True language geek that I am, I can't resist quizzes like
this one, that test our knowledge of new words and phrases. I've always been
fascinated by the evolution of language and new terms showing up in songs and
movies, but thanks to Twitter and the like, things are changing more quickly
than ever. One celebrity tweet or vine can instantly make a given word take
off. Others rise and fade so quickly they nearly go unnoticed. Why do some
words hang around long enough to make it into the OED and others disappear in
days? What's the difference between permanently cool and oh so five minutes
ago? That's part of the fun. Full disclosure: I took the quiz and missed three.
Can I claim a disadvantage because I don’t have a teenager in the house?
This NPR story caught my eye for obvious reasons, including
the use of "Old-Timey" in the headline, one term that still grates on me.
(Apparently I'm in the minority though; Microsoft Word doesn't flag is as a
misspelling. Really?? And yes, I'm fascinated by slang, but I don't have to
like all of it, right?) Then there's the notion that the actual idea of slang
is passé. I suppose that makes some sense, given the flood of words we now have
that would give Miss Leslie fits, but I tend to agree with Professor Adams.
Slang does exist, and doesn't happen by accident. Humans have been developing
what could be described as slang terms since we first formed tribes. What
better way to solidify a group identity? Anyone who created a "secret" language
with a friend can relate. I feel for future linguists trying to make sense of
this time period though; just trying to interpret Twitter alone will leave them
rekt.
When Lena Ericksen and I first began to study how the psychology of the individual was changing in the 21st Century, we focused on language. How we think is reflected in how we speak. What we say mirrors to some degree what's going on inside our minds. The appearance of so many new terms and the ubiquity of slang are manifestations of all the changes occurring in our psyches in response to rapid change.
ReplyDeleteFrom this point of view, slang can be understood as the mind's effort to give substance to the new. If we think of words as our feeble attempt to clothe phenomena we perceive, it makes sense old terms are no longer adequate in the face of post-modernity, or to use the most recent sociological terminology "the contemporary." And if there is one thing the 21st Century provides in mega-doses is CHANGE. What's more, it is not incremental change. It is disruptive, sweep-away-all-that-we've-known-in-the-past change. (Indeed, may I propose "dys-change" as a word… a blend of disruptive, dysfunctional, distorting, and dis--and change?) Consequently, new words are inevitable in such a context.
Hyper-individuation, the psychological mindset of the 21st Century, is a condition in which the lone person perceives him or herself as the solitary center of a consumer universe, around which all things revolve. If you listen carefully--or read carefully--the comments made by people today you will hear and see "I" repeated over and over with a numbing regularity. It's all about the self--and when all things stand in relationship to the self--terms are so arranged. Look at slang today and you can perceive this orientation. "Selfie" needs no explanation. Think about the "abbrevs" we use: LOL is about my reaction not yours. "Yo" is how I perceive and greet you, not what social etiquette requires. In a sense, the new secret language from which slang arises is an ultra personalized form of speech tailored to the individual and is a manifestation of a person's (not a society's) worldview. (I've often wondered if this is why we find Taylor Swift's name unconsciously appealing--personalization [tailor] done quickly [swift]. Beyonce is "beyond" what you "say." After all, this is what music is… beyond what we can speak...)
There is an inherent logic to slang and it springs from the logic of the new world in which we live.