Berry Nice | Slang is like Shakespeare

Let me begin by admitting to never having taken a linguistics course and never having read a Webster cover to cover. I’m no expert on the formal evolution of the English language. However, I am a college student and an urbandictionary.com regular. Therefore, as far as I am concerned, I’m more or less qualified to comment on all things slang. So here it goes.

First: How do we define slang? I headed to the source of all things pop culture — urbandictionary.com. The site’s user-generated definitions for the word “slang” caught me off guard.

One definition claims slang is a “result of social and cultural idolization of uneducated, unitelligable [sic] celebrities.” Interesting how there is a misspelling is such a pretentious comment. A later explanation, though, is quick to defend street-talk in all of its informal glory. It states that the use of slang is “frequently ridiculed by culturally-ignorant people who feel it is the product of insufficient education and believe it to be counter-evolutionary.”

Though there are certain cases in which slang is unacceptable, generally, I’m in favor of its use.

If it weren’t for less-than-black-tie phrases, I wouldn’t be able to fully convey my implied tone when I say that dismissing slang as backwards is a bunch of hogwash, gibberish and malarkey.

The use of slang isn’t as bad as some folks make it out to be. Using novel, nonderogatory expressions in nonformal situations can be, as urbandictionary.com puts it, “often quite profound.” Slang is only inapropro if intentioned to be so.

Even those long past their dorm-dwelling years are eager to learn the latest lingo. The Huffington Post recently ran an article touted as a “Field Guide to College Slang” writing, “College students, like our ancestors of yore, have the innate ability to develop languages all their own.” The list of language novelties includes “ABP” (oh hey Huntsman Hall) and the expression “to boot” after a hard night out.

But not everyone is embracing the trend. Some staunch old-fashioners are up in arms about how slang is counter-productive for society and for the English language. As long as people remember when informal language is and is not acceptable, slang is not going to delegitimize our language.

Hey, new words are constantly being invented. Even Shakespeare gave us a few indispensable words — cold-blooded, puke and swagger come to mind. With the degree to which our world has changed over the last decade, our slang is behind in comparison. New words are in high demand as new concepts, gadgets and virtual spaces come into being. The word “blogosphere” has already crept into the dictionary, and the expression “give me a buzz” is borderline conventional.

Plus, texting or tweeting abbreviations aren’t all that bad. As long as we don’t LOL or ROFL in our term papers, economizing on a letter or two is no B.

Still, there is one place where we should recognize slang’s dangers. Certain words do qualify as counter-productive — the kind that attach a derogatory connotation to a word. When we choose to use these idioms that aren’t quite as innocent as pie, we indeed take a step in the wrong direction.

It seems, though, that we’re moving away from the slurs of yesteryear. Are there still people who throw around offensive labels? Of course. Such utterances pollute our popular culture, but derogatory words like those used to refer to black, homosexual or mentally ill persons are becoming less socially acceptable. And new slang words tend to focus on technology instead of cultural differences.

If we can learn to steer clear of the demeaning phrases, slang, like Shakespeare, can offer new shades of meaning to our increasingly digital society. College students’ vernacular isn’t shameful — it’s sick, it’s hella cool and it’s downright groovy.

Kensey Berry is a College sophomore from Little Rock, Ark. Her e-mail address is berry@theDP.com. Berry Nice appears on Tuesdays.

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