slang. good or bad?

[inbarco]

What do you think about the Slang phenomenon? Generally, do you think it's indicates something good happening in the language or the opposite? Should we teach slang the EFL students? Or we should avoid this phenomena like we doing today in class?

[thedeebo]

I don't think that most slang is bad for a language. It helps to make the language more interesting and unique. American and British English are interchangeable as far as comprehension goes, but the slang for each is very different. Knowing the slang is an important aspect of communicating with native speakers in a natural way, and in understanding the culture of the speakers.

I think that ESL and EFL students should be taught the slang after they learn all the fundamentals of the language and are competent in it. Slang is a way that the native speakers make their language shorter and easier to speak. Since the slang depends on knowledge of the native language in the first place, it is important that students of the language be competent enough to understand the formal language. Since pretty much everyone on this forum can at least communicate in written English, I think that teaching slang is OK here.

[banderas]

Hi thedeebo, what's your favourite slang expression that you use mostly?

[thedeebo]

I'm not sure that I have favorite slang expressions, only expressions that I frequently use because of my geographical and cultural location. I like to use "like" a lot, but not in the sense that everyone learns.

"That's, like, pretty awesome."
"And so I was like 'yeah right'!"
"You're, like, pretty nice."
"I, like, really like helping on the forum."
"People here are, like, pretty cool."

If you've ever seen Scooby Doo, then I kind of talk like a really toned-down Shaggy. (If you haven't seen Scooby Doo, then you aren't missing out on anything!) It is a pretty useless word addition, but it is very common in Southern California. We also use the word "dude" a lot here. It is kind of like saying "friend" or "buddy."

"Dude! That was like, so not cool."
"I don't know, dude. What do you want to do today?"
"I know what you mean, dude."

Those are both phrases that I use a lot, and are pretty geographically specific to Southern California. The usage has expanded probably due to the fact that Hollywood is in Southern California too, so lots of people get to hear and copy them. A lot of people think of Valley Girls as far as "like" goes (but I don't talk like that) and Surfer Dudes when the word "dude" comes up. Speech here is kind of a mix of the stereotypes, with only a few being at the extremes.

I am also into the whole "internet" thing, so I use lots of internet slang when I talk. I call people "noobs" when they act stupid, and I say that they get "pwnz0red" (pronounced pone-zored) if they lose at something.

Other slang used:
If something is good (not foodwise) I will call it "sweet" or "bomb" or "tight" or "cool."

If something is bad, I will say that it "sucks" or is "gay" (although gay people may take offense to that, so I don't use it as much).

I might call up my friend and ask if they want to "chill" or "hang out" later if I want to meet up with them.

I'm not sure how common these words are (pretty common among my age group around here anyway), but they are a bunch of words that I use. I don't know if this is more than you asked for, but whatever!

[Ouisch]

Originally Posted by thedeebo

I'm not sure that I have favorite slang expressions, only expressions that I frequently use because of my geographical and cultural location. I like to use "like" a lot, but not in the sense that everyone learns.

"That's, like, pretty awesome."
"And so I was like 'yeah right'!"

No offense to you, Deebo, but the current trend of using "like" as a synonym for an action verb is one of my personal bugaboos. I know I'm coming from the perspective of an old cranky person ("Hey you kids, get off of my lawn!"), but listening to these types of conversations (the excess use of "like" makes everything seem so tentative) just grinds my gears:

"So he's like 'I'm taking Tiffany to the dance,' and I'm all like 'No way, she's a skank.'"
"Oh, wow, I'd be so like Hello?? Courtney is like so into you, and she is like so much cuter than Tiffany."

or


"I was like five minutes late for work and my boss was all like 'one more tardy and I'll have to fire you.' And I was just like 'whatever.'"

[thedeebo]

Originally Posted by Ouisch

No offense to you, Deebo, but the current trend of using "like" as a synonym for an action verb is one of my personal bugaboos. I know I'm coming from the perspective of an old cranky person ("Hey you kids, get off of my lawn!"), but listening to these types of conversations (the excess use of "like" makes everything seem so tentative) just grinds my gears:

"So he's like 'I'm taking Tiffany to the dance,' and I'm all like 'No way, she's a skank.'"
"Oh, wow, I'd be so like Hello?? Courtney is like so into you, and she is like so much cuter than Tiffany."

or


"I was like five minutes late for work and my boss was all like 'one more tardy and I'll have to fire you.' And I was just like 'whatever.'"

Oh, God! I'm, like, so sorry!

[banderas]

Originally Posted by Ouisch

No offense to you, Deebo, but the current trend of using "like" as a synonym for an action verb is one of my personal bugaboos. I know I'm coming from the perspective of an old cranky person ("Hey you kids, get off of my lawn!"), but listening to these types of conversations (the excess use of "like" makes everything seem so tentative) just grinds my gears:

"So he's like 'I'm taking Tiffany to the dance,' and I'm all like 'No way, she's a skank.'"
"Oh, wow, I'd be so like Hello?? Courtney is like so into you, and she is like so much cuter than Tiffany."

or


"I was like five minutes late for work and my boss was all like 'one more tardy and I'll have to fire you.' And I was just like 'whatever.'"

HI Ouisch, so you don't use slang at all?

[thedeebo]

Oh I'm sure Ouisch uses slang, just not the same slang as I do. I would also like to point out that your example sounds like bubbly Valley Girls chattering away about nothing. I'm not that bad...

[Ouisch]

Originally Posted by thedeebo

Oh I'm sure Ouisch uses slang, just not the same slang as I do. I would also like to point out that your example sounds like bubbly Valley Girls chattering away about nothing. I'm not that bad...

Yes, I do use slang, but I try to avoid using "like" and "goes" as quotatives. I certainly didn't mean to pick on the Deebster, and I'm sure he knows that. But I've noticed that, for example, in Time or Entertainment Weekly or People, when a celebrity is being interviewed, they constantly lapse into what we used to refer to as Val-Speak (formerly used exclusively by the Valley Girls Deebo mentioned). Formerly literate actors like Meryl Streep are now describing their on-set experiences thusly: "I'm climbing this brick wall and supposed to be singing 'Mamma Mia' at the same time and the director was like 'Cut! Let's do it one more time, but with more enthusiasm.' And I'm like 'I've been climbing this wall all day, I'm too exhausted to work up much enthusiasm.'"

[banderas]

What do you use then, Ouisch? Can you give me some examples?