The Conformity of Slang?

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"

Because of Harry Potter, my kids will say, "Don't be thick," "Bloody hell," and "Gone mental."

I h8 it. It's almst as bad as txt spk.

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)

Yes, eventually the English-language, I think, will completely assimilate itself. But then again, there will always be unique dialects. Some regions pride themselves on the uniqueness of their dialect and their regional slang.

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

Yes, eventually the English-language, I think, will completely assimilate itself. But then again, there will always be unique dialects. Some regions pride themselves on the uniqueness of their dialect and their regional slang.

I think what you'll get, and I think it's already emerging, is "regional" internet dialects of written slang. This is a very new thing, because until recently, written English was by and large formal, but the advent of the internet has resulted in all kinds of informal ways of writing, and internet slang, which includes smileys made from punctuation.... and rather than geographic regions, you are likely to get "regional" differences based on "where"on the internet people hang out. This is similar to the concept of memes, but is in relation to ways of using written language and punctuation, which could be considered a form of written slang.

So while there may be assimilation in terms of geographical regional dialects, there may actually end up being diversification of online dialects, linked to particular sites, forums etc, rather than geographical regions.