fallen into myself. True code switching is far more robust.

Later on in her piece, the author reflects on the power of English “on international, national, and local levels” and how it is the language of independence, wealth and technological superiority. I wonder how much longer that will hold true. The rising value of the Euro and the growth of large nations such as China and India will surely put that actuality to the test. She goes on to paint Spanish as the opposite, as a language of dependence and poverty. The contrast and my musings on the changing landscape of our global civilization seem are even more fascinatingly germane when set a long side a news story I read the other day. From 2005 on, Venezuela's controversial president Hugo Chavez has actually been offering needy families in the US free heating oil. (Here is the article itself, from the China Post) The program is in full effect again this year as well. Of course, Chavez most certainly has less than altruistic motives in providing aid to a country he vilifies and condemns loudly and often, but the role reversal and its potential significance is just too heady and implausible to pass by: The poor, Spanish speaking nation offering aid to the wealthy, English speaking one.

Blog #3 Codeswitching

I found it very interesting when Zentella said "Monolinguals adjust by switching phonological, grammatical, and discourse features within one linguistic code, and bilinguals alternate between the languages in their linguistic repertoire as well." I had never thought about it in that sense before, but once I did, I realized it is so true.

I can only speak English fluently so I am not familiar with being able to codeswitch with other languages but I think we all in a way do this if it is the tone of your voice or the words we are saying. Just because some of us can't switch between languages does not mean we don't codeswitch. I frequently am codeswitching at work because the words I use to communicate with my co-workers might not make sense to the customers so I have to almost translate so they can understand. For example, I will say go to the "cash wrap" when everyone else knows it as the checkout counter. I think this is a good example of codeswitching that occurs not necessarily having to do with two languages, but the words we use around certain people.

Switching a bit revised

This is the first time I've really heard about "code-switching" but it's something I know I do all the time. I think that what we say isn't really about what language its in, words and our speech have feeling and reason behind them. There are reasons to change the way we speak in different situations. We all code-switch every day, whether we know it or not. At work, at school, with our family and friends. We have to change the way we speak to convey our thoughts and feelings to a specific audience. For instance, I was friends with a girl who's family was from Italy, they all spoke Italian and after some time i began to pick up on bits and pieces. When her grand mother died I was able to offer my sympathies in Italian which seemed to have a greater impact. Bottom line we speak with others to communicate our thoughts and feelings and we will always find the best way to do it.

I think that after class today i understand a little bit better about what code switching really is. i thought i understood yesterday after reading the the passage in the book but I guess i still had much to learn on the subject. I did understand that it had meaning behind it, and that we would code switch for certain effect but i guess i didn't quite grasp the idea that it was just a few words or phrases in one language or dialect and then switching back. It kind of makes me think that in situations where you speak only one language the slang that we use could be considered code switching. For example, when i worked in wilderness therapy, if a student showed signs that they would hurt themselves or some one else they would be put on suicide watch. This wasn't to say that we thought they were suicidal necessarily but just needed to be closely supervised and watched. When we would talk to their parents we would tell them that their child had been put on "suie" watch. It gave them the same information but in a less severe way.

Codeswitching

I totally agree that codeswitching is useful for bilinguals, the reason being is in my last job I worked with some peruvians. At my job they would be talking to me in English then something would drop and I would hear an alien word, just to learn they were swearing or making some comment or phrase in their own language. It was also funny to hear them say bless you in their own language when someone sneezed. So, I do believe not only is it exceptable but it also carries more meaning in one language than another for a bilingual.

codeswitching

After reading the piece on Spanglish, I came to the conclusion that what the Puerto Rican community was doing was similar to what monolingual speakers do. We each change our tone of voice, seriousness, and syntax to create an atmosphere and outcome that is fitting for a particular setting. From the reading I didn't find the codeswichers much different than myself. With my friends I may go from quoting movie lines that relate to the topic in our conversation. Those quotes wouldn't relate to me and my mom. So with my mom, I either quote from movies she relates to and listen to music that she approves of. With my grandparents I speak more loudly, pronunciate my words more clearly, and speak more soothingly, and sweetly. But with my dad I'm more direct, formal, and try to speak proper standard english because he's a stickler on that.

