Spring Break
Say What?
Translating Slang To English. Word.
Emily Abbate
Issue date: 2/7/08 Section: Focus
Sometimes putting together a 10-page double-spaced political science paper with sources can seem trivial next to your normal conversations. College students go from nights staying awake until 2 a.m. writing about Plato and Aristotle's theories to walking to class with friends using a language that appears completely different and unusual. This language, with no specific title but rather a common understanding to most of the UConn campus, is a generational slang.
Slang, according to the dictionary, is a kind of language especially occurring in casual and playful speech, usually made up of short-lived coinages and figures of speech deliberately used in place of standard terms for effects such as raciness, humor or irreverance. However, today's slang is becoming integrated into everyday use, and quickly into the modern dictionary.
In 2006, the words "soul patch" (a small beard under a man's lower lip) and "ollie" (a skateboarding trick) were added to the "Merriam-Webster Dictionary," according to m-w.com. Even more entertaining additions can be found in the "Oxford English Dictionary," according to askoxford.com, including "crunk" (hip-hop or rap music, primarily characterized by redundant use of shouted catchphrases and components of electronic dance music), "twonk" (a foolish or stupid individual) and "celebutante" (a celebrity who is considered fashionable within pop culture).
In today's society, there is a phrase for every occasion, and going out and partying is no exception. It could mean going out to "get wasted" (get drunk), or the next day you could hear about how much of a "shitshow" (mess) you were. You could be put into a situation where two members of the opposite sex "bait-and-switch," inviting you to hang out, and then use your friendship to get closer to one of your other attractive friends. And the ever-popular "shotgunning," or cutting into the side of a beer can, lifting and opening the tab simultaneously in competition to see who finishes the can first.
Slang, according to the dictionary, is a kind of language especially occurring in casual and playful speech, usually made up of short-lived coinages and figures of speech deliberately used in place of standard terms for effects such as raciness, humor or irreverance. However, today's slang is becoming integrated into everyday use, and quickly into the modern dictionary.
In 2006, the words "soul patch" (a small beard under a man's lower lip) and "ollie" (a skateboarding trick) were added to the "Merriam-Webster Dictionary," according to m-w.com. Even more entertaining additions can be found in the "Oxford English Dictionary," according to askoxford.com, including "crunk" (hip-hop or rap music, primarily characterized by redundant use of shouted catchphrases and components of electronic dance music), "twonk" (a foolish or stupid individual) and "celebutante" (a celebrity who is considered fashionable within pop culture).
In today's society, there is a phrase for every occasion, and going out and partying is no exception. It could mean going out to "get wasted" (get drunk), or the next day you could hear about how much of a "shitshow" (mess) you were. You could be put into a situation where two members of the opposite sex "bait-and-switch," inviting you to hang out, and then use your friendship to get closer to one of your other attractive friends. And the ever-popular "shotgunning," or cutting into the side of a beer can, lifting and opening the tab simultaneously in competition to see who finishes the can first.
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BAM
posted 2/08/08 @ 9:28 AM EST
Word.
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