10 slang phrases that perfectly sum up their era



10 slang phrases that perfectly sum up their era Lexicographer Jonathon Green selects the slang words and expressions that encapsulate the age in which they were coined.I've been collecting slang and publishing books about it for 30 years. My database contains 125,000 words and phrases and they keep coming. One thing I've learned - the more slang changes, to half-inch the well-known phrase, the more slang stays the same. Politically correct, even polite: I fear not. But humanity at its most human, absolutely. As examples I offer a selection of terms that display some of slang's nuts and bolts (9).Whole nine yardsWhy do people read slang dictionaries? Not for the spelling, nor the pronunciation. What they want is the etymologies - the stories behind the words. Usually we can give them, although a surprising number are simply playing with standard English. Thus?dog,?with its compounds, offers 161 meanings in slang. But sometimes we can't. What, for instance lies behind the phrase?the?whole?nine yards??We know that it comes out of US regional use, and is so far first recorded in 1907. But its origins? Most suggestions involve standards of measurement, from the dimensions of a nun's habit to the capacity of a cement truck and the length of an ammunition clip to that of a hangman's rope. However, few, when checked, actually run to nine yards. It may be no more than the use of nine as a form of mystic number. Your guess, dare I admit, maybe be even better than mine.Not all thereSlang fails on caring, sharing and compassion but it does a good insult. Modernity lacks the 18th Century's excellent "you are a thief and a murderer: you have killed a baboon and stolen his face" but there is much on offer. Slang, as noted, pooh-poohs (10) political correctness and has no time for euphemism, however justified, and while mental-health professionals might deplore the fact, lists a wide range of terms it defines as "mad". The over-riding image is "not all there". Take your pick from: A couple of chips short of an order,?a butty,?a happy meal?or even?a circuit-board,?a few bob short of the pound,?a few snags short of a barbie,?one brick short of a load,?one sandwich short of a picnic, one stop short of East Ham?(yes, "barking") or?two wafers short of a communion.BoozeIt was there in the first ever glossary of slang, the collection of criminal jargon published c.1532, and it's still going strong.?Booze:?alcohol, drink, and as a verb, to drink. It came from Dutch?buizen,?to drink to excess (and beyond that?buise,?a large drinking vessel) and the first examples were spelt?bouse.?Over the centuries it spread its wings. We find the boozer?(both pub and person), the?booze artist, -gob, -head, -freak,?-hound,-hoister, -rooster,?-shunter?and -stupe,?all drunkards. There are the pubs, saloons and bars - the?booze barn,?-bazaar, -casa,?-crib,-joint, -mill, -parlour, -factory, -foundry?and -emporium. Across the mahogany?(the bar counter) stands the?booze?clerk, -fencer?or?-pusher.?If we hit the booze too heavily, we get a?booze belly,?and maybe a trip on the?booze bus,?Australia's mobile breath-tester.HipsterThe original?hipster?wore Italian suits, listened to Charlie Parker's brand of "cool" jazz, shot up heroin and doubled as what Norman Mailer, in a famous essay of 1957, christened "The White Negro". Mass-marketed, he was the idealized stud of Hugh Hefner's "Playboy philosophy," at his incomparable best the taboo-shattering stand-up Lenny Bruce. Something cooler and blacker than the?beatnik,?he was a cut above the hippie,?which, pre-bells and beads, signified a failed or at best wannabe hipster. He vanished around 1960. Now he's back (and she too) and the Urban Dictionary describes "a subculture of men and women typically in their 20s and 30s that value independent thinking, counter-culture, progressive politics, an appreciation of art and indie-rock, creativity, intelligence, and witty banter". Been there, dare I say, done that too.GroovyI had met slang earlier - you couldn't read writers such as Sapper or PG Wodehouse and fail to note that not all language was restrained to the standard - but I doubt if I really started thinking "slang" till the 60s.Groovy,?heavy,?bag?(of which Papa had a brand new…),?uptight?