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Top Banana
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OP
Top Banana
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Since our discussion of UK vs. US English has been so successful, I'd like to open up a thread to discuss the use of slang. This topic has specific relevance to me at the moment because my current story features a character from Australia, and as I was writing him, I did tend to use what I view as accurate Australian slang. But since my knowledge of Australian slang is based on what I've seen in the movies and on TV or have read in "A Town Like Alice" which is over fifty years old, I realize that I may have gotten it all wrong. As such, this thread is kind of a "correct me if and where I'm wrong" deal. Things that perhaps you imagine quite a few people say but in actuality are rarely used. As an extreme example (and I don't really believe this), if I were to believe what I see on TV, I would think that Australians often walk around saying "Throw another shrimp on the barbie."  Anything that you all imagine we Americans say all the time? I rarely use the word "Dude" unless I'm about to swear at a jerky-driver and realize that my kids are in the car - you know, "Good move, you big...Dude!" LOL! Lynn
You know that boy'd walk on water for you? Or he'd drown tryin'. -Perry White to Lois in Just Say Noah
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Hack from Nowheresville
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Hack from Nowheresville
Joined: Apr 2003
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I don't know about the rest of slang, Lynn, but I just had to reply to the dude comment! I use the word all the time. As do my brother, sister, sister-in-law...
Actually, it's funny, because another of my sister-in-law's things to say is, "Oh, my word." (instead of OMG, etc) And whenever she says that, my brother says, "Dude."
However, we rarely use it to refer to a specific person. More often than not, it's exclamatory. Like if I fall down the stairs (not that I ever do that...more than once a week...), I might say, "Dude, that hurt!"
Bethy
I don't suffer from insanity...I enjoy every minute of it.
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Top Banana
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Top Banana
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Well, my most used Americanism has to be "I guess...", as in "I guess you're right," or "I guess we should go." I'm going to be awfully upset if lots of Americans now tell me they all say "I suppose..." I'll doubtless be back with better examples later. Yvonne 
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Merriwether
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Merriwether
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Dude: I think I say it a bit more than I think, but always with an exclamation. I think it's thanks to a scene from BASEketball, where they have a whole conversation with just the word "dude".
I guess vs I suppose. This actually depends on my mood. "Do me a favor?" "I s'pose." "Did you do this?" "I.. guess..." I haven't noticed if I use one more than the other, though.
"You need me. You wouldn't be much of a hero without a villain. And you do love being the hero, don't you. The cheering children, the swooning women, you love it so much, it's made you my most reliable accomplice." -- Lex Luthor to Superman, Question Authority, Justice League Unlimited
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Top Banana
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Top Banana
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I have a lot of experience with slang. My advisor yelles at me for using it too much. Re "Dude" -- I say it *all the time* and never in the way you said, Lynn. I think it's because my vocabulary is so small, but I say "dude" all the time as an exclamation. I also use it when I am just talking to people -- "Rachel, dude, look at that!" Oh I also use it if I can't think of a person I'm talking about's name -- "That dude is so stupid." I also use "oh my god" all the time -- in everyday speech ALL THE TIME. Same with "Jesus Christ!" Re. "I guess". Hmm, I would *never* say "I suppose". It sounds poumpus to me . It always annoys me that my parents use a lot of lower class slang. I had neighbors that said "You's guys" talking about a group of people or "you's" just to describe one or two people. I tend to say "you guys" to describe anyone more than one person. My parents also say "and then I says" instead of "and then I said". It drives me insane . Also I guess I am totally out of the '80's becuase I use the word "awesome" and "duh" way too often . I also find that I use the word "yeah" way more than I use the word "yes" (and I get yelled at about that by my advisor all the time -- even though I listened at my committee meeting and everyone on my examination committee says "yeah" instead of "yes" except my advisor ) - Laura
Laura "The Yellow Dart" U. (Alicia U. on the archive)
"A hero is an ordinary individual who finds the strength to persevere and endure in spite of overwhelming obstacles." -- Christopher Reeve
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Columnist
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Columnist
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I was also a kid during the 80's and tend to use like way more than I should, but I try to be careful not to use it too much at work.
I think it depends on the situation. It's one thing if you're with your friends. It's another when you're supposed to be professional.