Codeswitching response

I can identify with quite a bit of what was discussed by Zentella. It is only until now that I have heard of codeswitching, yet it is something I personally and my family have done frequently. My first language was German, and then having spent most of my life in the States, my second first language became English.

In a conversation with a family member I might be saying something in English but then switch over to German, it could also be the other way around, I might be saying something in German and then switch over to English, or even commit the abominable, amalgate both languages.

The reasons I do it is as mentioned by Zentella's article is group identity, and the other reason is that I might be short on vocabulary. But not only in conversation, I've even switched even on thoughts though, even though I speak English better because every now and then the German came easier.

When I first came to the States at a young age, I couldn't understand a word of English and I remember sitting in school class not knowing what the teachers were saying. Learning English was a challenging task, but that suceeded through Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles series. Cartoons were a great source for learning English.

Code Switching

I think switching is something we all do, everywhere you go you speak differently to different groups of people. it starts at home, I dont talk to my folks the same way I talk with my friends, teachers, classmates etc. The more I talk to my parents I would probably talk with a little more respect and caution in what I say as apposed to what I would say around others, its kind of sad thats the way it is but I qould say my parents even speak differently around my as apposed to their friends. Growing up speaking spanglish would be a benefit because to begin they would have two languages but then again they also have to learn the different undertones for both languages and that could be hard on kids.

code switching

The definition I have for code switching is that any tone or way you talk to a certain group is a code switch. This is for the fact that when around like friends I would say you wouldn't talk like you talk to your parent and it vice versa to the code switching. I feel in school I really don't have some of my best of friends so I have a different talk to the friends in school then the ones I have been friends with forever almost. However I also use some language switching from English to little amounts of German in conversations with my grandparents.

code-switching ....

Using more than one language in conversation is something that we as humans probably do without realizing. It is normal and it makes us who we are. My opinions on it are; that sometime to be understood or to address a specific group of people code-switching is necessary. For example if I don’t speak to my sister using “spanglish” she might not understand what I’m asking or saying. But with my mom I will have to talk mainly in Spanish but adding full English words because she is used to them and they are easier to relate. Now I believe we are code-switching and it feels so natural. But if the person is not familiar with both of the language the person will be confused. So in other words it depends on the community.

On Zantella reading I agree that the children acquire two grammars. But I believe that one grammar is use more than the other, if we use the two grammars together it would sound a little messy. We hear these words and our minds adapt to them, if both languages are know there shouldn’t be any problem understanding. Sometime we use for our benefits like if we are going to say something about somebody else present that we don’t want them to know about, but a lot of people get offended. Also if you are going quote somebody it’s good to use the language that they said it in, because most of the time translation doesn’t work. Many people also use code switching because they don’t know the words.

Codeswitching

After reading the article by Mrs. Zentella I took a few minutes listening to the conversations in my house. As I mentioned in class my wife is Puerto Rican. As a child she spent about four years here in Utah where she struggled to learn English. She then returned to Puerto Rico and lived there until she was 18. Due to the language switching growing up and the trauma that it caused her in school she had not wanted to teach our children Spanish until our fourth child was born. Now although we are trying to teach all of our children Spanish, we speak it more with the youngest. As I was listening to my wife speak to my daughter, our second oldest, she said, "Listen to this girl being such a llorona." Which equates to cry baby in English. After hearing this I realized that my wife uses the Spanish terms with our children because they do not understand them as much and it softens the blow a little. The switching between the languages carries with it a power that although usually unrecognizable helps to convey emotion. Like in the article when the two children were arguing about the bike and, who hit who first the little girl only spoke to the boy in Spanish when she was trying to make sure the adult knew what she was saying when she said, "Porque Tu me diste!" The use of Spanglish, at least in my household seems to give an added dimension of power and emotion that I am not sure is accessible by monolingual people.

