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Writer's pictureujjwalkaur

slang is lit, no cap


“I am writing because they told me never to start a sentence with because. But I wasn’t trying to make a sentence– I was trying to break free. Because freedom, I am told, is nothing but the distance between the hunter and its prey.”

--Ocean Vuong (On Earth, We’re Briefly Gorgeous)



DEFINING LANGUAGE

Language. The toolbox we put together to navigate the world. The magic that helps us read minds. Sounds waves of infinite frequencies joined together in different ways to transmit complicated thoughts and emotions. The instrument of influence that authors use to create extraordinary worlds and stir powerful thoughts. The distance between my thoughts and yours.


Now think of people who don't understand English. What is this article to them - a boring, meaningless document, electrical signals turned into light of different colours, a void of nothingness.

Let me try again,

Language - a set of symbols and sounds devised by mankind that make sense to some but are meaningless to others. A ground for both unification and division. A type of expression common to everybody yet simultaneously unique to each one of us. A lens into somebody else’s soul or a complete made up lie. A medium to transmit knowledge and stimulate imagination or simply just air vibrations. Ideas and emotions or total deafness.


THE UNILATERAL NATURE OF LANGUAGE

Language has its shortcomings. It helps us connect and convey our ideas but it also creates a classification among different linguistic groups and ostracises certain people who might not know how to speak the common language of an area.

We have the English Language now which is so commonly spoken in almost all the regions of the world that it is an unsaid requirement to be fluent in it. Even though the popularity of this language in the modern world stems from colonial expansion by the West, it has been accepted all over the world as an international means of communication. The English Language has, in a way, unified people and brought them closer to one another than ever before. That, paired with social media, has led to a significant boom in connectivity and the birth of a style of personalisation of language - THE SLANG.


INDESCRIBABLE FEELINGS


‘Is there language for falling out of language? A flash of teeth, a finger on the trigger..”

--Ocean Vuong (On Earth, We’re Briefly Gorgeous)


Sometimes language fails to convey certain emotions - there are no words for some actions, gestures and how they make us feel. Some feelings and emotions can just be felt, not described. Sure, there are words for every kind of emotion and feeling but these words merely name the feeling, they can’t describe the intensity, depth and omnipotence of that feeling. Is ‘grief’ enough to describe the insurmountable, all consuming hopelessness that grips us after the loss of someone irreplaceable in our lives?

Words are superficial, emotions are profound and multi faceted– with endless dimensions. Words are but a vague aerial image of a colourful planet.


OUR SLANG AND WHY WE LOVE IT



For real though, slang be bussin’ out there. It just hits different.


Slang is enriching our language-- be it English or Hindi--and customising it for our generation. It makes the language we use for common parlance - unique to OUR generation. It is tailored to meet our needs, to express our feelings when words fall short. It makes language more casual and generates a feeling of informality which aids in casual communication and develops a fun and friendly atmosphere. It is a creative way to sum up our feelings in a few words. And in today’s ‘ASAP’ world of ‘hustle culture’ whatever is fast and speedy is generally appreciated. Slang helps us mix with people by emanating a sense of belonging to other fellow slang-users.


However, for many people, slang is the ultimate doomsday for written language. Supposedly it degrades our communication and writing skills, whilst making us lazy. For some, it may be an indicator of our incompetency and a reflection of our little professional knowledge and workplace ethics. Research says otherwise. yo, this research is legit.


UNPROFESSIONAL OR ANTI CLASSIST?

For many orthodox ‘professionals’ the usage of slang is corrupting ‘professionalism’ and blurring the boundaries between work and social life.

Is the merit of an employee based on the language they use and not on the quality of their work and skills they have nurtured? Would I be able to create a successful business if I were to hire a team of staunch professionals with no other skills to offer to the business except their perfect professional language?

It is clear that the usage of slang is not an impediment to the actual business but to the senior officials who display a need to be respected. The usage of slang is a sign of informality which is seen as ‘disrespect’ against superiors. It creates a toxic workplace where the junior officials need to seek linguistic validity from their superiors who conform to classist ideologies.


“Behind these linguistic mandates camouflaged as “appropriate” office-speak, though, there is a desire to protect classist norms and traditions. Reflective of a colonial mindset disguised as “professionalism,” such customs around languages and attire, unfortunately, continue to be common in India, alongside many other parts of the world — furthering classism, in the process.”

“The classism embedded in such conventions — that do little other than boost people’s egos — has been drawing censure for years. Often, the “proper” way of speaking to one’s seniors is only achieved by those who have access not (only) to education, but to privileged systems of knowledge. “We are told that there is one correct form of English… Not only is this classist, but it fortifies the idea that English has a “proper” form — even though every variation of English has been constructed. The kind of English that is privileged in job interviews, for instance, was made up like every other kind of English; it has no special value,” notes a 2016 article on Everyday Feminism.”


Slang can help eliminate these classist constructs of the workplace and create a positive and flexible environment which reduces work related stress and encourages creativity. It can help us bond in the workplace and significantly increase productivity.

What’s more is slang is straightforward which makes it appropriate to be used in the workplace so that less time and energy is spent on conveying our ideas and more on translating those into action.



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1 Comment


udhay
Jul 08, 2022

'slang is lit no cap' lol


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