Anne Curzans new way of the slash symbol used as a word instead of the symbol sort of has the same effect as the old meaning but now it has power to it, and it acts more to me as a comma than anything. So if you ask a question like can I go shopping slash buy clothes slash eat lunch at the mall. To me that same sentence can be used with a comma, but even then it still is different because new meaning has been brought to it.
Every day people use different types of language and slang in different situations all the time. Some times people do not like the type of person because the way they speak or what language they know. For example if someone spoke the Arabian language then we would more than likely not like them and think of them as a terrorist just because they spoke that specific language. Another thing could be the symbol we now call a hashtag, in the past we would of called it a pound sign and it would be used for phone numbers but today we use it way more to give details about what's going on. and example of this would be me posting a picture in New York City and putting on the picture #NewYork, #livinglife, and #NewYorkshopping this tells people that I am having fun in New York shopping. That is a prime example of how the English language has brought new life to an old symbol that people barely use anymore. To me the idea of a pound sign has been forever changed by this because soon enough if you go up to a new teenager and showed them a picture of the pound sign they would say that's a hashtag and have no idea what the older term was.
So in the end if people learn a new language and they figure out the new slang words in that particular language then you will start to think differently of how the new way it is used and how the old term has been used. So you can never fully understand a language because they are all different and unique.
I agree with you on everything but the part where you say it has the same effect but add more power. I can't say I know anyone that uses the word "slash" instead of the actual symbol of "/" to me to use the actual word slash will change the sentence. You are changing the meaning of a sentence with the context of the whats around the word "slash", an example you can use is one of the sentences Anne Curzan used, "so what’ve you been up to? slash should we be skyping?" this in all is two entirely different subjects being brought together by using the word slash. I have grown to use "slash" like the following, "he/she is coming to the party" that is saying that either he or she will be going to the party and has some relevance to each other for you to go and say for example "I am going to the party. slash I'm going to take a nap." just has no relevance what so ever. So i for one disagree with you on the fact that it has no same effect it just adds a different meaning to this symbol in word form only.
ReplyDeleteI disagree with the part where you said that by changing the symbol “/” to the actual spelling of the word slash gives it more meaning or power to it. In my opinion, adding the word into the sentence actually makes it more confusing to read, because over time our minds have evolved to understanding short hand lingo or writing, which includes the usage of symbols. By adding the actual word into the sentence, you are in turn creating more work for the mind to process through. For example, if I were to list out my emotions on an event that had occurred earlier in the day, I would present it as “I was excited/nervous/scared, all at the same time.” When read out loud, your mind automatically reads the “/” symbol as “slash,” without actually having to re-write that sentence as “I was excited slash nervous slash scared, all at the same time.” The continuous evolution of our language is important to preserve it for future generations, as discussed in Toni Morrison’s Nobel Lecture. But the counterpart to that is that we can never fully understand every aspect of one specific language, because it is always evolving and we are always learning new things about it. Does this mean that we can’t encourage new usage of the language? Of course not, but we also can’t push it to the point where it isn’t the same anymore. So in the end, I don’t believe changing from the symbol to the word makes it any more or any less significant, but it does change the way it is presented to the human mind that is already used to one specific way.
ReplyDeleteI disagree with the fact that “slash” and other slang words have the same meaning but has new power to it. In the case that the symbol “/” is now used in word form in sentences now holds a completely different meaning. It went for being use to simply separate two similar things, example being “he/she” and now it is used in conversation about doing different things. This is a new form of using the term, and this is how languages evolve, but not all the time does the new way of using something mean that it still has the same meaning to it. In this case, the slash is used in such a different way that it no longer is understood nor used the same way it was years ago.
ReplyDeleteYou can never fully understand a language, I do somewhat agree with because it’s something that is forever evolving and progressing. But I also think that without having a majority understanding of the language than you can’t improve or add anything to progress the language. And language is something that is so cultured and different everywhere that, you could never know everything. But that’s okay because I think that if we knew everything that there was to know about language that we would be stuck wondering how to create new things and new meaning to words or phrases. With understanding everything in language would require being able to view it through everyone’s eyes, because what you might think about a word or phrase could mean something different to someone else, but the thing about having different perceptions on language is that we do somewhat fully understand our own language.
I agree with you on everything except when you said that by changing the symbol "/" to the actual word slash has the same meaning but new power to it. I fell like it will confuse lot's of us because we are so used to using "/" as "or, and". Basically some people would get the wrong idea with using the word as some people would think "slash" in a negative matter as in slashing a person (killing a person, cutting a person). In the other hand people would think slash means "or" as in "he/she" as the same thing people think when they see "/". That's why I believe if we use the word slash instead of using "/" lot's of people would get confused or get the wrong idea. Same as "#" which to us teenagers means hashtag which we mostly use it on social media, but to some people most likely older adults "#" would just think it is a simple number sign. In that case, you can never truly understand language, because it is always evolving that's why even in us teenagers see language and symbols different from older people. I think changing the from the symbol to the word would just confuse a lot of us because it will change the way it is presented to the human mind that is already used in one specific way.