Codeswitching

This was a great article! I enjoyed reading the examples of codeswitching in the article and how Zantella took on the challenge of trying to learn why and when codeswitching was used in the NYPR community. I loved the part of Zantella's conclusion on page 226 where she says "Code switching is, fundamentally, a conversational activity via which speakers negotiate meaning with each other, like salsa dancers responding smoothly to each other's intricate steps and turns". As both the wife of a Latino and a salsa dancer, I loved how this quote compared salsa dancing with codeswitching, and I think it's a great comparison. Codeswitching has been a wonderful help to me as I have learned spanish over the past couple of years! Before I knew much spanish vocabulary it was a way for me to know at least half of what someone was saying when they codeswitched using spanish and English. And now that I understand most of the spanish too it's just fun to hear and understand the whole conversation or sentence. I admire those who have a strong enough grasp of two languages that they can codeswitch with ease!

Codeswitching

I love watching people codeswitch. I work with a couple who speak Korean. She is from Korea and he is from Washington DC. Whenever they talk to each other they speak in Korean; but when they talk to others its in English. Sometimes I really want to know what they are saying, but its fun to watch them change languages. I know that I have been in situations where it was really awkward for people around me to codeswitch. I know a little Spanish, but not enough to have a conversation. I know that my grandma starts to speak German sometimes, usually when she wants to show an emotion she cant describe in English. I really envy the people who are talented enough to be able to codeswitch between languages.

Code Switching

I thought it was interesting what Zentella spoke about how the city was trying to let the Puerto Rican community to be known for Spanish, but yet the people "are referring to 'Spanglish' as a positive way of identifying their switching."  Its a great skill and the youth have a reason to be proud to switch languages.   

It's interesting that the children changed languages depending on who they were addressing, for respect.  A buddy of mine who has English as a second language was saying that even when he is listening to someone speak, he actually translate the English automatically to Bosnian to understand it more.  

When Zentella was talking about as the second generation comes along the more Americanized they become and it made me think about what we discussed in class before about there are grandchildren that can't talk to their grandparents.  

Code switching can almost be related to slang in a way.  As we read it depends on the majority of the block "el bloque" and what the rest of the children are doing as some of the conversations pointed out.  I totally agree with Zentella in her conclusion that using the two languages made the people feel they belong to both communities, connecting with different cultures.

Codeswitching

Codeswitching is interesting and cool sounding for sure, but its sad i don't code switch. I can only speak english so it doesn't really apply to me. I thought it was cool though i didn't know they had a name for when people switch languages like that. There really is a lot of code switching now. I thought of the movie spanglish.... but i don't know if that movie has anything to do with code switching. I guess the part where the spanish house keeper is trying to learn english and talks to adam sandler in what she knows.. but she can't talk to him in spanish cuz he only knows english. So its definitely an interesting topic, but unfortunately i don't have a lot of feedback because i don't do it. I do remember this lithuanian friend of my brother tho, ignas, he would always talk in english and then his parents would call and he would speak lithuanian and we all thought it sounded awesome. So i have heard it a lot before and i really wish i could speak another language too that would be awesome. But yeah, I like that there is a term for switching languages in a conversation, I dig it. =)

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Codeswitching

"Spanglish" Codeswitching

I thought that the reading was quite interesting how it goes into detail on how younger spanish speaking generations are going more into speaking english than that of their elders. I have had experiance with this, I work at Kohl's department store in West Valley City and there are many times when a hispanic family comes in and the mother of father does not know how to speak english at all, so they have one of their children translate what I am trying to say. Since I don't know how to speak spanish in the slightest. It makes it nice though. And also, I have co-workers that can speak fluent spanish as well as english so if I have someone that does'nt understand me, I can ask one of them to translate. I think it good that they keep their heritage, but I wish that some would learn at least a little bit of english. It would help them in understanding people like me alot more. I hope the world will realize how important this kind of language switching is in everyday life, at least it is for me and makes my job a little bit easier.

Code-switching at home, on Seinfeld, and in our sleep?

