This radio show by Michael Rosen revolves around the use of slang from the past to the present day.
He is joined by Dr Laura Wright, a linguist at the University of Cambridge to talk about this type of language. Some important points discussed included the fact that 'everyone uses slang to an extent' even though we may not realise it. It is language that has been around for generations and so greatly impacts how we speak. Michael even said that 'great' used to be a slang word in the 1960's when he was 14. His parents avoided saying it, by using 'super' instead.
They were later joined by Jonathon Green, a lexicographer of slang who wrote a short introduction on the issue. He explains some of his theories starting with the theory of 'slang' is a counter language, reversing the standard English that we use in every day life. He explains that a lot of people associate slang with 'bad' people, however slang originates from the 'correct English' and is misunderstood.
Michael, Laura and Jonathon discuss the opinion that white working class men generated the English Language. However, many different classes, genders and ethnicities are influencing the language we use today. The overall agenda from the radio talk is that creating and using slang is a very innovative and clever way of speaking, and has no relation to the intelligence of the person. Slang is not something that only certain people use, everyone contributes to the ever changing development of our language.
No comments:
Post a Comment