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Features Popular lingo: Funny or confusing?
By Carla Hart Staff writer Communication continues to expand, maybe faster than rock and roll, rap and possibly even the Beatles. According to published reports in the Erie-Times News, experts agree that the "advances in communication, including wide-ranging use of computers, cell phones and television have sped up the intermingling of language and culture." Father S. Simon, assistant professor of world languages and cultures at Mercyhurst College heard slang that was unfamiliar in "Juno." He said during the movie he looked at his youngest daughter several times and asked, "Do you know what they’re saying?" She laughed when he said, "I think I missed something." It is not surprising that "for shiz," is a phrase Simon did not know. English professor Dr. Joanne McGurk explained that much of what we consider "slang" consists of terms that date us to a particular era. "Whether we say an interesting man is a ‘hep cat,’ ‘righteous dude,’ or a ‘player president’ is largely a function of our age," McGurk said. "Each generation skillfully carves out its own linguistic path in the untamed wilderness of adolescence and young adulthood." Communication instructor Dennis Lebec spent his formative years during the untamed 1960s. He said during that time, society went from an adult culture to a youth culture. Lebec compared advances in communication today with the 60s. "The world literally went from black-and-white to color and we broke out of formalities," said Lebec. "If someone was sealed away and frozen for 10 years then brought back at the end of the decade, they wouldn’t believe the changes in society. I think technology is changing us more than we even realize." Simon agreed. "As adults, we could all sit around and come up with phrases used," Simon said. "Language evolves. There’s nothing wrong with that as long as it doesn’t impede the ability to speak and write properly when necessary." With the prevalent use of technology, educators may question students’ ability to disconnect. Widespread use of the IM language, which includes using numbers and misspelling words, such as "ur" for your or you’re, may become routine and students may neglect proper grammar, usage and etiquette. McGurk said students have no trouble distinguishing the difference between written language used in an IM context from written language used in an English paper, since the language is meant for their peers. "Writing in that context is another form of speech and is meant to communicate all the shared-in-group identity factors as speech does," she said. Freshman Ryan Lanzel grew up in a rural Pennsylvania town and misunderstood terms shared by his peers at Mercyhurst. "I was thinking about taking an art class for spring term and my friend referred to the teacher and said, ‘He’s sick!’ which actually means he’s awesome."
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