I didn't know I was experiencing 'code-switching' until I read the definition on Wikipedia. My husband is Latino, and I noticed early on in our relationship that often, his family would speak to me in English, but switch to Spanish when certain topics were discussed. These topics would include, well... me, or politics, or family secrets, or basically anything else they didn't want me to know about. I've also noticed my husband code-switches when he is really tired, and even does it in his sleep. The other night he talked in his sleep in German and English! When I was searching for more information about code-switching online, I came across this interesting article on npr.org about a black family trying to adopt a white child: (please copy and paste into your browser, for some reason I'm getting an error message when trying to insert a link through Blogger.com)

http://www.npr.org/blogs/bryantpark/2007/11/white_kid_black_family_transra.html

The author writes about how the family had to learn to code-switch:

For example, I hadn't considered how often we talked about white people at home. I hadn't realized that dinnertime stories were rarely told without referencing the race of the players. I was also oblivious how frequently I used racial stereotypes. We began diligently censoring ourselves. Of course we've routinely adjusted our language and behavior for the sake of our white peers, neighbors, bosses and friends, but this little girl lives with us, which requires code switching and code creating at home.

Also, an episode of Seinfeld came to mind, 'The Understudy':

http://video.aol.com/video-detail/the-understudy/2192825172

Elaine has been getting her nails done at a Korean salon. She begins to suspect the women are speaking about her in Korean, so she invites George's dad, who speaks the language, to go with her and translate. Her suspicions are confirmed and she also discovers one of Mr. Costanza's deep dark secrets.

Hasn't something like this happened to all of us at one time or another?

Blog #3 Codeswitching

Codeswitching seems to be a very important thing to those who are not surrounded by their original language. It's a way to connect and show yourself that you are a bit different from those around you. But it can alienate others around you. Say for examble you're getting your nails done and the ladies doing your nails are Vietmanize and they start talking in that language, you feel alienate maybe they're saying that you're ugly or smell funky who knows? I'd ask them but I don't want to be rude, and I don't really get my nails done.

It seems as if codeswitching is a very important part to people who are mulitlangual and can switch between the two. I would do it if I could. I think it's really funny how people will speak certain words in English or certain words in the other language. I'd like to know why they switch between the two. The reading kind of brushed on it being based upon the person that they're addressing or someone that they want to know what they are talking about such as parents who only speak a certain language. Maybe they could do that when talking to someone that understands the other language better. Such as you're talking with your friend that is bilangual he's speaking to you in English and he gets a phone call and starts speaking Spanish, it could be that he is talking that way because the other person understands that better.

Blog #2

Have you ever been talking to someone and they said something that you didn't really understand so you just nodded your head to keep the conversastion going. I do this alot. My dad says alot of things that I don't really understand and I think it's really supposed to be the other way around. But this slang can tell a lot of different things. In the movie Better Off Dead the main charters father is trying to talk to him and refering to a book that helps him with youths slang and is trying to get his son to understand where he's coming from, even though this is an extremly exgaggerated examble really plays out how slangs are used in today's society. The purpose of slang could possibly be just to change things up for awhile. I'm sure that I use slang is some ways, but the only really purpose that I see to develop it is to occupy some time. This purposed doesn't really change for me. The only time that I would really change it is when I'm around people that will understand what I'm really talking about. Dalzell's piece didn't really change my view. Except for when he was talking about slang being a bit witter and cleverer, I thought this statement was humorious. I hear people use slang and say things that just blow my mind and it doesn't really seem that they are being witty or clever It just seems as if they are being dumb to be extremly blunt.

