Language of Groups

I find that the language that I use daily varies drastically depending on what type of situation I am in. Whether I am at home or at school I find that the language I use differs from the expressions I use, to even my tone of voice. At home I take on a less formal vernacular. My sentences are short, and they are completed by small phrases and can mostly be made up of slang terms that only my friends and I have come to know the meanings of. While I am at school I use a much more structured way of speaking, especially if I am speaking with a professor or someone I may not know very well. This is apparent when I speak with any of my classmates, in regards to certain topics of discussion. That is one thing that I also have noticed, is the topic that I am speaking on dictates not only how I use language, but also how I structure my ideas.

This type of language use also translates to writing as well. In particular notes, emails, even texts, which I send to my friends, I find my self using poor punctuation, and little to no correct grammar. This makes for getting my message across easier, and without the hassle of consciously thinking about exactly how I would say something. I am able to do this with friends, because I know the level of understanding that they have of the language that is prevalent among my group of peers. When I consider writing an email to a professor though, I try to make it as formal as possible, with all grammatical errors in check. I even go to certain lengths to add more professional sounding words, as I try to be as courteous and clear as possible with my requests or directions.

As far as examples go, my friends and I when we find something to be good or excellent, we would go as far as saying something to the effect of, “That’s dopamine, well, that’s dope I mean.” I don’t know how it started; all I know is that it is said frequently. There are also times when my friends and I are up in the mountains snowboarding or skiing, and it’s not rare to hear someone say, “This freshy fresh sicky sick gnar gnar pow pow is buttery soft.” This implies the fact that the snow is very good on the day that we are snowboarding, even though most of the times we use those terms half-joking around. I do think it would be interesting to see how a professor would react if I wrote an email one day only using terms that my friends and I have come to know, it probably wouldn’t get me very far, but the reaction may be priceless.