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.
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2 comments:
I didn't make the connection until I read your blog, but your right, I find myself using certain slang with certain people to make getting the point across more affective.
I am probably pretty boring when it comes to slang. I don't care for all of this "l33t" speak and I never got into the computer gaming scene even though I am involved heavily with computers and technology. It's funny but when I speak Spanish with my friends I probably use handfuls of slang words and phrases that aren't grammatically correct. Partly because I learned it from them but partly because I don't care as much.
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