Slang. It has always been part of the English language, and it is here to stay. The phrases we use might become outdated or "lame", but slang is something that will always be around. In fact, if you type "the history of English slang" into google, it will give you many websites filled with the awkward words we have used throughout the years like "gee-wiz!" and "gnarly".
My friend moved to Arizona last year and I decided to ask him about any weird slang differences that he found between his new home and Minnesota. The one that stuck out to me the most was that they say "ew" instead of using the ever popular "sick" that teenagers have integrated into their vocabulary.
This inspired me to look through a website that provides "A Historical Dictionary of American Slang" to find slang words that are still used today, and also to just find some funny ones that died out over the years.
- 1930's: "go bananas". Even though this might not be used very often anymore, it is still pretty easily understood.
- 1970's: gave us the highly intellectual slang phrase, "in deep doo-doo" Classic. This decade also produced "siko" which is still used and understood to describe the creepy neighbor boys.
- 1960's: "out of sight"... what?
- 1860's: "swot". Apparently this means to study very hard.
- 1950's: "wedgy".. Nice.
- 1990's: "da bomb". I have nothing to say about that one.
Some of these phrases are easy to understand and others left me scratching my head. Thank God the Historical Dictionary of American slang provided me with example sentences to sort them all out.
Some phrases have survived, but have just changed meaning. For example, "swag" in the 1700's meant stolen goods or money. Now, "swag" means appearance or the way in which a person presents his or herself.
Some say that slang is damaging to the English language and that it shouldn't be used, but I personally don't think it is harming anyone. Phrases come and go generation after generation and it gives each one a chance to describe the world in their own way. That being said, there is also a time and a place for slang. When writing essays for college admissions, it probably wouldn't be appropriate to say, "So dude, you should let me in your college because that'd be sick and out of sight. I'd have mad swag on campus, plus if I don't get in, I will be in deep doo-doo with the rents. Peace out, man." Slang isn't necessarily a bad thing, but there is a time and a place in which it is appropriate to use it.
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