(and outasite),?thing,?cool,?dope… such were hippiedom's key words. That they came, unaltered (11), from an American black vocabulary that was around 30 years old was irrelevant. Ignorance, if not bliss, did not impede (12) our use. Some were laid to rest; others flourish.?Dope?still means drugs, as well as affirming excellence.?Cool?marches on, re-minted for every youthful generation. As for?groovy,?it began life meaning conservative ("stuck in a groove"); now the young use it to mock those who pose as latter-day?freaks.DissRun DMC: "Don't try to diss me" Slang, being subversive (13) to its very core, doesn't have much time for rules but like all language it has to accept one - words are always older than you think. Let's take?diss.?Meaning - disrespect. Origins - African-American, spread like so much of that slang-filled language via the worldwide success of hip-hop and rap music. Date - ever since the late 1980s. Except, with the exception of the meaning, all that is wrong. Go back, search among the vast number of online databases that are lexicography's gift from the internet. Look, digitally, at the Sunday Times of Perth, Western Australia. Specifically at 10 December 1906 and find: "When a journalistic rival tries to 'dis' you / And to prejudice you in the public's eyes." The next example is 1981. The only question now - what about the examples in between?Bad=goodSlang, being what Americans would term a contrary?cuss,?is never happier than when rendering its topics and terminology inside-out, upside down and generally turning all available faces about-face. Never more so than with those alleged poles of morality: good and bad. It is a vocabulary, after all, in which?do good?means to make substantial (14) profits from crime and?get good?to become drunk. And?bad??Quite simply, in slang's looking-glass environs, bad means good. Albeit with a special sauce of sexiness and outsider cool.It all starts with?rum.?In cant, the language of criminal beggars, rum meant good. The reason is lost, though there may be links to Rome, both as a former imperial capital and in?Romeville,?cant for London. The image is of the great and powerful city epitomizing (15) something desirable."Good" rum offered over 120 compounds. There was?rum booze,?which was good strong beer, there was a?rum diver?who was a competent pickpocket and a?rum doxy?who was a pretty girl. A?rum kiddy?was a smart young villain and?rum nantz?the best-quality brandy (from Nantes, whence it was exported). Then, around 1760, it all changes. We meet the?rum cove,?an odd or eccentric character, the?rum phiz,?a deformed face (phiz?as in physiognomy), and of course the?rum 'un,?a dubious individual."Bad" rum's descendants start emerging in the early 19th Century. There is terrible, nasty, awful, mean and hell. There is also, though today's young might find this surprising, wicked,?which turns up in 1842. Then it promptly disappears and does not re-emerge until 1908, often describing food (a?"wicked ragout") or drink (a "wicked punch"). One can also?shake a wicked foot.?Exclamatory wicked!?arrives in the 1970s (in the 50s musical Grease, though the "real" fifties offer no examples) and really gets going - stand up, Jamie Oliver - in the 90s.Much is owed to hip-hop.?Ill?appeared in 1987,?dank?and?skanky?(used elsewhere of drugs and floozies respectively) in 1989 and?ghetto?in 1996. The new century has added?roughneck,?beasty?and treacherous.YoloSlang is ephemeral (16), transient, passing and fleeting. So runs the critique. As?booze?and thousands of other terms make clear, this is far from the rule. But yes, some things don't last.?Yolo?- you only live once - was the flavor of the month, even year, not that long ago. Today few slang users worthy of their attitude would be heard using it. It is far from alone. In 1840 Charles McKay, in his book Memoirs of Extraordinary Popular Delusions, listed a number of defunct, yet once hugely popular catchphrases. Among them -?has your mother sold her mangle? walker! quoz! flare up!?and?there he goes with his eye out!?Each, as Mackay noted, was "the slang par excellence of the Londoners, and afforded them a vast gratification". And now? All gone, not to mention prehension Literal understanding of the text’s main ideas & details and how they are relatedWhich words from the text (in the first few