The
use of slang words in today’s society is a fascinating area of language to
study because it is so prominent in popular culture. People are either repulsed
by it or embrace it as a new way to express themselves and also as a way to
create new language. Many of the slang words we use today have been around for
decades but with the growth of social media and the increasing recognition of
pop culture, it seems like slang is more commonly used today. It is interesting
to see the expansion of slang in our dialects, in marketing, and even on
television. But perhaps the most shocking involvement of slang is its inclusion
in one of our most prestigious books: the OED. Since slang spreads like
wildfire through the Internet and social media, its no wonder that the OED
needs to keep up with the times. Words liked amazeballs and butthurt have been
added to Oxford’s online dictionary, which has writers like Myf
Warhurst in
a tizzy. She believes that the OED has “lost its plot” and the world of words
is controlled by 12-year-old girls. However it is these new words that prove
that language is still alive.
In
addition to new slang words being added to the OED, popular acronyms have made
their debut as well. Writer Susannah Butter of The Guardian explores the
addition of these abbreviations in the OED and quotes Graeme Diamond, principal
editor of the OED as stating that the use of these text abbreviations are “are associated with
young people, informality and are often used to show irony”. But in today’s
society that statement no longer holds water. Slang and acronyms are used by
many different age groups and its acceptance seems to be more widespread then
ever before.
In
today’s society, so many new behaviors are being invented and we need only make
up a catchy term to go along with it, post it on social media, and BAM! we have
a new slang word. It is the communicative technology that spreads new
terminology and social media has increased the process of making new terms
popular. It seems that if a word makes it into the OED it is here to stay.
Even though terms have been around
for years, it takes a certain event or slippage of the new word that makes its
popularity grow. Boya
Dee, another writer for The Guardian states that: “there will always be certain words
that stay underground because of their niche use. But it only takes a very
popular global icon like Miley Cyrus to get involved in twerking and ensure a
term that has been around for years gets certified
by the good folk at the OED”.
 |
| Illustration courtesy of Buiness2Comumunity.com |
Overall,
language can be looked at as a metaphorical ocean, constantly changing and
ebbing. It is when we can appreciate language’s ever-altering tendencies that
we can see how language reflects society and that it only enriches our
culture. If the OED is willing to adapt
to the changes in language, then people should be more open minded to the
popularity of slang words in culture.
