The Secret Of Teen Slang
~Just a little essay assignment I done a few years ago, in high school. I find it interesting. My former English teacher made me write a essay against slang, even though I was some what for it, at the time. It was a long essay, but I only posted a small portion of it. Enjoy :) ~
Many adults reveal very strange facial expressions when they encounter the so called “teen language” which often leaves them in a world of confusion. Slang consists of very informal words or expressions. But make no mistake; even some teens don’t even understand the strange yet catchy word from their young peers. This includes myself, for it was quite obvious that Bermudians added there own flavor to the language, this ranges from “I’m don my boy’s yard!” which means “at my friends house.” When this hit me…it didn’t take long to catch on what they was saying, but it's pretty safe to say that slang is a disease that is not easily cured, and if cured there is a slight chance that one might catch it again. To me there are three reasons why individuals use slang, they can’t say what is on their mind, use it as a secret language to fool adults, and just for the amusement of others to wonder what they are trying to say. But this leaves me to believe that slang is a very powerful tool, but it can only get you so far.
Some teens feel as though they don’t have what it takes to speak using proper English. When they hear sophisticated and very complex words, this makes them feel inferior. With no big words to defend themselves, the birth of slang is their new weapon. With this new tool at their disposal, they now use this “unofficial” language to defend themselves against the threat of big words. This often makes the teen feel more superior, because the person they are interacting with doesn’t understand what they are trying to say. So basically they are using slang as some sort of defense mechanism. But this could have all been avoided if they just learnt to speak what is on there mind, instead of hiding behind some defensive wall of nonsense language.
Many teens have tried to create ways to hide there true motives, plans, and secret lives from their parents. But of course parents would negate those plans. Until now…teens have now found ways to use slang as a sort of unreadable language to adults. This new idea was even on the news this morning, and they allowed adults to try and read a text message written by a teen. The message read “Hey I’m at my friends yard…LOL…holla back yoh…I’m sers…ttyl!” Out of the five adults who tried…not one was able to read the message. Perhaps this is a very effective way to keep adults from knowing the secrets of teens. But the question is how long will this last?
Other teens use it just to see the frustration of those who don’t understand a word they are saying. Their frustration of wanting to understand the slang ways truly makes the slang talker’s day. When a teen can’t make out anther persons slang, they often create there very own kind, this is know as the slang cycle. But learning slang is really not worth it; it’s a waste of brain space really. But of course teens do not realize this until there older. Perhaps age along with wisdom is the cure for slang.