paragraphs) best illuminate the main idea of the entire article?In which they were coinedThe more slang changes…the more slang stays the same There are many slang phrases that change over timePolitically correct; even politeWhat do all of the examples (details mentioned within each paragraph that has a bolded heading) for each term have in common?They are all verbsThey refer to colloquial, informal pop cultureThey demonstrate that language doesn’t really change over timeThey specifically reference texts of literary meritWhat is the author’s purpose in writing this article? What kind of text is it?PersuasiveNarrativeExpositoryDramaticBased on the information in this article, a reader can logically infer that the author might follow/like which of the following on social media…StarbucksBest BuyBarnes & NoblesParasailingWhat is the origin of “the whole nine yards”?The stories behind the wordsIt was first recorded in 1907There are over 161 meanings for itThe origin is unclearWhich of the following terms best exemplifies all of the variations of the word “booze”?AdjectivesModernInsulting UnlawfulHow are all of the examples of slang arranged in the article?ChronologicallyFrom most prevalent to leastIn pairs of similar definitionsFrom most clear in origin to least. If this article was written today, which of the following might be the most logical ninth example that the author uses to demonstrate his thesis?GoogleFax machineMicrosoftArmada VocabularyBy using the phrase nuts and bolts, the author most likely meant…ExamplesMetaphorsTransitionsArguments By using the word pooh-poohs, the author most likely meant…DiscreditsAnalyzes SupportsArguments By using the word unaltered, the author most likely meant…Not altarSimply Changed Not modifiedBy using the word impede, the author most likely meant…FosterIncrease ManipulateHinderBy using the word subversive, the author most likely meant…CriminalSneaky HiddenComplicatedBy using the word substantial, the author most likely meant…SignificantExpensiveUnimportantSympathetic By using the word epitomizing, the author most likely meant…ContradictingDemonstratingDesirableEmpoweringBy using the word ephemeral, the author most likely meant…PermanentConfusingRebelliousShort-livedName:The four questions below all address the Learning Target “Literal Reading Comprehension”NumberAnswerConfidence 1-10, 10 = best, if under 7, list 2nd choiceRight: no markWrong: XInference about this text1234 5678LEARNING TARGET4.0 = 8 Correct & Inference3.0 = 7-6 Correct2.0 = 5 Correct1.0 = 4 or less correctComprehend and explain the literal main ideas and details of a text & cite text evidenceI can insightfully explain author’s meaning by citing text evidenceaccurately beyond teacher’s expectations.I can plainly explain the author’s meaning byciting text evidencerelatively accurately and consistently.I can just mention the author’s meaning byciting text evidencesomewhat accurately and somewhat consistently.I struggle to identify theauthor’s meaning byciting text evidence.I have some inaccuracies or need teacher assistance.The eight questions below all address the Learning Target “Build vocabulary from context”NumberAnswerConfidence 1-10, 10 = best, if under 7, list 2nd choiceRight: no markWrong: XNew, unfamiliar word you figured out from the text. 910111213141516LEARNING TARGET4.0 = 8 Correct & New Word3.0 = 7-6 Correct2.0 = 5 Correct1.0 = 4 or less correctBuild vocabulary by determining meanings of unknown words by using context, word parts & parts of speech.I can accurately master unfamiliar words accurately & incorporate these words into my own writing seamlessly beyond teacher’s expectations.I can accurately learn unfamiliar words consistently & incorporate these words into my own writing plainly and regularly.I can partially learn unfamiliar words somewhat consistently & inconsistently incorporate these words into my own writing.I struggle to personalizeunfamiliar words and/orincorporate these words into my own writing. I need teacher helpto do this proficiently. Based on your performance, what can you logically infer about your proficiency in each of the learning target addressed in this formative assessment?AnswersComprehensionBBCCDDAAVocab9) A 10) A11) D12) D13) B14) A15) B16) D ................
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