In the Yay Area, sophomore Jack Hicks gets hot about school. Unable to control his anger he whips home in his Corvette.
When Hicks gets home he’s lightweight hungry and slides to his friend house. The homies eat hella food and chill all day long. Twinkies and Cokes scarfed down their throats. Throughout the various ethnic societies and cultures there are roughly 6,500 different languages spoken in our world. But teenagers are known to share a language no matter where they are in the world. Slang. Teenage slang creeps its way into the halls of high schools and communities as our youth participates in the tradition of the slang language. The series of slang terms are piled on sites such like Urban Dictionary to add flavor to the basic words that come from our mouths. Also known as, English. The division between urban slang and formal English has caused many to believe it is either “dumbing down” the culture of our language or simply uniting the youth as our languages are constantly evolving. Judgement is a natural trigger in humans as our population has judged each other on slang and the dialects of ethnically different people. Hicks said, “It affects our English language a lot. In reality none of it really makes sense. I think it makes our generation not sound smart at all to those older than us. It also can exclude people from conversation because sometimes not everyone understands.” According to the Pew Research Center 50 percent of teens say they use informal writing styles instead of proper formal writing styles in their school assignments. “Adults totally think we’re like ghetto and not educated or focused on our work because of slang. Because they think of us like this it ends up affecting our English language and how our generation is seen even if we like using slang with friends,” says Sophomore Raquel Ward. Although throwing out terms and texts such as “LOL” and “see ya” are not a part of the English language, it is used largely amongst the teens. Different accents in places such as Texas and New Jersey have also been linked to a unique dialect. Teens try to impersonate each others’ accents to sound silly in an unfamiliar dialect. Guido's (Italians who live in New Jersey) are automatically linked to the reality series “Jersey Shore” and the morals they live by. GTL (Gym tan Laundry). Adults also use different types of slang to communicate in work. Adults in the medical field use abbreviations to identify certain parts of the Hospital. ER also known as the emergency room is used around the hospital halls. They also use MRI’s to shorten the name of an examination. School tests such as the SATs and and the PSATs also are shorten, but everyone in school knows the test that is being referred to. In a Sociolinguistic Study published in the Academy Publication Theory and Practice in Language Studies, Yanchun Zhou said, “Although many intelligent people consider slang is of lower acceptability in society, the trend is more obvious that the use of slang expressions in movies, television, newspapers, and magazines is noticeably increasing. From the trend, we can see American slang is becoming more and more widely used and plays an increasingly influential role in everyday discourse of American English.” As the trend goes viral among teen smartphones, the power of slang is also seen to unite the youth population. Popular music and movies also include a new vocabulary of slang impacting the new teen trends. English teacher Jody Humes said, “Slang will always exist as a common language and trend in our world. It tends to unite people as we all use it occasionally.” As our language continues to evolve, it is known to bring kids together. Though it can be seen as a damaging factor to our formal language, it adds a sense of originality to each generation. The tradition of teen slang is obvi here to stay. |