Codeswitching

I'm not sure what exactly this blog "should" be about, so I'll just go for it.  I think codeswitching is interesting.  Typically I've only heard used in situations where someone is emphasizing something, such as when they're angry, they'll revert back to their native tongue.  Since I am monolingual (sad, after 6 years of German in school!!!) I can't really wrap my head around being able to switch between languages so smoothly, since it takes me half an hour and an English to German Dictionary to form a sentence.  While all the kids were speaking Spanglish in high school, though, we spoke "gemixed pickles," as my teacher called it (more fun to say that Germlish, I suppose). In that setting, both were terms for people who didn't know the language well enough to speak it fluently.  

slang response

For me, slang is used as a shortcut, amusement, identity, and as a way to separate ones self from certain people. It can be used to get a certain point or message across. It can also show creativity and imagination. Of course the slang you use can't be used in every conversation. Not everyone can relate to it. Dalzell's piece opened my mind to the idea that slang stems from youth. I hadn't really thought about that before. His ideas made sense, it made me think back to high school and all the crazy terms we would make up to communicate. I also thought about those words that I thought had been made up in my generation, but in fact, when I spoke to my mom about them, they had been used in her younger years too.

I Have a Dream!

I thought it would be fitting to post a tribute to Martin Luther King Jr. and to post some things from his speech "I have a Dream". Here is a link for those interested:
http://www.americanrhetoric.com/speeches/mlkihaveadream.htm

I love the descriptive language that he uses in his speech, it is as if you can feel the pains and injustices of every person he speaks of. Some examples of the portraits he paints are "the Negro lives on a lonely island of poverty in the midst of a vast ocean of material prosperity" "But we refuse to believe that the bank of justice is bankrupt. We refuse to believe that there are insufficient funds in the great vaults of opportunity of this nation. And so, we've come to cash this check, a check that will give us upon demand the riches of freedom and the security of justice." "who stand on the warm threshold which leads into the palace of justice"

He is so descriptive it almost reminds me of reading Tolkien again. I also love his mix of religion and patriotism shown by his quoting of the bible as well as from my country tis of thee. I hope you will take a moment to remember the reason this holiday was established.

The On-Line Slang Dictionary

Hey I have good news for all of you, like me, who are a bit grammatically challenged I found the slang dictionary! It is at www.slangsite.com

LP's

ok everyone i thought this was interesting. you know how back in the day when they used record players how the first record a band made was called the LP? like long play? well what about now how bands still claim they made an LP when lp meant those records? since we don't have records anymore. I'm lost on what that term means today. it seems like it carried on but now its gotta have somewhat of a different meaning.

Witty and clever

While I generally agree with most everything stated in Dalzell's article, but one thing I think needs to be touched upon is the paradox of slang's ability to make it speaker appear 'wittier and more clever.' I'm probably going to sound like a freakish, sentient wet blanket when I say that I don't enjoy picking up the latest slang and showing it off to my friends (and don't bother pointing out that I used 'wet blanket.' I know it's a slang, but it's an old one, and pretty descriptive). I always saw being witty and clever as coming up with something humorous yourself, not repeating a glib phrase that someone else came up with and everyone passed along. The paradox is, the more people use the slang, the less witty and clever it becomes. Thus the only reason I can see to propagate the use of slang is to subscribe to the group that created/speaks it. On this point I can agree with Dalzell.

Slang use in my family is very volatile, changing often. We may adopt a slang word from a particularly amusing line from the Simpsons, or from a hilarious mispronunciation by one of the children, but it lasts for a few months at the most, then fades into obscurity before becoming overused and trite. My brother and I once came up with a slang word from a misspelling in a text message, but it didn't even last more than two days! I don't think this comes from any training on our parent's part, since they aren't strict advocates of standard English to begin with. I believe that the members of my family have a fierce desire to evade definition and express our uniqueness. We hate to think of ourselves as speaking like these people or those people. I'm not saying slang's useless or bad. It can be fun and humorous, but my point is that people who repeat popular slang in an effort to be witty and clever are fooling themselves and identifying themselves with a crowd that they may not even want to belong to.

And I was going to post a humorous picture or comic to go along with my post, but it seems my ideas have already been taken. Thanks a lot, guys.

w00t!

