I agree with the article by Isabelle Kerr ‘Twerking, selfie and unlike? Young people don’t speak like that –I should know’ as slang is just a fashionable trend which constantly changes and adapts. An example of this is the word ‘groovy’ a slang word that was used in the 1960s which has fallen out of fashion as time went on.
I personally believe that there is nothing wrong with slang, but like Isabelle Kerr I believe that slang has no place in the Oxford Dictionary. I believe this because, firstly, it is not an accurate representation of all young people, not all of us are obsessed with our image, reputation and with sex, like the slang words included in the dictionary would suggested. Secondly, the words could fall out of trend and would then become obsolete. I believe that the Oxford Dictionary should only include slang words which have stood the test of time, and therefore they have become part of the general idiolect. This would allow obsolete slang words like ‘groovy’ to live only in the memory of the generation who used it and not hold back the evolution of the English language.
You would not say ‘init’, ‘JK’ or ‘LOL’ in a job interview, as people want to make a good impression to a potential employer. However if the Oxford Dictionary included these words before they have been accepted by society as a whole, it would make the interviewee seem illiterate. However this person may be a valuable asset to the company, but as they cannot express themselves to all audiences they lose the chance to make a difference to the company and stand out from the crowd. This would cause a generation whose ideas and contributions may never be heard, as slang has not become a part of everyday language. Also many young people only speak slang to their friends and not to figures of authority who they respect and trust. Slang is a form of jargon between youths and their friends and if the oxford dictionary included some of these words before they are integrated in the English language.
It could also be argued that Shakespeare was the greatest inventor of slang as he created hundreds of new words like ‘sanctimonious’ and ‘assassination’, for his plays. At first these words were unfamiliar, causing people to condemn them. But over time these words have become accepted and have earned a place in the English language. It took generations using these words before society as a whole accepted them, and I believe the same will eventually happen to slang. But unlike Shakespeare, my generations is not creating imaginative new words to further our understanding of the world, it is just shortening perfectly good words.
Seriously there is really no need to shorten ‘seriously’ to ‘Srsly’, if you are going to revolutionise the English language at least be original and not alter the already eloquent English language.
January 2, 2015 at 7:50 pm
Sam, this is a good starting point to develop your writing further. There are some things here for you to consider:
1) Re-read your work to ensure that all of your sentences make sense. You occasionally lose your place in a sentence, causing the meaning to become unclear.
2) You should address your response to the author of the original article, i.e. ‘Dear Ms Kerr’. This should help you adjust the tone of your writing appropriately. Imagine you were writing a letter directly to her; how might this affect your language?
3) Try to maintain a formal tone, despite quoting phrases such as ‘twerking’ and ‘lol’.
4) Ensure that you are lifting points from the original article, but elaborating on them to communicate your point of view.
5) Try to ensure that while your writing is formal, it remains entertaining to read. For example, I really like the pun that opens your final paragraph.
I can either put your current mark on here or you can see me for it in person.