Start paying attention to the language you speak every day, namely, English. Become aware of curious, strange or unexpected things about it. For instance: did you notice a sign with a word misspelled? Or an ad on the subway with strange, twisted wording?
How about new words that suddenly people start using, especially young people? Mannerisms? New idioms? Are words from foreign languages entering English? Which ones do you use?
Are there words, expressions or clichés you hear on TV, shows etc. that you can't stand? Too trendy? Too banal? Too unoriginal?
Then there are NEW words you never saw/heard: big words that you want to use next time you will have a chance, in order to impress.
As you pay more and more attention to language, are you becoming aware of the oddities of English?
Please, don't recycle old stuff you noticed time ago. Start now with the determination to discover new phenomena and become aware of new things.
Click COMMENT below to add your contribution. Then choose a comment from a classmate and REPLY, tell him/her what you think of the choice, if you heard it too, if you know the origin and so forth.
I've recently ran into the term "I'm shipping them". According to my subordinates at work, the phrase is used when you are rooting for 2 people to "getting/staying together". Supporting another relationship.
ReplyDeleteHey Andres, this is a term I also have come across! I would see it a lot on internet fandoms as people would "ship" certain characters in television together, sometimes even writing fan fiction about them! I've been told that it comes from the end of "relationship" or "relationshippers"
DeleteI often hear the word "brick" used as a term when people want to express that it is cold out. For example, the other day when I was walking to the train I heard a boy go "Man its mad brick out, I should've wore a coat!" to his friend as he was leaving a store. He was expressing that it was very cold out that day.
ReplyDeleteLiving in New York City, you hear a lot of different slang terms originating from various cultures that are remembered and repeated. I use the term "brick" as well to express the cold weather outside and I sometimes do not notice that I use this term because it is imprinted into my daily vocabulary.
DeleteWhen I used to go to CCNY in Harlem, almost everybody referred to other people as "My guy" in sentences merely as casual communication towards the person they are speaking to. Starting my first day in Brooklyn College, I did not hear people use the term "My guy" while speaking. The atmospheres seem to differ so quickly from one term.
ReplyDeleteI travel a lot around the states and as a New Yorker I use the Spanish term “bodega” a lot to refer to the corner store. Every time I use it outside the tri-state area, nobody knows what I am talking about.
ReplyDeleteI also use this word to refer to corner stores. Often, many people don't know what I'm referring to when I use it. This comment made me think of other words specific to New York only, such as "Johnny pump" when referring to a fire hydrant.
DeleteLiving in an Italian- American neighborhood in Brooklyn, I often hear people my age integrate Italian slang into their vocabulary. For instance, people often refer to their friends as their "cugine" or "paesan", which in Italian means cousin and someone from the same town, respectively.
ReplyDeleteIve heard these words before and never knew exactly what is meant but i had an idea of what it was relating to. I always knew it meant someone close to you
DeleteIn Mexican Spanish, Paisa or paisano refers to the same thing just spelled slightly different.
DeleteI am partially Italian and have lived in a Italian neighborhood most of my life. Ever since I was a kid I would hear these words, and other Italian words or phrases, among family members and people in the neighborhood. I often heard people say "ciao"(hello), "arrivederci" (goodbye), "comè stai" (how are you doing), and "comè fai" (what are you doing), just to name a few, from people that didn't speak the language.
DeleteI live in Brooklyn surrounded by many people who speak Spanish, i often hear them use terms i havent heard of such as "bodega"
ReplyDeleteI thought bodega was just what corner stores were called. I didn't know it had roots in Spanish.
DeleteFrom Greek apotheke (apo = apart) meaning a place for storage and protection. In Latin it became apotheca, then Italian BOTTEGA and finally in Spanish BODEGA. In contemporary German APOTHEKE means pharmacy.
DeleteI often move about in Spanish neighborhoods where English and Spanish is mixed into one language especially occurring in the streets. "Que lo Que" is a term meaning "Whats up?" and its mostly used informally with people you are familiar with never strangers.
ReplyDeleteI myself am of Mexican decent and speak english and spanish but despite that I initially did not know what that phrase meant. I believe the term is mostly used by Dominicans and then was used by the rest of the Hispanic community.
DeleteI am Spanish, but slang and improper language was severely discouraged. I have now learned a new slang from you ... I never understood what it meant, I sort of assumed it was just broken Spanish
DeleteI'm not from New York but have noticed a friend of mine using the term "blacked" often. He usually uses it to describe when someone is angry or doing something irrational ("My mother blacked on me"). I think it is a very strange expression.
ReplyDeleteAs I get older I find myself losing understanding of what slang words mean. For example for a long period of time I was clueless to what the youth referred to as being "dead." I was confused when I heard the first few times but then through hear its context I began to gain a better understanding of what it meant to be "dead." Along with slang word, I have the privilege to live in such a diverse city where cultures are often blended with one another. That being said, I have observed numerous times of the english language being supplemented with additional languages.
ReplyDeleteI think living in New York opens you to many different cultures and many different languages. The word"dead" is mostly said in slang when you're tired or when you feel like you cannot do something anymore.
DeleteI was born and raised in Brooklyn. Now I have moved out to Suffolk county in Long Island. Living in the city you are used to using slang words and people out here look at me weird when I talk. A word I can think of is boega or corner store. They have no idea what that is out here, because we have no small delis around here.
ReplyDeleteIt is funny you mention Bodegas. In my country Bodegas are only open for certain hours and while they have similar things as here, they do not prepare or sell food. Explaining to a Spanish person a different form of Bodega just makes them go... Why? that is NOT what a real bodega is.
DeleteOne of the more recent slang words that I'm sure most have heard by now is lit, which has different meanings in its context. It means that something is good, someone is having a good time or when someone is inebriated(There are probably even more ways to use it than these). I hear it a lot in pop culture, but I also hear many people say it in all parts of the city
ReplyDeleteI often hear the word"bet" in my neighborhood. Usually,"bet" has the same meaning as "okay or "I understand". I do not know where this word originated from or how it became so popular in my neighborhood.
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ReplyDeleteEverytime I'm around the basketball court in my neighborhood, they use the words. I started noticing everytime someone takes a horrible shot, they yell brick. I came to a conclusion it meant trash. Coincidently, I heard someone say its bricks outside in my college and i finally googled it and figured out it also meant cold.
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