Slang

I tend to agree wil Dalzell when it comes to the purpose of slang. I think that it is a great tool in creating tribe identity and assuring membership. I also truly identified with him when he suggested that we tend to stop forging new slang in our early twenties, and hang on to the slang that we used as youth. I notice that the slang I use are the same words I used in my teenage years into my early twenties. As I am only barely entering my late twenties, it could be assumed that my slang hasn't changed because the world's hasn't changed. That would be inccorrect, however, because given the chance to observe youth slang today I would be lucky to understand half of the slang words they use now. I think that Dalzell's positive view of slang, instead of targeting it as the breakdown of "proper English" was refreshing. I think it does serve it's purpose, and as he observed by the time we are entering the professional world, and in need of more professional speech, our use of sland starts to deteriorate just in time.