"You Just Got Jarred!"
English-
Language
Slang.
It's the basis of every teen's speech. Whether its shortened words or new words
all together, it slips into everyday use without cause. Sometimes it's a play
on words, or borrowed from another language. Either way it shapes the way one
presents them self. It differentiates neighborhoods, race and even gender.
In
daily life, it becomes easy to pick up the speech that others use. The first
time the word or phrase is spoken it seems foreign on the tongue, but with
enough practice an outsider might think you started the trend. Language is an
art from the day we learn to say the simplest of words. With art comes
practice. Creating art gives an individual a certain brand of power-- the power
to be anyone, anywhere, anytime, crafting, twisting and forming a second
dialect of sorts as everyone gets in on the trend. Every group, being a circle
of friends, a school or neighborhood holds the rulebook when it comes to their
speech. James Baldwin wrote that, “People evolve a language in order to
describe and thus control their circumstances, or in order not to be submerged
by a reality they cannot articulate.” James Baldwin understands perfectly how
many teens work in today’s world. If there is not a word for something, make
one up. To feel apart of a culture or even a neighborhood within a city, one
will start using unfamiliar words to “control their circumstance”. Suddenly one
person hears something they have never heard of or used. That new word is added
to their vocabulary. They begin to say it with fervor as if they had made up
the word themselves. Then in turn the masses begin using it. Thus, if you use
it you are inducted into the club. Wear the badge proudly. Now you sound like
everybody else. Beat that word to death until somebody else introduces another
acronym or Spanish word that sounds funny. It is like you're in on the secret
now. The word may have gone over your head three or four times until you pulled
someone aside and asked them in serious undertone what it means.
Besides
fitting in, speech can be crafted as a sport. Trendsetting becomes recreation. My
friends are big on the whole “making fun of each other and not really meaning
it”. One friend made a joke about the status of another friend’s relationship.
“Ohhhh
burn!”
“Dude, you salty!!”
I
exclaim, trying out my new word while motioning of screwing a top on a jar, “You
just got jarred!”
My friends looked to me with inquisitive
faces. Though I knew that they didn’t know what it meant I still said,
"Oh! You never heard that word
before? Wow."
I had
learned Australian slang and wanted to pass it on. Most people strive to
introduce the next big thing. My best friend traveled to Australia over the
summer. We had quite the time dissecting some of the things she had heard
during her time there. With that, I told my friends at school about this
Australian slang. Every time I said one of the words, I felt that
individuality. James Baldwin’s quote works in this sense as well. I wanted to
know something another didn’t and in an effort to “articulate a reality” I
continued to evolve language we already used. It didn’t matter that we already
had a phrase for what we meant. It was easy to get over that awkwardness when
asked what something I said meant. It didn't matter because I got their
attention and next time when I heard them say my word I would know I had
started that. Before you realize, it melds into common language. Now that
everyone knows, or pretends and asks later, what it means, a new trend has been
initiated and accepted by the majority. I used a word from another country to
stand out in a crowd.
Anyone
can start a transformation of language. It is human instinct to learn and be
curious as well as adapt to surrounding. One may find they speak in a way they
didn’t think they could or never realized they did. To adapt to the people
around you, change the tone or speed. To sound smart, use “big” words. Use a
word from another town. You start out being the only one who says it, it gets
people's attention, creates interest. If you have a British accent and cockney
slang you may just be in the running for most popular kid in the class.
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