While it’s the class I’m doing poorest in, History of the English Language is also the class I think I enjoy the most. The professor is great, the material interesting. I just wish 40% of the first test (30% of the grade, that test) hadn’t been phonetic word translation. Anyway …
… I love the homework we get for this class. The homework we got on Thursday was on slang. Namely, what words do we use in the following catagories? We’ll compare the answers and talk about regional slang today in class.
Drunkeness
Wasted. Pissed.
Drugs/High on Drugs
Pot. Mary Jane. Pot head. Toker. Silent Bob*.
Cool Person
Asshat. Fuckwad. Shitbag.
Uncool Person
Asshat. Fuckwad. Shitbag.
Wonderful
Wicked! Sweet.
Terrible
Sucky.
Attractive
Smokin’. Hot. Sweeeeeeet.
Unattractive
Ugly.
Police
Cop(s).
Dying/Death
Goner.
Actually, I struggled with some of these. Like, seriously, my slang for police is “cop.” Is that even slang? And I don’t really use “wicked.”
*Silent Bob my coworker, not the Kevin Smith character. Silent Bob my coworker has smoked so much marijuana he will be high for the rest of his life.
Here are mine:
Drunkeness
Wasted. Blacked Out (Oh that is what I do.oops)
Drugs/High on Drugs
Weed, Ex, Coke, Crack, Smack
/Flying, tripping, toking.
Cool Person
Snay – that is what I am going to call cool people from now on – I’m a own dat shit
Uncool Person
DouchNozzle
Wonderful
Tits!!!
Terrible
ShitFuckCuntRag
Attractive
Niiiiice.
Unattractive
Fug
Police
5-0, Blue
Dying/Death
Wasted
Comment by ADW — May 8, 2007 @ 8:16 am
not slang, but obviously cops are the POE-leese.
Comment by johnny dollar — May 8, 2007 @ 9:00 am
I’m old enough the slang has gone around and come back again.
Comment by sue — May 8, 2007 @ 9:52 am
There are so many slang words for drunkenness: smashed, trashed, sloshed, hammered, plastered, sh*tfaced, f*cked-up (also works for high), bent, bombed, pissed…
Hmmm…what’s that say about the history of the English language and our culture?
Comment by danielle — May 8, 2007 @ 10:03 am
Wow… now I see what a nerd I really am.
Comment by Marilyn — May 8, 2007 @ 10:11 am
A perpetual high… now that’s sweeeeet!
Comment by mac — May 8, 2007 @ 10:42 am
Unattractive = FUGLY
Police = PoPo
Wonderful = Fan-fricking-tastic
I am not cool, and when I do use slang it totally sound uncool!
Comment by Jenny — May 8, 2007 @ 10:47 am
Actually cop is a slang word for copper, which is what police badges use to be made of. We have used the word so much, it is considered every day language.
The only slang I can think of for police, which is derogatory, is “pig”. Death/Dying I think “kick the bucket”.
Isn’t Cool person kind of slang in and of itself? That person is cool!
Sounds like a fun and difficult class.
Comment by Lynda — May 8, 2007 @ 11:29 am
Drunkeness: lit up, to’ up, sh*t faced
Police: po-po, 5-0, the fuzz, pigs
Unattractive: busted
Comment by S* — May 8, 2007 @ 12:31 pm
Drunkeness
Pissed.
Drugs/High on Drugs
Wasted. Nodding. In a nod.
Cool Person
Hoopy Frood? No, I’m kidding. I just say “cool”.
Uncool Person
Lamer.
Wonderful
Cool. Fantastic. Brilliant.
Terrible
Fantastic. Only sarcastically.
Attractive
No’ bad.
Unattractive
No’ greet, either.
Police
… cops.
Dying/Death
Hanging with Uncle Dirtnap. Sleeping The Big Sleep. Said The Long Goodbye. too much film noir.
Comment by DataAngel — May 8, 2007 @ 12:46 pm
Yea, “cop” is slang. So is “pig.” Not that you’d ever call a police officer a pig.
An attractive woman can be a “Betty.”
Comment by Jocelyn — May 8, 2007 @ 2:58 pm
Can I play? This covers my close friends and I.
Drunkeness
Mildly drunk = “Nice” or “Good”.
Very drunk = Just drunk.
Too drunk = Gone.
Drugs/High on Drugs
Mari-ju-wana. Weed. / “Doing the Heroin Lean”
Cool Person
Cool.
Uncool Person
Fucktard. Dumbass.
Wonderful
Sweet. Awesome. Bangin’.
Terrible
Shitty.
Attractive
Tender vittles (usually if he’s too young). Hot. Aesthetically pleasing (because we’re geeks). Bangin’.
Unattractive
Fugly.
Police
Po Po’s. Copper. Cop.
Dying/Death
Done. Toast.
What about geeetings? I’ve got one friend who’s more into (Southern) hip hop culture than the rest of us, so for a while now it’s been “What it do?” or “What’s good?” whenever we talk to him. I swear I’ve been saying “What’s up” for a good 10 years.
Comment by Golden Lady — May 8, 2007 @ 4:23 pm
Asshat only sounds good with an American accent. Arsehat doesn’t quite cut it, does it.
Comment by ChickyBabe — May 9, 2007 @ 3:21 am
This sounds like a fun class.
Dying/Death
Buy the farm
Toes up
Tits up
Six feet under
The long sleep
Comment by Nessa — May 9, 2007 @ 6:16 am
The thing I’ve discovered as a transplant is that “POH-leece” appears to be singular. “Pleece” is the plural. Much like the difference between “Y’all” and “All Y’all”.
For a couple of years I worked at a school in a not-so-great neighborhood and at first the locals thought I was an undercover cop, so they called me “Five-O” for awhile as I drove by. When they figured out that I worked in the area, they’d call out the name of the school when they saw me.
Comment by Claude Call — May 9, 2007 @ 3:36 pm