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
Friday, January 18, 2008
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!
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My little brothers come home and use words that I dont even know. I see a lot of slang on instant messenger that makes no sense to me but I guess they can tell what is going on.
I completely agree that slang is used to stick out from the humdrum, dull-as-dishwater norm. However, if a slang term becomes widely used, then those who jump onto the bandwagon may inadvertently create the new norm that everyone will escape from. I think that's why slang is so temporary in my family. We (especially me) don't like to subscribe to any particular group, so we make up our own slang terms.
What a hoot--the hip hop helper! And it's interesting that she tries the hip hop language with the black woman in the store. I wonder how to take this. Seems to be making fun of her assumptions about black English but could also reify stereotypes..
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