I believe there's a hero in all of us that keeps us honest, gives us strength, makes us noble, and finally allows us to die with pride, even though sometimes we have to be steady and give up the thing we want the most. Even our dreams. -- Aunt May, Spider-Man 2
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Beat Reporter
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Beat Reporter
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I use "yeah" instead of "yes" most of the time, too. And since I'm always trying to set a good example for my kids, I try to use stuff like "jerk" or "twit" (a personal favorite of my husband's) to describe a..., well..., jerk, I guess. ...Often paired up with the adjective "flippin'" as in "what a flippin' jerk!" Oh, yeah, and one of my most used exclammatory phrases at the moment is "No flippin' way!" And I use "I guess" much more than "I suppose"-- although I do use that as a standard kid-answer ("Mom, can we have bubblegum?" "I suppose." They take that as "yes.").  I don't use "dude" much anymore, sort of got out of the habit... but I too would use it as an exclamation rather than a descriptive. We use "ya know" a lot, too-- at the end of most sentences. "Cool" is still used a lot, and the kids use "all that"-- "She thinks she's all that." Around here, central Indiana, there's also a lot of "y'alls" floating around. I don't use it myself (much) but I love to tease one of my coworkers (who is from Texas) that if "y'all" is singular, is the plural "all y'all"? (She doesn't find that nearly as funny as I do!) We also use "like" as a... what, adjective? Adverb? Both? It's tacked onto other descriptives such as "impossible" or "biggest". And "totally" is used more often, again, since "Finding Nemo" was released-- because of the little turtle dude and his surfer dad who said "dude" and "totally" a lot. ~Toc (who is, like, totally out of any more examples of slang, dude)
TicAndToc :o)
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"I have six locks on my door all in a row. When I go out, I lock every other one. I figure no matter how long somebody stands there picking the locks, they are always locking three."
-Elayne Boosler
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Boards Chief Administrator Pulitzer
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Boards Chief Administrator Pulitzer
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but I love to tease one of my coworkers (who is from Texas) that if "y'all" is singular, is the plural "all y'all"? (She doesn't find that nearly as funny as I do!)  In response to the "dude" question...though I have a feeling Lynn hadn't meant for all the *Americans* to respond to this ... Well, as a resident of good ol' Arizona where if you don't live in a tepee in the desert, you live on a dude ranch, I say "dude" all the time. But seriously, I say it from time to time. As for "I guess," I say that *all* the time. I find myself lately saying "really" a lot. I know Diane (one of my BRs) would not be at *all* surprised by that. Sara (who actually lives in a house surrounded by other houses, surrounded by a city )
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Hack from Nowheresville
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Hack from Nowheresville
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but I love to tease one of my coworkers (who is from Texas) that if "y'all" is singular, is the plural "all y'all"? (She doesn't find that nearly as funny as I do!) To shed light on the matter... Welcome to Modern Speach 101. Our lesson today is the word y'all and its derivatives.
Let us begin with the boring stuff, just as Mrs. Klutch always did back in high school. Y'all is a variant of You-all that has generally suplanted that longer form as it is more comfortable on the tongue and its use shows that the speaker does not hail from West Virginia. Y'all is singular, All Y'all is plural, Y'all's and All Y'all's are single and plural possessive, respectively.
Phew, glad that's over. Now let's move onto the fun stuff. Why do we need Y'all in all its forms and glory? Because the English language has hamstrung itself with the loss of the plural possesive pronoun. Once upon a time we had Ye and life was good. "Hear ye, hear ye", etceteras. Some time in the early 1800's the use of ye was lost in favor of the generic you. This sucked. I mean really, can you picture the town crier yelling out "Hear you, hear you"? This loss was quickly corrected with regional abberations of you-all. In the northeast we have youse as in "Hey! Youse guys better pay up your vig or Vinnie Two Thumbs is gonna break your kneecaps". In the middle Atlantic states you-all was preserved in its pure form giving us usage such as "You-all should stop going to family reunions looking to pick up chicks". In the south sometime around 1834 the use of y'all gained wide acceptance allowing concise statements such as "Y'all come check this out before I flush it".
Actually, that last example is substandard. The correct sentence would be "Y'all come check this out afore I flush it".
Great care must be made regarding which form of y'all to use. Use these examples of proper usage as a guide:
Addressing a single person or small group representing a larger group:
1) Y'all gonna finish that?
2) Y'all just opened up a fresh can of Bud Light.
Addressing a group, especially when the group is geographically distinct:
1) I'd be off the welfare if it weren't for all y'all carpet baggers taking the good jobs.
2) All y'all are just lucky my woman ain't got a weak stomach and don't mind cleaning up that deer you hit with your pickup truck.
Possessive address regarding something belonging to a single person or representative group:
1) Those wheels still on y'all's trailer?
2) Y'all's kids outta third grade yet?
Possessive address regarding something belonging to a group:
1) Dale's car woulda put all y'all's to shame. Earnhardt! Wooo! Never forget!
2) Got me some shine better than all y'all's.
As intimated above, y'all and y'all's can be used in a limited plural form. For beginners it is sometimes advisable to stick to just those two. Incorrect usage of all y'all and all y'all's can identify you as either a Yankee or a Floridian, both with disastrous results. 
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Beat Reporter
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Beat Reporter
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TicAndToc :o)
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"I have six locks on my door all in a row. When I go out, I lock every other one. I figure no matter how long somebody stands there picking the locks, they are always locking three."
-Elayne Boosler
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