Basic Slang

Basic Slang

within the US

youth culture

History of the English Language

Professor: Jose Ramon Belda Medina Student: Carmen Georgeta Alexe 01/05/2011

Although the first use of slang was regarded in Oxford English Dictionary (1818) as "language of a highly colloquial type, considered as below the neutral level of standard educated speech, and consisting either of new words or of current words employed in some special sense", Lighter defined it as "an informal, nonstandard, nontechnical vocabulary composed chiefly of novel-sounding synonyms (and near synonyms) for standard words and phrases; it is often associated with youthful, raffish, or undignified persons and groups; and it conveys often striking connotations of impertinence or irreverence, especially for established attitudes and values within the prevailing culture." (The Cambridge History of the English Language)

Of all restrained social groups, the young people are the most prone to the creation and use of slang and, as a difference between the British and American youth, the Americans are thought to be much fonder of using informal and, therefore, unconventional language. A young generation adopts slang expressions in its current speech as an identity sign in order to express new values as opposed to those of the previous generations and to be able to distinguish itself from the elders but, on the other hand, youth may also use basic slang terms as counter-cultural tools against established social conventions and authority figures.

Essentially oral and ephemeral, expressive and funny, creative and innovative, slang expressions, either dialectal or from mainstream usage, are part of the English language and the basic slangs defining factor is the affective impact which can be expressed in different forms, such as: "aggressive informality", "raw vitality", "ribald sense of humour" or "flip self confidence" (Lighter`s description of slang, 1994).

In spite of the fact that slang expressions are usually considered to be ephemeral, the basic slang terms are not and this essay is going to prove from a social and historical point of view the long lasting existence of two basic slang terms such as "swell" and "cool" which illustrate a kind of semantic extension, "a structural linguistic phenomenon" as Kronenfeld also argued in his study "Plastic Glasses and Church Fathers" (1996). "Swell" and "cool" imply in many contexts a "good" general sense but with different shades of meaning and, since used by different young generations, they gained new values and changed their semantic structure in time. Flexner (1975) classified this kind of basic slang terms as "counterwords, expressions whose meaning have expanded to a broader and more general applicability than that of the terms' original referent".

A further analysis and exemplification of the terms "swell" and "cool" will emphasize their semantic change, dichotomy and long surviving basic slang words during time which seems to contradict slangs main characteristic: ephemerality.

Thus, the use of "swell" was very common from about 1920 till 1965 whereas the word "cool", which appeared during the 1950s-1960s, had the power to absorb and change, little by little, the meaning of "swell" term whose usage didn?t seem to serve anymore to the youth identification.

The general shift of "swell" to "cool" in slang usage represented for the 1950-60s youth culture a continuation of generational values and attitudes towards language and evidence was found in the secondary school books:

"It certainly has been swell having you in my English class "(1964) "Best of wishes to a real cool guy" (1964) In the next following yearbook signatures (about 1967-71) an inverted pattern takes place and "swell" declines in usage as "cool" expands. Only one counterword was likely to survive in the widely usage as there was one basic slang term for any given youth generation and "cool" became to be used by adolescents in the same type of contexts as "swell" had been before in such phrases as: 1) keep (it) cool 2) a cool person/kid 3) cool times: "This year has really been cool" The fact that the 1925,,s "a swell time" expression could be substituted in 1965 by "a cool time" phrase implies the synonymy relationship between the two counterwords with some difference in meaning however: "Cool" has the qualities of knowingness (a kind of inside knowledge, access to information which makes the speaker a privileged person), detachment, emotional calm and control to which rebelliousness against some "unfair" social rules is added "Swell", instead, is used to refer to people, things and situations that are directly pleasing without having any moralistic qualities approved by some authority figures; it only expresses a form of bohemian rebelliousness. One example which emphasizes the succession of the two terms is found in the 1972s adolescent novel "Freaky Friday" written by Mary Rodgers:

"My parents told him he was welcome to come back anytime, and he said how about tomorrow. We said that would be swell. (Actually, my father said swell, mother said lovely, and I said cool....) (144p.)

