Piff brehs don't get shifted, you know? Well, you won't - but young users of social networking website Bebo understand. Because they are just some of the slang terms that could be about to feature in a new edition of the Collins English Dictionary. Publisher Harpercollins approached the website to help identify the most widely used slang terms in the UK. Piff: good; breh: boy; shifted: get arrested. Other slang includes "stunting" or showing off; "pee", which is money; "co-dee", friends; and "pinky" which means £50. The shortlisted words were put forward by a panel of 14-18 year-olds. Over the next few months Bebo's 10.5 million users will vote on the words and terms they think should be included in the 30th anniversary edition of the dictionary. Some of the favourites include - bare (a lot of), seen (cool), mugged (take the mick), fiend (addicted to something) or hater, which translates in teen speak as a negative person. The most popular will be submitted to Collins, where a team of experts will research their origins and decide which make the grade for inclusion in the dictionary. Bebo will publish the winning teen slang words in summer. From: http://uk.news.yahoo.com/21/20090213/tuk-bebo-users-suggest-slang-terms-6323e80.html
Bebo, eh? Well, when that list comes out, I believe I will drink. And not in celebration. Don't get me wrong. Slang definitely has a place in writing. It can greatly enrich dialogue. But I don't really see a benefit to legitimizing it to mainstream by adding it to standard dictionaries, especially if it is an expression tat has not yet stood the test of time.
Isn't that what the Urban Dictionary is for? I'd warrant a fair portion (if not all) of those words are regional, so if they were to make it into a dictionary, I doubt I'd have cause to look them up. Thank goodness.
Very true, Cogito. It;s silly to add it to a dictionary when it's only been around for a few years, if that, and may not exist a few years from now.
Actually (and to bolster Cog's sentiment) the short shelf life of slang is one of the phenomenon's defining features. The entire point of slang is to identify the user as belonging to a given group. Said group can define itself by whatever means it wishes (age, race, ideology, economic status, level of coolness, etc.) The use of slang terms within the group is a way for the group to create identity within itself, but since we have a media machine that is always looking for the new and chic, and because there is no such thing as a hermetic seal, these slang terms leak out from the group, into the general populace. As soon as this happens, the slang terms cease to function as a defining characteristic of any given group and are very quickly replaced. Very few slang words ever stand the test of time. Any such publication will be out of date as soon as it hits the shelf, and, I am sure, slightly comical to those who had used the words within its pages last week. The very existence of this kind of book would constitute a huge "breach of security" for those who would have coined the use of the words listed within, ensuring that the included words will have an even shorter shelf life than usual. It's self defeating.
I pity the fool who goes on bebo. In fact, I pity the fool who agreed to implement the words which clearly oughtn't be in proper dictionaries... By the way, or should I say btw, why don't people want to reborn some of the old, awesome words??
Oh, there are those rare people who use old out-of-date words. But that's what they are, out-of-date. People don't understand them, so hardly anyone will pick them up.
Y'know what I hate the most about this? It's that the "dictionary" doing it is called the Collins English Dictionary ... Those aren't words that are in the english language (nor should they be) and in my opinion very few English people (including teenagers) would want those words to be publicly stated as being from england ... or exisiting full stop.
Those terms kind of remind me of A Clockwork Orange. Don't know why, but I can't help but think of it... perhaps it shows where Bebo users are heading...
...although such a reference might be useful when writing convincing characters from a by-gone era. When I was a kid living in Massachusetts, soda was called "tonic". I moved to Southern California and when I asked for tonic, I was referred to the hair care section at the supermarket. Yet, if I was writing a story set in those times, there are several dated terms like tonic that I would include in the dialog.
Speaking on english and slang I almost wanted to punch this young kid out (maybe 16-17 years old). I saw "He's just not that into you" with my girlfriend on V-day and when there was something funny, rather then laugh he kept on saysing "lol" no as in l.o.l but Lol, like a word. I hate that, and hated him. He was lucky.
So, I'm like totally reading through this thread, or whatever, and I'm all like, "Why would anyone need to, like, write these words in a book, or whatever?" I mean, like, it's so obvious what these things mean. I mean, am I right, or what?
It's weird how this and that Birmingham apostrophe thing both happened quite near to each other... what's going to happen to the common use of our (beloved?) language?
It will change, as it always has, as it always will. Fear not the slang for it is a weak effector of linguistic change. It is ephemeral and not but a wisp of smoke. Now, the apostrophe thingie, that is a bit more suspect. It is a broad change that effects all words in which it is found. That is a much stronger effector of change.
I prefer slang to people making up words. Working in retail, I deal with some... incredibly stupid people. I've heard some incredible things. My favorite being a woman a boss rang up when her card was declined. "That's weird, my card is usually aclined." Your card is usually what! I wanted to cry.
