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1、Unit 1 Slang: Talking CoolTeacher: Ok, lets get startedToday were going to be looking at a really interesting phenomenon, slang. Well be looking at where slang comes from, who uses it and why. We all use it more often than you might thingevery day of our lives, in fact. And we use it for a reason.Yo
2、u know, most of us ware fascinated with slang. We continually hear new words or phrases enter the language and replace old, and we see familiar words take on new meanings. We feel a need to keep in touch with these changes, to be aware of the latest street talk. Fact is, we love slang. But what is i
3、t exactly? What is slang? Anyone like to suggest a definition?Student 1: Isnt it basically kind of casual talk?Teacher: Can you say a bit more?Student 1: You know, the sort of words we use with friendsin relaxed situations.Teacher: Good. Youre pretty much there with your idea of casual language. We
4、can say that slang is language thats found only in the very informal speech of particular groups of people. It can help to identify the communities, the groups of people, who use it. And this brings me to the first important point of the lecturewhy people use slang.A lot of slang comes from not want
5、ing to be understood by outsiders, people outside your circle. In other words, people exploit slang to give their group an identity, by making their language exclusive, or at least private. Through this private language, they can tease one another, enjoy shared experiences, and keep everyone else at
6、 a distance. All cultures contain groups or subcultures with different interest and priorities, and each group tries to establish a separate identity. They want people to know who they are, what they stand for and slang helps to construct and cement that identity. We can say, then, that slang reflec
7、ts the experiences, beliefs, and values of its speakers.Now lets look more closely at this relationship between slang and community, slang and identity. A nice example of this is, uh, student language, sometimes called “youth-speak.” Young people use a lot of slang, and many of the words they use ar
8、e used by both sexes, often metaphorically rather than literally. That is to say, the conventional meaning of the words change. For example, words that have traditionally had strong negative literal meanings that are used as insults have taken on, uh, gentler, and in many cases even positive meaning
9、s in conversation. Well look at some examples later.Now, if you ask college students why they use slang, theyll tell you its cool, and thats true in several different ways. First, its cool because its in style, in fashion. Using current slang shows that the speaker is in tune with the timesyou know,
10、 that he or she knows whats in fashion and is part of the fashion.Second, slang is cool in the sense of showing that the speaker is knowledgeable the speaker is “in the know,” the speaker knows when slang is acceptable. People dont use slang all the time, only in situations and with people who accep
11、t the use of slanga point Ill return to later.Research tells us that although young people often deny that they use slang intentionally, in fact they clearly choose whether or not to use it depending on the situation theyre in. As weve already said, slangs typically used in informal rather than form
12、al settings, and this is certainly true among college students: They usually avoid using it in the classroom or a work environment, for example. Anyone like to suggest why?Student 1: People wont understand them.Student 2: Yeah, so its like a waste of time.Teacher: Well, that may be true, but its not
13、 the main reason. They dont use it simply because it could make them look bad. And everyone hates looking bad, right?So, to review, weve said that students use slang only in certain situations. But they also only use it with certain people, usually friends. When they use slang, they are showing that
14、 they share social and emotional experiencesso slang reinforces their relationships. Butit also gives special meaning to what they say. For instance, to say “That party was the bomb” is more than merely saying it was a very good party. It shares an emotional experience that might otherwise take seve
15、ral sentences to explain. In other words, its a kind of shorthand.The third and final way slangs cool is that its fun; its very creative in the same way that poetry is, and its often humorous. In other words, its a form of play, a way of entertaining.Souh, let me repeat: Ive said that slangs cool fo
16、r three seasons: One, it shows the users fashionable and in tune with the times; two, its a way of reinforcing relationships and communicating efficiently; and three, its fun and entertaining. Got that?All right then, lets now take a look at different kinds of slang, in particular three types of slang words: those that are currently most used, those that ling year after year, and those that have become unfashion
