朗文英语听说教程三

-102-Unit1Slang:TalkingCoolTEACHER:OK,let'sgetstarted...Todaywe'regoingtobelookingatareallyinterestingphenomenon,slang.We'llbelookingatwhereslangcomesfrom,whousesitandwhy.Wealluseitmoreoftenthanyoumightthink—everydayofourlives,infact.Andweuseitforareason.Youknow,mostofusarefascinatedwithslang.Wecon-tinuallyhearnewwordsandphrasesenterthelanguageandreplaceold,andweseefamiliarwordstakeonnewmeanings.Wefeelaneedtokeepintouchwiththesechanges,tobeawareofthelateststreettalk.Factis,weloveslang.Butwhatisitexactly?Whatisslang?Anyoneliketosuggestadefinition?STUDENT1:Isn'titbasicallykindofcasualtalk?TEACHER:Canyousayabitmore?STUDENT1:Youknow,thesortofwordsweusewithfriends...inrelaxedsituations.TEACHER:Good.You'reprettymuchtherewithyourideaofcasuallanguage.Wecansaythatslangislanguagethat'sfoundonlyintheveryinformalspeechofparticulargroupsofpeople.Itcanhelptoidentifythecommunities,thegroupsofpeople,whouseit.Andthisbringsmetothefirstimportantpointofthelecture—whypeopleuseslang.Alotofslangcomesfromnotwantingtobeunderstoodbyoutsiders,peopleoutsideyourcircle.Inotherwords,peopleexploitslangtogivetheirgroupanidentity,bymakingtheirlanguageexclusive,oratleastprivate.Throughthisprivatelanguage,theycanteaseoneanother,enjoysharedexperiences,andkeepeveryoneelseatadistance.Allculturescontaingroupsorsubcultureswithdifferentinterestsandpriorities,andeachgrouptriestoestablishaseparateidentity.Theywantpeopletoknowwhotheyare,whattheystandfor—andslanghelpstoconstructandcementthatidentity.Wecansay,then,thatslangreflectstheexperiences,beliefs,andvaluesofitsspeakers.Nowlet'slookmorecloselyatthisrelationshipbetweenslangandcommunity,slangandidentity.Aniceexampleofthisis,uh,studentlanguage,sometimescalledyouth-speak.Youngpeopleusealotofslang,andmanyofthewordstheyuseareusedbybothsexes,oftenmetaphoricallyratherthanliterally.Thatistosay,theconventionalmeaningofthewordschange.Forexample,wordsthathavetraditionallyhadstrongnegativeliteralmeaningsthatareusedasinsultshavetakenon,uh,gentler,andinmanycasesevenpositivemeaningsinconversation.We'lllookatsomeexampleslater.Now,ifyouaskcollegestudentswhytheyuseslang,they'lltellyouit'scool,andthat'strueinseveraldifferentways.First,it'scoolbecauseit'sinstyle,infashion.Usingcurrentslangshowsthatthespeakerisintunewiththetimes...youknow,thatheorsheknowswhat'sinfashionandispanofthatfashion.Second,slangiscoolinthesenseofshowingthatthespeakerisknowledgeable...thespeakerisintheknow,thespeakerknowswhenslangisacceptable.Peopledon'tuseslangallthetime,onlyinsituationsandwithpeoplewhoaccepttheuseofslang—apointI'llreturntolater.Researchtellsusthatalthoughyoungpeopleoftendenythattheyuseslangintentionally,infacttheyclearlychoosewhetherornottouseitdependingonthesituationthey'rein.Aswe'vealreadysaid,slang'stypicallyusedininformalratherthanformalsettings,andthisiscertainlytrueamongcollegestudents:Theyusuallyavoidusingitintheclass-roomoraworkenvironment,forexample.Anyoneliketosuggestwhy?STUDENT1:Peoplewon'tunderstandthem.STUDENT2:Yeah,soit'slikeawasteoftime.TEACHER:Well,thatmaybetrue,butit'snotthemainreason.Theydon'tuseitsimplybecauseitcouldmakethemlookbad.Andeveryonehateslookingbad,right?So,toreview,we'vesaidthatstudentsuseslangonlyincertainsituations.Buttheyalsoonlyuseitwithcertainpeo-ple,usuallyfriends.Whentheyuseslang,theyareshowingthattheysharesocialandemotionalexperiences—soslangreinforcestheirrelationships.But...italsogivesspecialmeaningtowhattheysay.Forinstance,tosayThatpartywasthebombismorethanmerelysayingitwasaverygoodparty.Itsharesanemotionalexperiencethatmightotherwisetakeseveralsentencestoexplain.Inotherwords,it'sakindof...shorthand.Thethirdandfinalwayslang'scoolisthatit'sfun;it'sverycreativeinthesamewaythatpoetryis,andit'softenhumorous.Inotherwords,it'saformofplay,awayofentertaining.So...uh,letmerepeat:I'vesaidthatslang'scoolforthreereasons:One,itshowstheuser'sfashionableandintunewiththetimes;two,it'sawayofreinforcingrelation-shipsandcommunicatingefficiently;andthree,it'sfunandentertaining.Gotthat?Allrightthen,let'snowtakealookatdifferentkindsofslang,inparticularthreetypesofslangwords:thosethatarecurrentlymostused,thosethatlingeryearafteryear,andthosethathavebecomeunfashionable.So...nowwhatisthemostusedslang?Well,researchtellsusthatoverthepastfewyears,inthenumberoneposi-tionisdope,whichbasicallymeansverygood,great,-103-excellent,attractive,ornice.Sosomebodymightsay,forexample,thathisfriend'snewmotorbikeisreallydope;inotherwords,it'sverygood.Otherwordsthatfeatureinthetoptwentyincludechillout(tocalmdownorrelax),thebomb(meaningthebestormostexcellent),whack(whichmeansbad,unfair,crazy,orfoolish),anddude(meaningperson—usuallyaman,actually).Anyotherexamples?Yes?STUDENT1:Hella.TEACHER:Meaning?STUDENT1:Very,alot.TEACHER:OK,yep.Luis?STUDENT3:Kickit,whichmeans,like,tohangout,uh,relax,youknow,sitarounddoingnothing.TEACHER:Right.Andit'sinteresting,isn'tit,howmostslangtermsindicateapprovalordisapproval;theyshowwhatwefeelpositiveornegativeabout.So,likedopeandthebomb,wehavesweet,phat—spelledP-H-A-T,notF-A-T—cool,andtight—allmeaninggoo