Free courses. All content. Course content. About this free course 14 hours study. Level 1: Introductory. Course rewards. Free statement of participation on completion of these courses. Create your free OpenLearn profile. Course content Course content. Exploring languages and cultures Start this free course now. Free course Exploring languages and cultures. Reading 3 Why people use slang The aim of using slang is seldom the exchange of information.
McArthur, To use this interactive functionality a free OU account is required. Sign in or register. Interactive feature not available in single page view see it in standard view. Figure 4 Nigel White. School children at this time were taught that using slang was taboo and improper, but children will be children and innately want to do what is forbidden. So, slang began making its way amongst the youth. During the post-World War I era, society gained new attitudes about slang and there was now a demand for slang in entertainment, mass media, and fiction.
Today, slang is embedded in our culture and people use it everyday even though they might not realize they are using it. But not all US slang is universal either. Different slang is used amongst different cultures, popular interests, occupations or where you live. For example, I used to work at a ski resort in the Rocky Mountains and all the skiers had their own slang, which was only known amongst skiers.
If we said some of these slang words in a group of non-skiers, or in a state where there is no snow, no one would know what we were talking about. Take the word hot, if you will. It is traditionally used to express a feeling of extreme warmth. But it has also taken on a slang meaning, where it means attractive. You can learn a lot about a culture if you learn slang and idioms.
Take American slang, for example. We have some odd ways of saying that we succeeded at something. You may hear, I murdered that exam or I kicked its ass , both of which really just mean I passed it , or I did really well. You would likely be very confused. The same is true of any new language you are learning, whether it be German, French, Mandarin, or Spanish.
In English, we use the phrase bored to death to say we are really bored, but in Spanish, they say aburrido como una ostra bored like an oyster to express the same sentiment.
If you learn slang expressions of a language, you will be better able to understand what people are saying. In the example above, you may be confused to hear someone say they murdered a test. In French, they say gueule de bois to say hangover , but it literally translates as a wooden mouth.
Slang is everywhere in popular music and writings. He suspects the term, which is used to mean perfect or on point, originally comes out of drag-queen culture — perhaps suggesting something is so shockingly good that it warrants the expression one would make if a wig were snatched off their head. Per Green, the earliest known slang was used among criminal groups centuries ago, as a way to keep their communication from being understood by authorities.
Slang can be mean and uncaring and disgusting. It can also bind people and define the boundaries of the gang. We want to put our arms around each other, as an element of self-defense. Having struggled to draw subscribers to his database or find a publisher willing to provide ongoing support for his work , Green recently decided to make his historical dictionary of more than , words and phrases available for free , clams be damned.
This means that, for the first time ever, this referential treasure can now be accessed by anyone. Each term he defines is traced back through time, often centuries, with citations showing how English speakers used it along the way.
But he will keep working all the same.
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