"Slang Sticker Pack" by Keith Vlahakis is licensed under CC BY-NC-ND 4.0
I'll confess that I’m one of those people who twitches when I hear words used in the ‘wrong’ way… but perhaps I’m coming around (if my use of inverted commas is anything to go by). We know that language evolves (Erard, 2017) and that we don’t speak or write the way that we once did (see my earlier blog post about why we should still study Shakespeare!). So why do we resist this change? Why do I react when I hear a kid call something ‘lit’ when they mean excellent, knowing full well that this definition will one day weasel its way into the dictionary? (It already has).
Over time, these words slowly make their way into mainstream vocabulary (thus losing their evasive pleasure!), and eventually their new meanings are officially recognised (just in time for young people to abandon them as decidedly un-cool). So why do young people use words in ways they weren’t meant for? Or make up new words entirely?
It seems the almost singular purpose of each generation to distinguish themselves from their predecessors. The language we use is a critical component of our identity and indeed one of the clearest ways in which we both establish and signal the social groups to which we belong. Thus, the language of young people both separates and includes - distinguishing them from older generations and marking their inclusion in particular social groups. If you’ve ever overheard a group of kids and genuinely marvelled at the fact that they’re speaking the same language as you - you’re officially old.
"The Answer is Blowing in the Wind"by decuni is licensed under CC BY-NC 2.0
So where does that leave us? Do we brace ourselves in frustration against the evolution of language as we know it? Or do we bend with the winds of change and accept the inevitable? And why do we find this so hard? Perhaps the difficulty lies in feeling that something of ours is being lost and we have no control over it. Or perhaps in the ‘degredation’ of language we see echoes of the ways in which society is simply not ‘what it once was’. Is our opposition really just a yearning for the past and for a time when we were younger and more relevant?
Maybe this isn’t a thing at all, and you’re reading along wondering what on earth I’m so bothered about. Is it an English teacher thing? Perhaps you’re totes (agh!) comfortable with words like ‘extra’, ‘snatched' and ‘hunty’ (I had to look them up too). One thing is for sure though - even if you’re absolutely fine with all this - don’t ever cross the invisible line. We can’t see it, but I assure you that this line exists. There’s no better way to ensure that a word you’ve learned vanishes from your teen’s/student’s vocabulary as quickly as it arrived, than to try and start using it yourself. You may even understand how to use it in context (hats off to some of these parents who have an impressive handle on their kids’ vocabulary!), but never, ever go there. There’s no surer way to signal your age than to appropriate teen-speak. And if as part of your endeavours you're referring to websites for “new slang terms to memorise if you want to stay cool”… then trust me, you’re not - and that's ok!
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About meI'm a teacher, student and advocate for better education through ongoing questioning, thinking and learning.
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