ReplyDeleteYour blog has angered me in a way no one has angered me for the past couple of months, so you can assume I disagree with the majority of things you’ve said. The thing that has annoyed me the most of your statements is your comparison of how we perceive people whom use a different language to the way we use slang. Different languages themselves aren’t symbols and in no way related to how the use of jargon has formed our day-to-day use of language itself. But, I would’ve agreed with you if you’d have spoken about how different languages have influenced slang all over the world. In America we use, without realizing it most of the time, words in different languages to express a thought (SLANG!!). For example, the word ghetto came from an Italian slang word that was a conjunction of two words, borghetto meaning a town or district dedicated to a type of work and getto meaning a factory that produces metal castings. The reason why this word came to be is because in 1516 the first ghetto where Jewish persons were restricted and segregated in Venice, Italy was an area of work dedicated to the production of metal castings. The word then became more commonly used in the 20th century, during the time of WWII, and has since then gradually over time changed meaning. Now the word ghetto is defined in the English dictionary and not underlined red in my word program as incorrect. Although it is now part of daily spoken language, we still don’t use the word for its intended purpose. On google, the word ghetto is formally defined as “a part of a city, especially a slum area, occupied by a minority group or groups”. As a part of the Millennial generation, we tend to use it to describe something half-assed, cheaply made or done poorly therefore making it a slang word in this context. (A more familiar and also historical slang word from another language is barrio, the Spanish word for neighborhood used to describe Hispanic ghettos.)
ReplyDeleteTo add to my ranting, your ignorance of culture is insulting. Most terrorist aren’t Arabian. Take into consideration the most recent attacks of terrorism in America like the Boston Marathon bombing, Oklahoma City bombing and Sandyhook school shooting. For two of the events listed the terrorist were Caucasian Americans and the other, they were Russians. The Arabian culture is beautiful and complex in my opinion, and just because you are ignorant and uneducated on the topic that is the Arabian culture doesn’t give you the right to use your perception of a people to prejudge them and use it to create a slang of their people. Yes that’s correct, I referred to your judgment of a people as a slang. As Anne Curzan describes in her article, slang is basically the improper use of a word, phrase, or symbol to express a thought. You are using Arabian to express the thought of hate and rage toward the hijackers of 9/11 that caused our country much pain and loss. Although I agree that was a tragic day, I refuse to believe that’s how all Arabians believe the same way because they don’t. There are the similar types of slang perceptions of all of ethnicities. For instance, how all Mexicans wear sombreros or that all Texans ride horses to school or that all Asians are super geniuses. But we don’t use the word slang to describe this type of lack of knowledge and bias. We use the word stereotyping, the wicked from of slang, to attach symbols and unjust meaning to a culture of people.
You should use slang more wisely and stick to swag and hashtag to avoid the hurt feelings and cease the perception others may have you as ill-informed and illiterate. As explained by Anne Curzan, slang should be used as an extension of language that relays emotions and thoughts we can’t normally, not to express hatred and ignorance towards a people. I can only hope you read this and open your mind a little more.
I disagree with the opinion that Anna Curzan presented, the word slash does not hold more power now that it’s been used in a different context. A symbol doesn’t hold more power just because someone thought to type out the full word for it, the word “slash” was still being used in the same way the symbol would have. The kids using it decided to go the opposite route of stereotypical teenage language and took more time to write out the word “slash” rather than using the time saving symbol. That’s what our society has turned into, a society that is always looking for a short cut for actions and words. Just in the past 3-4 years alone, many new words and phrases have come to surface like “perf” (short for the word perfect),“tbt” (stands for” throw back Thursday”, often used on Instagram to caption an old photo of yourself, these pictures are normally reserved for Thursdays) and the ever famous “Bae” (a term of affection, often used for friends or your significant other). All of these phrases are meant to save the user the time and effort of writing out the full words or going into more detail of the situation. “Slash” does the opposite of this; it requires more effort to press on those 4 extra keys on the keyboard than it does to press only on the one with the symbol. Not to mention, spelling out a symbol doesn’t give it any more power than the symbol originally had, it still serves the same purpose it originally did. Language is ever changing, that is true, but that doesn’t mean that new meanings of words or symbols are any more powerful or significant than the original meanings.
ReplyDeleteI disagree with your opinion that the word "slash" has a new meaning to when it's put into a word instead of the symbol "/". I feel like sentences would just be too confusing and wouldn't make sense if everyone started using the word to describe what they're doing. For example, I wouldn't say "I have an interview with him slash her this afternoon." People might be confused thinking that your describing that one individual as a guy or girl which they might take to offense when they think your telling them that you're unsure which gender they are, which can cause conflict. The word "slash" i feel has a different meaning then the symbol "/". Spelling out the symbols and is a waste of time so why would we bother to do that? Our society is changing and our generation is looking for different meanings and short cuts to words and phrases that already exist, but if we keep trying to attach new meanings to these words and phrases then we will have to re-learn the english language! Sure there is an exception to changing language, but that doesn't mean we have to change some meanings just for the convenience of it. Replacing the symbol with the word doesn't give it any more significant meaning then the original symbol.
ReplyDeleteI disagree with you when you say that the word “slash” has the same meaning as the symbol “/” but with more power to it because I believe that by using the word “slash” you are changing the meaning of the whole sentence and not really enhancing the power of it. Also by using “slash” instead of the symbol I think that there would be many people out in the world that would be confused like me. I would rather see the symbol being used then the word because it changes the whole meaning of what someone is trying to say. In Anne Curzan’s article Slash: Not Just a Punctuation Mark Anymore she uses the example “I spent all day in the UgLi (library) yesterday writing my French paper slash posting pictures of cats on my sister’s Facebook wall,” this is very significant because in this context slash distinguishes the activity that the speaker should have been doing and the activity that the speaker actually did. This is a very good example to show the difference between the meaning of the word and the symbol. “In writing the symbol “/” is used to capture two or more descriptions of the same thing” according to Curzan, which I completely agree with. Spelling out the word “slash” takes more time then to just “/” and in a generation where everything is done with short cuts, abbreviations, and now even emojis I believe that “slash” will not be brought out or employed as frequently as the “/.” The word “slash” in my opinion does not have staying power even amidst the youth.
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