The Skyliner

Issue date: 11/29/06 Section: Opinion

I've heard many people say that it's hard to understand different languages, and I do agree. However, I have realized that sometimes it's even difficult to understand English. As a child and early teen, I would pick up almost every new slang word that came to ear. Then, as I got older, slang began to diminish from my vocabulary until now when I seldom use it. Don't get me wrong, it's fun to use slang at certain times like when hanging out with friends and family, but it shouldn't be used freely all of the time.

There have been instances where I was sitting in the doctor's office or some business office and heard a person talk to the employees in slang, which had many of them looking clueless to what the person was saying. Sometimes, there have even been instances where people were talking to me in slang, and I could barely comprehend what they were saying.

In our society today, communication is very important because we do everything through it, but if we do not use terminology that the average person understands, then how can we expect to communicate with one another. A lot of times slang causes misinterpretations and can cause people to perform task that were never intended to happen.

It sort of reminds me of the hillbillies from the television series, The Beverly Hillbillies, when someone would use terms that they did not understand, and they would begin to perform odd tasks. As funny as that may be, that's the way it is in society today.

I am not saying that we should never use slang; sometimes, it has an amazing affect on people, especially those of younger ages. However, overly using slang can become a habit that is extremely hard to break, just like sarcasm. Even though America is mostly an English speaking nation, with all of the different terms that keep changing in the English language, we may no longer know what some people are saying, and plain English just may no longer even exist.

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