I was just browsing our ever burgeoning blog for posts of interest and saw one by Alyssa Anderson which caught my eye. (You can read it here by the way) She wrote about the term "PWNED" and how gaming has influenced slang. I thought it a significant point to have made. It reminded me that Merriam-Webster's Word of the Year in 2007 was “w00t”, which was certainly a surprise to many, and no small controversy at the time. “w00t” –which is spelled with two zero’s—is defined by Webster as "expressing joy (it could be after a triumph, or for no reason at all); similar in use to the word yay"

The term is part of a type of slang called “l33t speak” (elite speak) an “esoteric computer hacker language in which numbers and symbols are put together to look like letters” popularized by gamers and tech savvy teens in recent years. I have included a "lol cat" image to the right that used a few other l33t speak terms to further illustrate the topic, and also because any time you can work a lol cat into conversation is the right time. If you aren't familar with lol cats, it was a sort of internet meme that spread like wildfire a few years back on 4chan.

In a class focused on language and society, with special consideration given to how technology has and will continue to impact linguistic evolution, l33t speak is certainly something of particular note. For more information, start here.

"Of all the vernacular, slang is the most spectacular"

I loved Tom Dalzell's article, and it reaffirmed my love of slang itself, both as I find it “in the wild” and how it can be used purposefully. I find myself almost unconsciously utilizing different slang during my interactions with certain business clients of mine, or customers. It can bond and unite complete strangers together, merely because they "speak the same language." Such commonality is extremely beneficial to forging and maintaining good client relationships, and such traits obviously carry over to personal connections as well. Dalzell mentions the rush of journalists and politicians to co-opt it, and it is these connections they seek. I believe his use of the term “tribe” and what that underlies is particularly well suited to any discussion of what the use of slang can achieve, if employed properly. Of course I have spoken only about the intentional, purposeful use of slang as a means to an objective, when its origins and general implementation are far more natural and honest than all that. But it is this use of slang as a tool that most fascinates me, both personally and academically.

Slang

I tend to disagree a bit with Dalzell, he mentioned that siblings tend to reject the brother's and sister's slang and create slang of their own. One reason why I disagree is because I can remember hearing my siblings with their slang and then I would find out what it meanted and implement it in my own language, they tended to open up the world of language a little wider than the slang I was developing among my own friends. Also Dalzell said that people tend to lock in their slang in their 20's and only go back to that same slang, as an inbound rep and a gamer this is horribly wrong! I talk to people every day, they range in age from 20's to 70's and you would be surprised how many retired people are gamers playing popular games, they even use the slang of gamers. So if we never learn new slang and implement it then I don't know what those retired gamers are talking about, they sure sound like gamers using gamer slang!

I did agree with what he said about recycling slang, I still use the word sweet from time to time and it makes sense if fashion can recycle trends why can't language recycle slang? BTW, if anyone likes stick figure comics xkcd.com is a great place to go for it.

slang

what i find is my friends and my self never really had a slang we had something a little different then what people liked. ill try to stay on pg level we got bad. when i was growing up it was the thing to call your friend like whats up b**** and how is it going s******* you get the point of it i hope. the whole wha' up dog and waz chilling thing never really stuck in are group though i do know in my brothers life he is always comeing in and like shizle my nizal and hang with the fang and i see so many differences in what was going on in his time compared to my time of school and what he is facing. i knew the words when i went to school the big one was wats' wiz the ice or that’s the bling. this i guess just seemed weird and out of place to me. my bosses us the one wats' up fag and its not like a derogative ether, it is that’s was hip for them at the time. i find that dazell's pice gave me the thought that maybe it is just a way for people to express there ideas and have a short hand talk or great ice brackers i guess for some though my crowe really weren't to friendly i hung wth the gothic type or the suicidal so i never had the whole slang experiance. so i really still dont see a perpose in it.

Wuz Up Yo?

At my house my dad calls slang, gangster slang. I have four younger brothers how are trying to fit in and be cool, so we hear it all the time. I think that the maine purpose of slang is to make things easier and faster to say. It seems like all we are doing these days is trying to make it take less time for things to get done, so why not save time when it come to speaking? I think that at times slang can change to fit the situation and context. Dalzells piece didnt really impact my view, I know that slang has some good purposes but my brothers drive me crazy with it!

