Yolo, Swag and other such things

     For today's entry we are talking about something that I have been thinking about for while, and is a really fascinating subject in general, and that would be what makes the words we speak "real." Before we get into this too much, it would probably be beneficial to watch the video that is the cause of our post today. It’s a fascinating TED Talk by language historian Anne Curzan and it discuss in depth the very subject we are talking about and raises some interesting points, you can find it here. Now the main thing this video talks about that I find interesting the usage of slang.  

     Slang is a subset of words in a language that are considered very informal, and in some cases incorrect or "not real." Slang words come into being a million different ways and can mean a million different things. Another interesting fact about slang is that it is one of the fastest changing areas of a language. Each generation of speaker develop their own unique slang words and phrases that set the apart. Now why some may look at this as a way to draw rings around certain cultural groups, I look at it as almost a language experiment. A kind of test each generation does to find new and useful words for future speakers of that language. Let me explain.  

     As humans advance and culture, science, and history move forward, it's inevitable that we as speaker of language will need new words for things. But the funny thing is that in the past, these new words we developed to meet new needs started out as slang. A very recent example is google. Google started out as a slang term and is now a full fledged word with official meaning. Society recognized a gap in the language that could be filled and filled it. And because it was applicable and was frequently used and needed in conversation it stuck. But this isn't always the case with slang words. 

     Here is a list of slang words and phrases from the 1920s. This is an excellent example of slang terms that were common place at the time, but now have no meaning and are rarely, if ever, used. Now, this isn't necessarily because we didn’t need them, every generation comes up with its own euphemisms, (Netflix and chill seems to be a common theme with a very robust selection of terms and phrase) I think it has more to do with whether people like them, whether they "catch on". No one says gams referring to a woman's legs anymore, in fact right now Microsoft Word is telling me it's not a real word. But other 20s phrase you still here people today say, like wet blanket in reference to someone who is no fun, for example.  

      Slang is just a term for words that are on a trial run. Some stick and some don’t. I doubt people will be saying that a song is hype or fire in 10 years. But they might talk about how someone ghosted out of a relationship. Slang is each generations way of testing out word for future generations. 

(P.S. Sorry for the inconsistent format, I'm still figuring out the formatting)