Entry #10: Slang

I love the movie Better Off Dead, I ended up watching it this weekend. Before you wonder where this is going, John Cusack’s father in the movie is constantly trying to talk to him by using then current slang. Slang can be seen as a way for tweens and teens to express themselves, often to the horror and confusion of their parents. Furthermore, with texting and other forms of instant messaging, slang and informal communication is the norm. This week I thought I would take a more lighthearted approach and look at how the media portrays slang and how parents try to keep up.

As stated before and in many of the course readings, tween marketing is a huge business. Keeping up-to-date with fashions, lifestyle and especially slang can help marketers relate to demographics. This is well noticed by the media and can be seen in tween television shows, books, commercials and even in music.

Throughout many of the current books I read for the Digital Resources assignment, and especially that of Twist Magazine, slang repeatedly used. Many realize this, and even Disney Family website also has an article on teen slang and when to worry (Poremba, n.d.). In fact many websites do provide parents and other adults with dictionaries for slang.

However, it is interesting how some of these websites portray slang. For example, the site tweenparent.com has two separate tabs under Tween Lingo: a Tween Dictionary and Instant Message Definitions. On the first page for tween dictionary, the words Abercrombie Girl is defined as “A girl who dresses in Abercrombie and Fitch clothing. Often associated with being very thin, rich, conformist, materialistic and shallow.” I found this to be a very stereotypical and somewhat inaccurate response. It assumes that all girls who shop at this store must embody certain characteristics, and some that are not necessarily flattering. Such opinionated responses make me wonder about the submission process of the site.

Resources

Poremba, S. M. (n.d.). Understanding teen slang: Understanding your kids’ slang to know what they are talking about. Retrieved from http://family.go.com/parenting/pkg-teen/article-774523-understanding-teen-slang-t/

TweenParent, LLC. (n.d.). Tween Lingo. Retrieved from http://www.tweenparent.com/lingo/index