US Slang Expressions

[junediamanti]

--- In HPFGU-OTChatter at yahoogroups.com, Trisha Masen 
<trisha.masen at v...> wrote:
> All these slang expressions aren't even getting into the 
subculture languages like Ebonics.
> 
> Axe - used in place of "ask" or "asked"  (I hear this one all the 
time)
> 
> Then there's surfer language:
> 
> Hangin'  - based upon "hang 10" for catching a wave, but now just 
means hanging out with no apparent purpose
> 
> Then there's valley speak (though I'm not sure how much is still 
used - this is from my teen years):
> 
> Ohmigod - literally, Oh My God.  Generally, "how shocking"
> 
> Rad - short for radical (another slang term).  Generally means 
totally cool, awesome.  Similar terms:  awesome, gnarly.
> 
> I had others, but they've all escaped my brain now.  Sorry :)
> 
> ~Trisha~

Valley speak is definitely coming in the teenage population of the 
UK - plainly down to all those dreadful teen movies (though I'm 
being unfair - Clueless was good).

Hello?  - as a question and not a greeting.

The biggest influence is in inflexion.  Valley influence means that 
many teenagers now end every sentence with an upward stress, this is 
going to be hard to write but I'll try:

So we went to see, like, a film?

And then, we went to MacDonalds, for burgers?

And it was, like, totally, awesome?

All the above recently said by my 14 year old daughter describing 
her Saturday afternoon to her hopelessly out of date mother.

So I said "Why is everything a question?"

to which she replied (predictably):

"Whatever!"

At which point I chased her out of the room.

Cross cutting cultural contamination, baby.

June