Speech Recognition When you can’t understand your kids, it’s not a sign of dementia, rather a symptom of a generation-gap. But rather than fix their figuratives, stop and listen: slang can provide a fascinating insight into their lives.

All language evolves, but not arf as fast as slang. Slang is the lingo of the young, and while we stick fast to the abbreviations and distortions of our yesteryear, the distance between us and our kids is growing. They may not be bovvered, innit, but it’s disconcerting for an adult trying to communicate with their child; oh, alright, trying to understand what an earth is going on in their phone conversations!
Before we ask: why do they do it? We do have to take a moment to mourn our loss of memory and our descent into fogie-dom. After all, we did it. Our expressions may seem more benign in comparison, but purely because colloquial language is a sign of the times. And in the words of Dylan (that’s Bob, not Thomas) – which will mean nothing to all those born after 1970, and even that’s pushing it – the times they are a changing’.

“In-groups, with their own ‘micro-cultures’ - behaviour, rituals, prejudices, fads and special obsessions - tend to evolve their own private languages,” says Tony Thorne, Head of the Language Centre at King’s College, London, and author of Shoot the Puppy: A Survival Guide to the Curious Jargon of Modern Life (Penguin). “These are mainly to give names to things, like drugs or music - that standard language doesn’t have names for.” And before we let mouths gape, such pastimes were around in our day. If you’ve forgotten them so readily, they may well have had something to do with it!

“Slang can be generated by drugs and related behaviour, by crime – especially by gang culture and by music or the internet, or any exclusive activities of subcultures. It exists always as a deliberate alternative to standard language. It is the most colloquial form of language on a spectrum that goes from formal to informal.”

But on a more innocent note, what’s happened to the more innocuous expressions like Skill, Tops and Ace? “Important elements of slang are described by linguists as ‘vogue terms’ and these rely on their novelty or trendiness for their power, therefore they have to constantly be renewed and replaced,” says Tony. “But they don’t necessarily disappear, they just get picked up by less trendy speakers – so ‘wicked’, for example, has not been used by the ultra-fashionable since the end of the 1970s, but is still used in some primary and junior school playgrounds. It’s the words for approval that signal whether you are in the know or not that tend to change fastest – fab/gear/ace/brill/dope/phat/sick, etc.”

But more than a reflection of recreational dabbling – be it oral or aural – slang can be seen as verbal glue, or branding. “It helps the members of the in-group to define themselves and to keep outsiders out; so they will typically have nicknames, categories of people that others can’t recognise, together with their own special insults, put-downs and fashionable terms of approval and disapproval,” says Tony. “Sometimes these private vocabularies stay within a very small, exclusive group, but sometimes they cross over and are adopted by a wider group, maybe eventually being picked up for song lyrics and by the media.”
But should we be bothered. Sorry, bovvered? Catherine Tate’s Lauren – a trendier take on the yeah-but-no-but Vikki, with her chav (I hope that’s right) self-possession and teen aggression makes us laugh, but it also makes us cringe. What if OUR kids start speaking like that! And if they do already – should we be horrified with this sloppy talk?

“To a linguist slang is not sloppy: it can sometimes be used as a substitute for looking for the more precise term perhaps, but it can also be very creative, inventive, nuanced and even poetic – it can extend a person’s linguistic range and capabilities rather than limiting them.”

What? Yeah but, like, no but, whatever? “We can disapprove of it when it is used at the wrong time, in the wrong context,” Tony adds. “And young people may need to be reminded that slang – just like other styles of language such as technical/very formal/literary – must be used appropriately. It has its place, but will cause problems if used in formal situations, in exams, job interviews or in the presence of more conservative people.”

So from a parent’s point of view. It’s got to be observation, toleration and moderation. Ant’it!

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Hear Now by Tony Thorne

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As a cucumber

‘Cool’ has been around since the very beginning of the 20th century, moving through different groups – jazz musicians, beatniks and hippies – before becoming universal. It has crossed over in a big way, breaching age distinctions and even nationalities - it’s also used by speakers of other languages. It may owe its popularity and staying power to the fact that we need a ‘cool’ term that everyone can understand and use...

Say What?

Our readers share their linguistic despair

“I notice that my 8-year-old son and his friends use some computer-speak in everyday situations. For example, my son said that his pasta needed ‘an upgrade’ – by adding some grated cheese on top.”

“They used to use ‘well’ in front of adjectives to mean ‘very’, but that’s now been replaced by ‘way’: if something’s really good, it’s ‘way cool’.”
“They don’t say ‘yes’ any more they say ‘yuh huh’ (think that’s it).”

“Apparently an Emo is someone who listens to emotional rock.”
“Have you come across shizzle my nizzle, yet? – I think it means ‘no way’.”

“Full sick is very good, apparently.”
We’ll be building an online glossary for you – so email us your slang , with an interpretation, and help us get up to date!