The Use Of Slang And Its Significance On English Essay

The English language is particularly complex in almost all aspects. Many of the words in the English language have different meanings for the same word. This is not unlike the definition of the different levels of usage. McCrimmon defines the three levels, formal, moderate, and colloquial, by their sentence structure, diction, and tone (McCrimmon 193). ¹ Using McCrimmon’s definitions, authors can determine what type of writing is applicable to each of the three levels. For the formal writings, an adequate example of where readers can find it is in a professional journal, and an appropriate place to find an example of the moderate level is in a weekly news magazine. Also, the best place to look for an example of the colloquial level is in certain sections of the newspaper. All of the levels of usage apply to these different types of writings and assist in defining what each level involves.

Everyone has a word or phrase that purely defines who they are, how they speak or the way they act. In this case, the slang word that defines me most is “LOLOL”. Nearly everyone in America is aware of the slang word as “LOL,” which stands for laughing out loud. “LOLOL” means close to the exact same thing as the slang word “LOL” but it represents a continuation of someone, or multiple people expressing their laughter by “lots of laughing out loud,”. There are multiple definitions for this slang word, but the way Internet Slang defines this word is the one that relates most to the meaning I believe in. According to Urban Dictionary, the definition of the word “LOLOL” is when one may not only suck a penis but talk while doing it. This definition

Martha Irvine, a graduate of the University of Michigan published an article titled Queer Evolution which talked about how the word “Queer” itself has evolved into the mainstream. Originally the word’s definition was to describe something as odd or weird. Society utilized the word “Queer” as an insult to the LGBTQ community. As more sexual orientations are being discovered, “Queer” became a more accepted word in the gay community in order to make things simpler. Irvine’s essay showed that whatever word we use, can affect a person depending on the intention, and the tone of how it’s being said. Irvine’s essay is very similar to Deborah Tannen’s essay You’re Wearing That which talks about the relationship between mother and daughter and how words have established expectations for women based on their appearance and behavior. Another essay that well connects with Tannen and Irvine’s articles is a section from a book written by Michael Kimmel titled Bros Before Hos’’: The Guy Code. Kimmel talks about “The Guy Code”, rules that a man should always follow in order to be considered a real man. Words are the reason why these standards have been established for all genders and sexualities. The relationships between parents and children would be better if words were replaced, which would abolish the expectations that society has for men and women.

The word “gay” has gone through drastic changes. Traditionally, it was a positive term that meant to be “happily excited” or “jolly” (Merriam Webster, “Gay”). It was used regularly to express one’s feelings about life. Today, it has a far different meaning. Now people use the word gay to label homosexuals, those with feminine qualities, or those who do something thought to be outside of the norm for their gender. “Being gay” went from expressing someone’s happiness to describing his sexual preference. The definition of gay has changed so much that its original meaning has become archaic and lost to the times.

The Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, Questioning, Queer community also referred to as LGBTQQ is no stranger to oppression. “In 1600-1800, colonists discovered buggery (sex between men or between women) among Native Americans. In 1869, Dr. Karoly Benkert coined the term “homosexuality” to describe same-sex acts. In 1870-1910, homosexuals

So if one guy called another guy a “fag” it is not necessarily to say that he is literally gay; it’s a charge that he is not being “a real man”. In essence the word “fag” is not only a homophobic slur, it is a homophobic slur that also attacks behavior as not being masculine. This is why Pascoe used the phrase gendered homophobia throughout the book to describe the masculinity the male students showed on a daily basis.

Because language is relative/arbitrary, queer has various meanings, depending on evolution and history and also personal attributions. Queer has been used as an adjective to mean strange, questionable, or to not feel right, a pejorative against queer individuals, an identity relating to a person who does not conform to a normative sexual orientation or gender identity, a sexual orientation, and as a gender identity (such as genderqueer). However, there is an overlooked use of the word: queer is also a verb. What does it mean to queer something? There was a time when that phrase meant “to mess it up,” as in queering a

