The Conformity of Slang?

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BurtHuttz
BurtHuttz Posts: 3,653 Member
in Chit-Chat
So I saw someone from England adopt the term "douchecanoe" today in the forums. And this got me to thinking.

Communication causes the distribution, adoption, and use (thus redistribution) of slang terminology. Prior to the printing press, local slang terms did not spread as quickly or with the same geographic breadth, because writing was a more formal endeavor and communication was more localized. As the printing press was introduced and words became mass produced, words were distributed more quickly and broadly, and with greater and greater efficiency.

As modes of communication such as radio and television have been introduced, so it seems that the economics of language have followed this curve. As local media has been supplanted by national media, it seems like our informal vocabulary has gradually simplified into a more harmonized series of slang terms (see: douche.)

The internet now facilitates instant, nearly zero-cost communication globally. Is it likely that the internet will thus simplify and reduce the slang in English-speaking countries? On a long enough timeline, will this leave us with a common lexicon consisting of terms like "smeg" or "frak"?

Navel-gazing,
Burt
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Replies

  • Cr01502
    Cr01502 Posts: 3,614 Member
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    Didn't all words start off as slang at some point?

    I just can't wait for the day Websters include "douchecanoe" in their dictionary.
  • Izzwoz
    Izzwoz Posts: 348 Member
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    I am a big fan of slang and its globalization. I do my bit by introducing new terms and sayings every day.

    Being a professional linguist, I love what language can do and how it evolves, how terms change meaning (favourite example is "gay") and how people make expressions their own.

    Some people would like to be able to time travel to see if we will have populated far away planets - I would like to check the dictionary of the future for the terms "smeg" and "frak".
  • neandermagnon
    neandermagnon Posts: 7,436 Member
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    I'm a Brit married to an American, and I know I've picked up a lot of Americanisms, because I've been informed of this by other Brits. That is then exacerbated by the fact that I'm an expat, and so have spent a lot of time speaking with non-British English speakers, and not so much time speaking with other Brits, to the point that I think twice before using British slang words, because I'm used to getting baffled looks in response to it.

    To be honest I don't really care that much.

    Though this post is the first time in my life that I've typed the word "douchecanoe"
  • SueSlick
    SueSlick Posts: 268 Member
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    The English have lots of slang to bring to this party...and that's before you even start considering their rhyming slangs!
  • HunterKiller_wechange2
    HunterKiller_wechange2 Posts: 332 Member
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    I h8 it. It's almst as bad as txt spk. :)
  • Cr01502
    Cr01502 Posts: 3,614 Member
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    I'm a Brit married to an American, and I know I've picked up a lot of Americanisms, because I've been informed of this by other Brits. That is then exacerbated by the fact that I'm an expat, and so have spent a lot of time speaking with non-British English speakers, and not so much time speaking with other Brits, to the point that I think twice before using British slang words, because I'm used to getting baffled looks in response to it.

    To be honest I don't really care that much.

    Though this post is the first time in my life that I've typed the word "douchecanoe"

    I'm an American living in Britain. SO I picked up on alot of Britishisms. I think I got the good end of the deal.
  • UsedToBeHusky
    UsedToBeHusky Posts: 15,229 Member
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    Bump to read at work.
  • WendyTerry420
    WendyTerry420 Posts: 13,274 Member
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    Because of Harry Potter, my kids will say, "Don't be thick," "Bloody hell," and "Gone mental."
  • neandermagnon
    neandermagnon Posts: 7,436 Member
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    The English have lots of slang to bring to this party...and that's before you even start considering their rhyming slangs!

    awrite ma'e, aah ya doin'? I go' a mahoosive load a Bri'ish slang for ya luv! Wot dialec' dya fancy? Scouse? Brummie? Geordie? 'Ow abou' Glaswegian? Ahm speakin' Cockney right nah luv. Can frow a bi' a eschree in there wiv dat, inni'. Nuffink dodgy abaa' my Bri'ish slang, inni'.

    (although I can't type in Scouse, Brummie, Geordie or Glaswegian really... not sure I can even understand broad Geordie or Glaswegian that well myself, being an Estuary English speaker as I am... (probably the most hated dialect in the UK after Brummie*))

    *independent testing found that Brummie was the most hated of all UK dialects... don't remember what was 2nd most hated, but Estuary was probably quite high up the list.
  • neandermagnon
    neandermagnon Posts: 7,436 Member
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    Because of Harry Potter, my kids will say, "Don't be thick," "Bloody hell," and "Gone mental."

    "bloody hell" is considered a swearword in the UK... it's a mild one though, not in the same league as other swearwords though. It's fine when used to mean "covered in blood" but not when used like "where's the bloody remote" or "bloody hell" - I try not to say stuff like that in front of the kids.... some people will say "blooming" or "blimming" instead of "bloody" to tone their language down.

