Youth Slang: McCrindle Research

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Chapter 3

Youth Slang



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by the amount of interaction between the dominant culture culture and the subculture that coined the slang word.55 In the case of the word word “cool”, pioneered by by the black American jazz subculture of the 20s, 30s and 40s, it was the popularity of jazz, especially among the young young people of the day, that led the word into mainstream youth circles from the 1950s onwards. It is reported that African slaves transported to America in the 1600s used the word cool cool to to mean “it’s got soul”, and it is thought to have have survived with that meaning to become part of the wider youth lexicon. It is probably probably the term most people think of when they think



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have remained in vogue. They often evolve as they are passed on from one generation to the next. There are different forces which determine this. Popular culture and subculture are two forces responsible for changes in the meaning, spelling and pronunciation, as well as for the invention and re-adoption of youth slang. slang. To To the youth of today “cool” is no longer exclusively exclusively



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what the hippies of the 1960s found cool was strikingly different from what their sophisticated contemporaries, the mods, found cool. Reinventing the wheel: old words, new spin Then

Now

cool – adj. hip, happening

coo’/kewl – adj. okay, good. Still used to mean “hip”

major – adj. really cool

majorly – adv. extremely, totally interj. used to express disappointment or



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by African Americans since the 60s. It is now popular among Australian youth. Not simply a misspelling of the word “fat”, it actually has nothing to do with being overweight. It is said to be an acronym for “Pretty Hot And Tempting”. 59 “Groovy” has been used by young Australians since the 60s and 70s. It too began life back in the th e Jazz Age. Age. It comes from the expression “in the groove”, groove”, referring to a phonograph record of good jazz music.56 This table lists examples of youth slang which have have survived and evolved evolve d with the generations.





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1. Blended words words:: Single words wo rds made from two t wo words. For For example, “crunk” is a combination combination of “crazy” and “drunk”, used to describe someone who is between drunk and crazy.





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5. Gender-specifc words: words: Words that are generally used by members of only one sex, and/or and/or are used to refer to or address only one gender. gender. In our lexicon of youth slang, slang, there is only one word used by Gen Y and Z females exclusively to address other females ( girlfriend girlfriend ).





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Another curious feature of youth language is that multiple multiple words can have very similar meanings. Words meaning drunk for example, include crunk , bloddo bloddo,, fap fap,, off chops, chops, off your face/head , sloshed , maggot, magand wasted goted and goted





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youth, however, rarely give their entire conversations that “street” edge (as do their American counterparts from the hood , or at least those in ’da hood on ’da telly). They are more likely to drop in just the one or maybe two words words in the course of ersation.





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ingly, this lingo forms a large chunk of the lexicon of Australian youth ingly, youth today.. To today To young Australians, Australi ans, African Africa n American slang puts put s them “on the t he edge” and is a way of rebelling against the white, white, middle-class value system that they belong to.60





















































Youth Slang: McCrindle Research

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