After "cool" term entered the mainstream slang of youth culture, the "cool-swell" dichotomy has been established; the first term was regarded as positive while the second one had negative connotations. "Swell" came to be re-interpreted as being the opposite of "cool" meaning "corny, square"; in the late of the 1960s it was used for mocking the unhip.

Example: "Dear, isn`t our son swell?" "Yes, Dear. Isn't life swell?" ("The Breakfast Club movie, 1985)

Other features acquired by the counterword "swell" were: being out of the loop, earnest, naive and foolishly, excitable. "Swell" is presented as an indicator of na?vet? in: "Big package of fun from DeMille complete with hockey performances, clich?s, big-top excitement, and a swell train wreck" (Leonard Martins Mini-review of the 1952 movie "The Greatest Show on Earth", 1998, 541p.)

Although influenced by the original "cool" detached attitude of the African American people developed as a defence mechanism against racism and exploitative capitalism, the 1950s "cool" adolescent was mainly just a rebel against parental control seeking to distance from the adult authority figures. As a comparison to the rebel adolescent, for the university students and other urban youth of the 1960s, the term "cool" have brought consciousness about the American society, ideals and realities of life concerning racism problems, political corruption and materialism. An example is Thomas Franks book "The conquest of Cool: Business Culture, Counterculture, and the Rise of Hip Consumerism" (1997)

The usage of "cool" slang expression is also found in technological contexts. For Fred Moody in his report "year with Microsoft on the multimedia frontier" (1995, xl), the counterword "cool" could have any of the following meanings: "perfect, phenomenal, awesome, ingenious, eye-popping, bliss inducing, pretty, clever, enchanting, fine, adequate, acceptable, okay".

Widely used as a basic slang term, "cool" can be applicable to almost anything, but it is also true that is has a tendency for a specific kind of people and things, those ones which are valuable for the young generation although they are not approved by the authority figures: Pountain and Robins define "cool" as "an oppositional attitude

adopted by individuals to express defiance to authority...(which) conceals its rebellion behind a mask of ironic impassivity" (2000, 19p.) The rebel characteristic of "cool" is also emphasized in the teenagers comments from the documentary "The Lost Children of Rockdale Country" (1999) in reference to group sex "She thought it was the coolest thing" and in reference to drinking alcohol "When you're that young you do it to be cool"

The humorous quality of "cool" goes out in the Seinfeld episode "The Little Jerry" (1997) when, talking with an attractive prison librarian, George Constanza blurts out "You're in prison? That is so cool!"

Tom Dalzell defines best the modern qualities of "cool" as "amorphous and ubiquitous, detached, cerebral and stylish" which "quickly began its surge towards a mainstream term of approval"

Such basic slang terms as "swell" and "cool" were used within the youth culture to emphasize different generational values and they survived in the usage as long as the same values have been maintained. The linguistic shifts are often due mostly to the emotional attitudes of the youth who can so easily rise or fall the popularity of a word.

All terms of approval, "swell" and "cool" may be compared with some other synonyms like "okay" and "hip" with the substantial difference that the rebellious feature of the first terms is lacking to "okay" which is used in colloquial or informal contexts while "hip", although another slang term, doesnt have the wide applicability of the basic slang words.

The connexion between the speakers identity and the expressive nature of "cool" term still positively valued nowadays made possible its longevity and there is no sign that such a basic slang word is about to disappear soon.

Bibliography Cowie, A.P., 1st edition, The Oxford History of English Lexicography, Volume II "Specialized Dictionaries", Part I: Ch. 10, 11; New York: Oxford University Press Inc., 2009 Moore, Robert L. "Basic Slang and Generational Shifts in Values" American Speech (American Dialect Society) Vol. 79, No.1 (2004) Rodr?guez Gonz?lez, F?lix "Youth and Student Slang in British and American English: An Annotated Bibliography", Revista Alicantina de Estudios Ingleses 7 (1994): 201-12

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