Hello everyone and welcome back to the English with Neil podcast episode number 15.
The topic of today's episode is where does slang come from?
Now, before we start, I'd like to give you a formal definition of the word slang.
So slang are words and phrases. that are regarded as informal.
Informal means something is casual or relaxed.
So we can say that slang is basically casual or relaxed speech.
But where exactly does slang come from?
I use slang a lot.
I'm pretty sure you use slang in your own language.
But where does it actually come from?
Well, slang can come from anywhere.
It can come from me.
It can come from you.
It can come from celebrities.
Music, television, magazines, slang can come from many different sources.
So when I was growing up, the majority of my slang, I'd say probably 95% of the slang that I learned came from hip hop music. and I can say the same thing for my friends we all listen to hip-hop music we all play basketball and you know anytime we heard something on the radio we would just use it with one another but we didn't we didn't think about it as slang it was just There were just common words between us because, like I say, we were a part of that hip hop community, that basketball community.
And those words were just words that we use to identify with one another.
So slang can come from, you know, from different communities or or different groups.
And I give you some examples.
So when I was in college, I had a part time job at a skate shop, skateboard shop and in a skateboarding culture.
There's a lot of slang that you use, But I also Play basketball, And When you're playing street basketball, There's also Specific words and slang that you use When you play basketball.
But the thing to remember is that slang does not always carry over.
It doesn't always transfer from one group to another.
So if I was with my basketball friends, I couldn't use slang that I use with my skateboard friends because it was a different community, different people, different environment and it wouldn't sound.
It just wouldn't fit that setting.
If i use skateboard slang with my basketball friends, and the same thing, if i was with my skateboarding friends, i couldn't use basketball slang because again, different people, you know, different environment, so that the type of slang wouldn't fit.
So remember that slang doesn't always carry over from one group to another.
And so let's go to the next question.
Why do we use slang?
What is the purpose of slang?
Well, slang It's just a way to share information in a fun and interesting way.
So you can think about all of the different places you are throughout the day at work.
At work, you probably have Slang that you use at work that no one else knows about.
You couldn't go home to your family and use work slang because they wouldn't understand it.
So you have slang that you use at work.
You have slang that you use with your family, your friends or different types of groups that you're in.
For example, like with me going to the gym.
When I go to the gym, there's also slang that we use within the gym setting.
But if I use that slang with, let's say, some of my students, they wouldn't understand it because they're not part of that group.
So basically slang is just used to share information in a fun way.
It makes conversation and dialogue more interesting and more colorful.
That's why we use it.
And the last thing I want to cover. is how does slang become popular?
Well, slang becomes popular when everyone adopts the words or uses those words.
And I'll give you three examples.
So number one, the word cool.
I'm pretty sure If you speak English, you know what the word cool means, right?
The word cool actually has different meanings for different situations.
So cool can mean, for example, when you're talking about the weather, oh, it's cool outside.
It's kind of chilly.
But you can also use cool when you're referring to people like, oh, he's cool or she's cool.
You know, that means that he or she is a good person.
Right.
Or the word what's up.
Pretty sure everybody knows what that word is because it's used all over the world.
What's up?
It doesn't mean what's in the sky.
It just means, Hey, what's going on?
What's new, right?
And the last word here, selfie.
Now that we have smartphones and you know, we have social media, The word selfie is common.
It's adopted everywhere.
Selfie just means you're taking a picture of yourself.
And I'm pretty sure if you're learning English or you watch TV or whatever, you've probably heard that word multiple times.
And that's how slang becomes popular.
Somebody invents the word and then it catches on and then everybody starts using it and then it becomes new slang.
So that's how slang becomes popular.
All right, everyone.
So that is it for today's episode.
So again, what do we cover today?
Where does slang come from?
Why do we use slang?
And how does slang become popular?
All right.
And before I go, I want to leave you with a question.
Do you have a favorite slang word in English?
If you do, let me know if you're watching this on YouTube, leave it in the comments.
If you're using anchor, there's actually a feature where you can leave a voice comment.
That's cool.
Leave me a voice comment.
Let me know your favorite English slang.
I'd love to hear about it.
Alright everyone, that is it for today's episode.
Thank you for tuning in again to the English with Neil podcast.
I look forward to speaking with you in the next episode.
Take care everyone and talk to you soon.
Peace.