That's Ghetto!

Slang makes statements stick out and be heard.  I agree with Dalzell that using slang makes one feel they belong with the cool group.  I use many slang words, but my main ones are 'ghetto' and 'coolige'.  I laughed at what Dalzell was saying about slang changing, but then I realized that my 16 yr old niece is using words I don't even know!

To me the purpose of slang is to stand out form the norm.  New kids come along and start new slang or bring old sayings back from the past.  I agree hip hop, or "hiptionaries" as Dalzell calls it, is the most popular.  But also the most non-understandable by the older generations.  Maybe that's why the kids like to use it.  I found this video on youtube, its a little silly but it serves its purpose.  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=swNS51WGJUs

I was having difficulties writing about slang until I found this on break.com. Now I just have to write and everything is translated for me. In all seriousness, last night I was listening to the Radio West program that was sent out in the the E-Mail, and was interested to learn about how the jump rope songs that children sing have been found all over the world. It made me think back to when I was growing up and had traveled to another state to visit my cousins. During the visit I remember being surprised that they also played the "Slug Bug" game where the first person to see a VW bug hit the person next to them. Being from a small town in Colorado I remember how cool it was that my big city cousins played the same game that we played at home. Although, that story is less then interesting to most of you it illustrates what Dalzell said about how slang gives a sense of commonality. On the other hand I can see how if a persons definition of a slang term differed from another's then this could create a sense of not belonging to "the" group. In the end I don't think that there is any way to separate slang from English

Slang

I've never considered myself a big advocate of slang, but thinking back to Jr. High, I actually employed it a great deal (dude, like, duh, etc.) and will even use some of it now, mostly only when talking to my younger teenage sister. Though I do tend to avoid some of the more 'young-and-foolish' sounding words like biff and woof. I will, on the other hand, say things like jiffed, goon, and dope. For me, it's all about mimickry-- communicating in the best way they can understand me. But for my sister and her friends, I know it's all about creating a group identity; their own subculture that they can claim as absolutely their own. This is clear because they even make up words of their own that aren't really on a universal level by other teenagers or even in their own school; as a small (or somewhat small) group of friends, they make up words of their own for things and they switch them out and modify them on a regular basis. I wish that I could come up with some immediately, but I just can't think of any... maybe biff is one of them.
Anyway, though, she doesn't really code-switch between different situations; these words are incorporated into her everyday vocabulary and she uses them with everyone everywhere.
Dalzell's article didn't impact me so much as changing my views, but merely getting myself thinking about what I have noticed in relation to what he's said. I also think that ideas of slang are true on both sides of the debate; it can be both helpful and hurtful.

This Everyday Slang

Slang identifies you! When I was younger my mom and her best friend Kelley would always have a certain tone in their voices when conversing one with another. A tone that my mom didn't use with anyone else, just Kelley. They also used different speech patterns and words. Mom told me that they started talking like that when they were 7 and 8 and it just stuck. I think this is a way that they demonstrate the close relationship that they have with each other. I know that I have a variety of different slang that I use with many of my friends and even family members. When two people or a group of people have a slang there is a sense of acceptance within that group with one another. There are so many different forms of slang in this world! When I was in Honduras serving my mission I made it a point to follow or stay current on the slang of the people in my different areas. And when I would use a particular slang when talking to a particular group, usually adolescents or young adults, I came to find out that they would more easily accept me. One thing that I found to be quite interesting from the reading is that sometimes a word sometimes doesn't stick and is discarded, but then years and sometimes a century or more later the word is recycled and somehow finds a way to stick. I found that to be extremely interesting! As for the purpose of a word or slang changing depending on the context, I have a funny story to illustrate this. Personally, when I am frazzled or my mind is discombobulated, from time to time I use the word bajingo. So to me when I say I'm all bajingoed I'm intending to say that I'm not not 100%. However, I have a friend who also uses this word, but she uses it as a reference to her female genitalia. Pretty funny, but when I'm with her bajingo takes on a whole new meaning.