I love the book Frindle. Students create a synonym for "pen" and it gets used more and more until it is a widely accepted word.
This happens more likely than people think. Slang constantly gets reinvented by the next term to to express approval of something. "Cool" was adopted a long time ago and it is now hardly even thought of as slang. However "groovy" is all but extinct.
What makes some words (slang or not) last and others disappear from usage? Is it a single society or media's adaptation of the words to spread it? Cool was originally spread by the radio and later the television half a century ago. Is there older slang that popped up and lasted and was it because of it's use by the media?
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As your best friend, I believe I should be on here. First off, your right Kevin. A word can be used so much that people just accept it as a word. I think you remember the Gloucester experiment Daniel and I started up in high school and you finished in college at Coram Boy. If people dont believe tell them about the Gloucester Test.
ReplyDeletePersonally, I think it ends up being a special case where a slang lasts longer than a couple of years. I mean where did groovy go? What ever happened to the bees knees? If you try and bring them back most people will laugh at you for using an old school term and never say it again. I think the media has influences on the words we use for sure but I believe the government does too. I man they have a whole department dedicated to propaganda. But I will end with whatever happened to saying "word when something was cool...huh?
I know that words are always being put into use with the advent of new technology. 15 years ago the word "ipod" would sound like it came out of Invasion of the Body Snatchers.
ReplyDeleteBesides technology, I think the other big influence on the American dialect of English is going to be Spanish. I have a hard time believing that English is going to be completely routed in any part of the country with Spanish taking its place. Mass media has globally accepted English. Although Spanish could be integrated into the popular media I think that our culture is so set with English that the language will be disregarded. I think the mix of the languages will be gradual and fought every step of the way. Maybe it will show up in fifty years or so introduced in the same way Ebonics was.
Any part of this people disagree with? I would like to hear some opinions.
Oldest American slang word that is now in common use? Maybe it's "buck" for a dollar. Any other nominees that old?
ReplyDeleteOne thing that intrigues me is how a language reflects what is important in that culture. The Inuit have many words for snow. The Pakistanis have many words for rocks. (I just learned that in Three Cups of Tea.) What idea/thing do Americans have many words for? What is important to our culture?
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