    (just in case you didn't know, for future reference if you visit the UK)
  • rml_16
    rml_16 Posts: 16,414 Member
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    Language evolution is fascinating.
  • rml_16
    rml_16 Posts: 16,414 Member
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    I h8 it. It's almst as bad as txt spk. :)
    Text speak is a different thing. But if language didn't change, we would speak something very, very, very different from what we speak now. You wouldn't even recognize it!
  • ILiftHeavyAcrylics
    ILiftHeavyAcrylics Posts: 27,732 Member
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    Because of Harry Potter, my kids will say, "Don't be thick," "Bloody hell," and "Gone mental."

    I definitely pick things up from books. Authors generally have favorite words and phrases that will get stuck in my head if I read that author a lot. One of my favorite books is about surfers and after listening to it on cd I kept having to stop myself from using the slang when talking to people.
  • Flab2fitfi
    Flab2fitfi Posts: 1,349 Member
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    I can remember my aunts lock of shock when someone called my son a little bugger - she come from New Zealand and there its a strong swear word but in Norfolk its just another term like monkey. However she would use the s**t Word as they did not considered it a bad word.

    I can remember moving up north and hearing the term muppet for the first time and did not know it was used as an insult.

    We also used to have discussions at uni about what people called bread rolls - barn cakes, baps and in Yorkshire its called a tea cake. any where else in the UK a tea cake has sultanas in but here it means a plain bread roll.
  • thetammymcdaniel
    thetammymcdaniel Posts: 3 Member
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    I h8 it. It's almst as bad as txt spk. :)

    OK, this shouldn't count as an actual reply post because all I want to say is, LOL! I wish the forums had a simple "like" button for each post then I wouldn't have the urge to reply with absolutely nothing to say albeit using a few sentences to do it. MFP could also supply some emotion/ADJ votes after each post: BS, HA HA, BOO, LOVE, HATE, DRAMA QUEEN, HERE'S A TISSUE, INSPIRING, GO FOR A RUN, NOW, GOOD JOB!

    TTFN...

    Cheers!
  • michele0101
    michele0101 Posts: 90
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    I love language. Enjoyed reading these posts:)
  • WinnerVictorious
    WinnerVictorious Posts: 4,735 Member
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    we have plenty of regionalisms in the USA. one of the more interesting ones is the use of soda vs. pop vs. coke in various parts of the country. there are many others (e.g., sub vs. hero vs. grinder vs. hoagie).

    right click the map graphic and select "view image" to see the whole thing.

    popvssodamap.gif
  • WendyTerry420
    WendyTerry420 Posts: 13,274 Member
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    Because of Harry Potter, my kids will say, "Don't be thick," "Bloody hell," and "Gone mental."

    "bloody hell" is considered a swearword in the UK... it's a mild one though, not in the same league as other swearwords though. It's fine when used to mean "covered in blood" but not when used like "where's the bloody remote" or "bloody hell" - I try not to say stuff like that in front of the kids.... some people will say "blooming" or "blimming" instead of "bloody" to tone their language down.

    (just in case you didn't know, for future reference if you visit the UK)

    Aren't "swear words" considered slang? I consider them as such. I don't care if my kids use slang. Mind you, my kids are teenagers, not little ones.
  • neandermagnon
    neandermagnon Posts: 7,436 Member
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    I can remember my aunts lock of shock when someone called my son a little bugger - she come from New Zealand and there its a strong swear word but in Norfolk its just another term like monkey. However she would use the s**t Word as they did not considered it a bad word.

    I can remember moving up north and hearing the term muppet for the first time and did not know it was used as an insult.

    We also used to have discussions at uni about what people called bread rolls - barn cakes, baps and in Yorkshire its called a tea cake. any where else in the UK a tea cake has sultanas in but here it means a plain bread roll.

    Differences in language like that can have dire consequences in terms of miscommuniciation

    in southern UK, "chuffed" means really happy; in the north, it means the same as the f-word (though not considered as rude)

    in southern UK, "well" can be used as an intensifier for an adjective, e.g. "well annoyed" = "very annoyed" etc.

    Anyway this girl from down south was with a bunch of northerners and she wanted to say "I was very happy last night" so she said "I was well chuffed last night" .................

    another one, American in London

    y'all know what *kitten* means in the USA. In many parts of the UK it means cigarettes

    American in London, gets taxi. Taxis nowadays have no smoking rules (i.e. taxi drivers are not allowed to smoke in their taxis) driver stops outside a building and says to the American... "you don't mind waiting five minutes do ya? I'm just going round the back to have a *kitten*."
  • addreonnaseger
    addreonnaseger Posts: 205
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    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6XxnlQEDgVI

    This. Just this.

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