The word queer has been used to describe someone that does not fit into the social norms that the world sets, for example a girl that dresses masculine and has short hair is a queer. There are also people that fall into simple categories that use queer as an identifier for themselves, people in the gay lesbian and transgender communities often consider themselves to be queer as a sort of layman’s term today. An example of this in the ChYOR assignment would be the third ChYOR my article was on “queering art” bringing queer concepts to art, such as portraits of gay couples and dance duets with two male dancers. The article was very interesting because of the way that it talked about how little representation queer art has, and how that is slowly

A reoccurring theme that has been evident throughout many systems of oppression is the necessity to define the group being oppressed as criminals. In the book Queer (In)Justice it is impossible to mistake the purposeful intent of church authorities, prosecutors, and other influential citizens who had an agenda. They were threatened by the progress being made by the gay community. Sodomy laws were falling and they began to worry about queers recruiting their youth to a “perverted” lifestyle. Most often the only crime that these LGBT people committed was being homosexual. This discrimination would be a little too evident so a feeble attempt was made to cover up hatred by producing these undeserved characteristics that queer people supposedly

Much of queer theory developed out of a response to the AIDS crisis, which promoted a renewal of radical activism, and the growing homophobia brought about by public responses to AIDS. The consistent belief that AIDS is a gay disease has long been

In this final topic of the analysis of C.J. Pascoe’s research novel Dude You’re a Fag: Masculinity and Sexuality in High School which is arguably the main topic of the book are sexuality, specifically sexuality in regards to being homosexual. A theory that explains sexuality is the queer theory by Eve Kosofsky Sedgwick, “Sexualities not just determined by sex of described by sex of desired partner, sex acts mean different things to different people, different attitudes towards importance of sex, and sex as a key to gender identity for some, not others.” (Little, et al, 387). As stated earlier, for a male especially one who is questioning their sexuality or is homosexual being called a “fag” is the most hurtful term that can be said. For that reason, if someone calls you a fag it is assumed that you are gay as well but also race has a role in

John D’ Emilio brood over this very query when he composed his essay. Emilio disputes that the buildup of capitalism, and its free labor system, has permitted gays and lesbians to generate a “homosexual identity”, contrasting the idea that this distinctiveness has forever been present for them. “Here I wish to challenge this myth; I want to argue that gay men and lesbians have not always existed. Instead, they are a product of history, and have come into existence in a specific era. There emergence is associated with the relation of capitalism” (Emilio 170). With technical advancement and free labor, folks were kicked out of their present existence, and into the work force. Populace was therefore better able to make same sex relationships with individuals in their place of work, promoting gay activity to transpire into an everyday life, rather than a silent

Within the last decade society has become more open to ideology and lifestyles that years ago were tabo. This is largely due to the fact that the millennial generation may be one of the most laid back and accepting generations of all time. One major lifestyle that was rarely expected was homosexuality within the last decade this issue is no longer in the closet. Most people feel comfortable being open about their lifestyle choice and even show it off. Shortly after the acceptance of gays by society a new issue presented itself and this is transgender people. The community as whole fights for their rights together and it is referred to as LGBTQ. LGBTQ means lesbians, gays, transgender, bisexual, and queer. The LGBTQ community has made great progress in the last decade they have become more open about their community and have gained rights that they should have always had. Even though the community has made progress they still have a long way way to go especially within the workplace.

Queer theory questions creations of normal and divergent, insider, and outsider.2 Queer theorists analyse a situation or a text to determine the relationship between sexuality, power and gender. Queer theory challenges basic tropes used to organize our society and our language: even words are gendered, and through that gendering an elliptical view of the hierarchy of society, and presumption of what is male and what is female, shines through. Queer theory rejects such binary distinctions as arbitrarily determined and defined by those with social power. It works to deconstruct these binaries, particularly the homosexual/heterosexual binary.4

Gender and sexual orientation is a topic that has been and still today is not talked about in such a way it should be because of how society has chosen to structure and control it. Social stratification is a system in which groups of people are divided up into layers according to their relative privileges (power, property, and prestige). It’s a way of ranking large groups of people into a hierarchy according to their relative privileges (Vela-McConnell 2016). People, who deviate from the norm of the “accepted” gender and sexual orientation that society has placed upon us, are stratified below the norm of a dominating binary gender and sexual orientation. People who are queer face the struggle of mistreatment and an unaccepting society that has been socialized to see and act on gender and sexual orientation to being a dualistic system.