slang | slang
Dec.04.2012
How English is English? Will we ever know why an editor deleted words of foreign origin from the Oxford English Dictionary? Was he a racist? Or a purist? In the socio-historical context, both these words have been used interchangeably a few times. Nazism and apartheid do believe they...
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Jun.22.2012
Speaking in the "vernacular" means to use the jargon of a particular place or region, using the language of the people who reside there. Say for instance a young man travelled from a village in Africa and visited California. On his return home if he used common slang words he learned while hanging...
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May.09.2012
Daily Writing Tips covered some military slang, which spurred memory. Memory didn't need much spurring. I use several of these phrases routinely even though my military uniform and all its obligations have been long set aside. These words, and their attitudes, have military roots but they live and...
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Aug.28.2011
Sometimes I feel that someone has vandalized the culture of the English language, spray painted all over it. Just trampled rough shod all over the beauty, nuances and melodies of our words and expressions. Or ... perhaps I've just been romantically involved...cohabitating... with this seductive,...
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Dec.14.2010
My mother died almost exactly three years ago. To understand the humor rather than the pathos behind that sentence, I’ll have to tell you a bit about my mother. She spoke with perfect diction, in easy, unaccented English, and she loved words and word games, especially the kind of game where you...
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Nov.29.2010
San Francisco is a city that is known for its quirks and charms-and the slang spoken in San Francisco is no exception. From the rolling hills to the eclectic cuisine, San Francisco's got it all. Just make sure that you can keep up with all of the colorful culture by brushing up on your San...
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Nov.02.2010
If the United States had a belly button, that central spot would be St. Louis, Missouri. It has been called the "northern-most of southern and the southern-most of northern" cities with good reason. Visitors quickly discover that St. Louis blends Midwestern hospitality, ethnic...
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Oct.30.2010
New Orleans has a rich heritage, its original settlers coming from a jambalaya of backgrounds, including Native Americans, the French, and the Spanish. While this diversity is reflected in our food, architecture and customs, it is probably the most prevalent in our slang.
There are many...
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Sep.29.2010
Emma Thompson's attack on slang: the pedants' battle may be lostEmma Thompson is right to warn children not to pepper their speech with 'like' and 'innit' – but let's not lose the rich inventiveness of slang at its best, warns Max Davidson
Actress Emma Thompson taping a pre-recorded interview for...
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Jul.23.2010
Finally another chapter edited for a rather old, previously published manuscript (hoping to see it re-published).
Besides the clunky dialogue which dominated the original version of this three-person chapter, I had to change the tone. And that affected what the actors said – and how they said it....
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