Introduction
The word ‘slang’ throughout many decades has witnessed changes with respect to various styles, subdialects, and colloquialisms. The late 1700s was the period in which ‘slang’ meaning was developed in the nineteenth century among the Southwest Americans (Lighter, 1996). Changes – have shaped the slang language and have been influenced by individuals, relationships, and different contexts and scenarios like work, home, play, etc. Often dependant upon various moods, the groups that have been most influenced and through which the word ‘slang’ has been influenced are the teenagers and the working group.
If we analyze the usage of slang, we would find that being a ‘flexible’ language, the scope of slang is wide enough to be adjusted into various things. Its flexibility can be evaluated in various environments to which it is often changed when consumed.
For example, in a personal relationship like the one used in between husband and wife communication, the words ‘honey’, ‘sweetie’ or ‘sweetheart’ are used. At work more formal language is required; therefore among colleagues, a particular slang that is molded in a casual context is spoken. Phrases such as ‘pain’, ‘pain in the neck, and ‘bingo’ are commonly used by American teenagers and prove the notion what Ellis (1999) conforms that teenagers’ skill over a range of styles and slang jargons indicates the extent to which they are conscious in understanding and control of these things (Ellis, 1999, p. 15).
Ebonics: An example of ‘bad grammar’ and slang
In a cultural context, an example of ‘official’ slang is the ‘Ebonics’. Ebonics grammar is the habitual use of the verb, as in ‘I will be going to church’, which means ‘I go habitually’. West African verbs have similar structures. A phonological example is a fact that consonants and consonant clusters are often not a part of the Ebonics syllable, for example, ‘I ‘on know’ for ‘I don’t know, or ‘aight’ for ‘all right’. Such rules include the avoidance of taboo words layovers from Southern apartheid such as ‘boy’, ‘you people’. Another such rule is the approval of using Ebonics in oral or casual situations but not in written or formal situations, such as in textbooks (Perry & Delpit, 1998, p. 72).
Style and Flexibility
When used as a vocabulary, slang is utilized in many aspects of style which again is dependant upon users’ culture, subcultures, and environment. When used in cliques, slang tends to develop its own vocabulary. In Washington DC, Milner (2004) mentions that he can still remember the group of students who decided to create a word with no meaning and start using it to see the reaction of others, surprisingly only within a few weeks, the group noticed that people started to imitate them as they could hear people using this word, although they had no idea of what it meant or what context to use it in” (Milner, 2004, p. 49).
Slang words when used among teenage students possess certain characteristics in which the most common ones are 1) The slang they use is of high standards for the reason that higher status groups sometimes attempted to make copying more difficult. 2) The higher the standard would be the lesser would be the probability to learn or imitate slang words, which is a symbol of pride for teenagers. 3) It is easier for the teenagers to grasp and develop a full command over slang language therefore in this way they are capable of developing their own ‘style’ which paces them ‘unique’ among other fellows and friends. Probably this way they are able to build up their own image in front of the opposite gender.
The psychological aspect of ‘Slang’
Among teenagers, particularly teenager students, slang upholds a distinct psychological and psychosocial aspect. It would be better to say that the way slang has penetrated into teenagers’ lives captures more attention than what they learn at their homes and another social environment since childhood. Therefore in precise stylistic manner slang conforms to the variance from time to time and from subgroup to subgroup. By conformity, one might understand the commonalities that exist behind the ‘slang’, resistant to some set of norms that are seen as imposed usually by parents and schools.
The psychological impact of using and listening to slang words made us think in diverse directions. That means it has multiple effects on student’s communication modes and on building student’s personalities. Some students use slang in order to acquire attention while others use the term to describe resistance. Resistance could be from the school side or it could be from home. It could also be presenting or not some kind of adult authority, but to a great extent slang words usage indicates those who experience peer pressure or if not, they must be subjected to some kind of failure in school.
Many schools consider as ‘smart’ those bully teenagers who are overconfident and are considered ‘cool’ in slang terminology as long as one shows resistance to them in other ways. Such teenagers consider slang terminologies to be their best friends; this could also be seen in many movies and books. Even in real life such as wild teenagers, other parents do not like their children to be with. Such teenagers mostly belong to the minority groups in urban ghettos who often involve other substantial numbers of white teenagers in suburban areas.
For students who are somehow involved in the political counter norms, slang serves as an added advantage in reckoning them among those who express resistance to established authorities or conventional customs and involves the creation of a set of alternative or counter norms. Such individuals, through proper utilization of slang, are able to conceal their ‘capabilities’ in resistant subcultures-whether they are teenage cliques, Communist Party cells, or persecuted religious sects-high levels of conformity are demanded to the norms of the deviant group.
An alternate to boredom
Slang is not only adopted as a weapon, on some political or status-seeking ground but it is also seen utilizing and benefiting those students who are committed to conventional notions of their career management or education like those who seek success in college education, or those who already possess some good name and in search of a good job wants to impress others, etc. Often students are heard saying that ‘slang’ words or a lifestyle deviant from slang are not worth living as it is the next best option not to getting bored after going out with friends.
It is the slang for the teenager students who believe that boredom can only be get rid of by associating it with behaviors that welcome slang thereby annoying to authorities-throwing food, jokes in class, a surly manner, and are not serious enough to bring significant retribution. What teenagers seek in slang words is the cultivation of an alternative lifestyle that advocates indifference to what is valued in the existing dominant culture. While teenagers often want to set themselves off from others, at other times and in other contexts they want to create connections and establish solidarity with those who are not members of their immediate status group.
Characteristics of the slang users
Upon close observance, it was found out that the students who explicitly mentioned as hippies, skaters, and freaks come under the basic type of slang promoters. The second category was fulfilled by ‘whiz’ kids who have more ‘brains’ and are considered as ‘intellectuals’ in their schools or colleges. Many intellectuals like to be socialized, therefore they lunch together, but some participate in other lifestyle groups. The third slang users were those white students who though do not belong to the preps, the rednecks, or one of the alternative groups, but were ‘average’. The main thing is that every slang teenage user irrespective of age or peer group liked to associate himself or herself to his or her senior group.
Regarding slang usage when public school settings were enquired about the opportunities to speak with secondary school teachers and principals about the implications of jargon for the secondary school, it was revealed that many students only use abusive language or jargon for they do not have parents to talk to about sexual questions and issues turn to their teachers and other adults in the school as their confidants (Carroll, 1999, p. 99).
For example, one middle school peer counseling coordinator when discussed how her students regularly ask her questions about sexual jargon they hear from their peers replied that students tell her they would rather confide in her than their parents. So, there are numerous conditions under which slang language is spoken and understood, now being optimistic or pessimistic, depends upon the user how he uses it.
Work Cited
Carroll S. Pamela, (1999) Using Literature to Help Troubled Teenagers Cope with Societal Issues: Greenwood Press: Westport, CT.
Ellis G. Donald, (1999) From Language to Communication: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates: Mahwah, NJ.
Lighter, J. E., (1996) “A Lot of Nonsense” In: Magazine Title The Atlantic Monthly. Volume: 277. Issue: 6: p. 128.
Milner Murray, (2004) Freaks, Geeks, and Cool Kids: American Teenagers, Schools, and the Culture of Consumption: Routledge: New York.
Perry Theresa & Delpit Lisa, (1998) The Real Ebonics Debate: Power, Language, and the Education of African-American Children: Beacon Press: Boston.