From the birth of the word “teenager” in the 1950s to the millennial generation, young people have consistently made an effort to make the English language their own by developing new slang and communicating with one another in their own unique, stylized fashion.
But students will also have to develop an acute understanding of how that level of communication fits into their academic career.
Twenty First century neologisms, or slang, can emerge amongst a small group of friends or from online sources such as Facebook, Twitter or Reddit.
They range from portmanteaus (combinations of two or more existing words, like “bromance” from “brother” and “romance,” or “chillax” from “chill” and “relax”) to acronyms (words formed from initials, like “YOLO” from “you only live once”).
Some enjoy a level of longevity, while others fall out of fashion and go as quickly as they came.
Jesse Martin, a 24-year-old Liberal Arts major at Sinclair Community College, said that he views the use of slang as being advantageous when trying to quickly bond with new people.
“It’s a way to get on the level of the person you’re speaking with and be a little more connected,” he said. “You want to associate with people you can relate to.”
Martin said he and his friends have adopted a vernacular that includes substituting or attaching the prefix “bro” to certain words and phrases like, “bro and arrow” and “Broseph Stalin,” or attaching a suffix to form words like “hangsies” (hang out) or “beersies” (beer).
He said his friend’s girlfriend will sometimes shorten words like “perfect” to “perf” or “definitely” to “def.”
“It injects a playfulness to whatever you say,” he said. “When you say that and somebody knows what you’re thinking, it gives you camaraderie.”
Staying on top of the newest slang may seem like quite the task, but students will also have to gauge its appropriateness — knowing when to separate how they communicate in their social life and how they communicate in a more professional, academic setting.
Kent Zimmerman, Communication professor at Sinclair, cited Ralph Nichols as saying, “the most basic of all human needs is the need to understand and be understood.”
He said that in public speaking, formal English serves as a common language thread and enhances the possibility for shared understanding amongst a diverse audience.
“One of the basic principles in public speaking is knowing and adapting to your audience,” he said. “If I want them to gain an understanding of my ideas, I need to present my ideas in a manner they can understand. If I use an abundance of slang terms that only few would comprehend, I have not adapted to my audience. I would be, in essence, talking to a group of friends and myself.”
However, he said appropriate slang can aid creativity and serve as an effective tool when hoping to immerse an audience into the “new world” of unfamiliar subject matter.
“When we create slang terms, we tend to use them initially with a designated group,” he said. “Society is like a jury. If the majority of us like the term, its usage in conversation becomes common place. The term may eventually make the revised dictionary. Most slang terms, however, die a quick and painless death.”
Furaha Henry-Jones, English associate professor at Sinclair, said she’s not the kind of person who would ever put down informal language and that “different ways of speaking and writing have their place.”
“I don’t ever want a student to feel like they’re having something taken away from them; I want a student to feel as if they’re adding other another dimension to their way of communicating with the world,” she said.
She said formal, college-level English is desired in most written assignments, but slang is acceptable when communicating during certain class discussions or more exploratory, personal activities, like class journal entries.
“I’ve had students, for example, who are writing a paper and the only way that they know how to express something is in the everyday, casual language that they use; that’s what they know, right now,” she said. “So, they might write a draft and they have slang or informal language, and then in those drafts, I can point out, ‘okay, this is maybe not the best word choice, or this is not the best phrase, or did you know that there are other ways to say this?’ and show them other ways to say the same things using academic language or a different register.”
She said her English 1101 and 1201 courses can be quite diverse and using Standard English is the best way for a diverse cross-section of students to understand each other.
She also said many students have specific career goals in mind, and that the ability to communicate using Standard English will be desired.
Martin said in a recent job interview, he consciously avoided using informal language that had become second nature and although doing this initially seemed weird, he made an effort to choose his words carefully.
“You definitely need to turn it on and off,” Martin said. “Not everybody knows you [and] first impressions last a long time. You need to know when to do it and when not to.”