II Международный конкурс научно-исследовательских и творческих работ учащихся
Старт в науке
АНГЛИЙСКИЙ СЛЭНГ КАК ОТРАЖЕНИЕ КУЛЬТУРЫ
Автор работы награжден дипломом победителя II степени
Полная версия работы доступна во вкладке "Файлы работы" в формате PDF
Introduction
English became more than just a school subject. It is my dream, my life, my hobby and my future work. In my opinion it is not simple at all though like any language. The fact is we speak not only about grammar and vocabulary, we also speak of culture and its influence on the language. I like watching films in English. And once watching a film it came up to me that we, Russians, studying English pay attention to its grammar and things like that but we do not pay due attention to the modern English cultural specialties. The way people speak tells a lot to those who want to listen. I suppose slang, being a part of any language, can tell us a lot about realities of life, nation’s character, culture and more. So the goal of my study is to get into the world of English slang and find out what is going on there nowadays. The object of the present study is to analyze the development of the English language. The subject is to study the English slang in its forms.
To reach the goal I have to sort out the following tasks:
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to consider the place of the slang in the modern English language;
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to study modern slang idioms;
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to find out about the idiomatic expressions;
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to describe the gesture idiom;
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to enlighten the letter idiom.
The study is made up of introduction, five parts and conclusion. In the introduction I give the explanation why I have made up my mind to study English idioms, I also state the goal, the subject and the object of the study. The five parts provide a notion of modern English idioms. And my conclusion is to sum up the results of the present paper.
Idioms of the English language.
The present paper deals with the role of English idioms and their use in the modern English language.
As I am a teenager I want to pay special attention to the slang idioms and phrases.
I guess slang is definitely underestimated by authors of modern textbooks. These means that nowadays elaborations fail to catch up with the fast moving modern English language. So lets try to shed the light to the part of English language least explored by Russians.
There is a piece of history related to the slang. In 30's and 40's of the previous century there was a well-set export of words and idioms from America to Europeian countries. In 60's the export started to work both ways. Every single word used by actor or singer was quickly picked up and spread all over the country in a very fast way.
So, I reckon idiomatic expressions are a good way to bring notion of some country’s culture in certain historical period out.
2. Modern English idioms
For example, there are lots of idioms which are used for a little time. They spread even faster than usual but they fall into desuetude within a year or two. I spoke to my English pen-friend and he told me about two idioms, which were in use several years ago during his university studies.
One of them is: bare. In usual English it is of quite practical use. This word can be a synonym for such list of words like: naked, poor, bald and even indefensible. You can see that the difference in their meanings is very big. Moreover, as a slang word it was (and probably still is) used to say “lots; very”. For example “Mate, I was bare tired after my exams”. So from my point of view it is a nice word to use though you should be ready to face misunderstanding.
The second word that also has been popular some years ago is “wasteman”. It is not so difficult to guess the meaning of it. It consists of the words “waste” which means rubbish, not useful anymore, and “man” which can mean either a male person or both genders, a “human being”. So this word was used to say that a person is a loser or just a hopeless human, having no interests and just wasting one's lifetime. Nowadays this word is not used as often as it used to be. Anyway from now on if I hear this contrived word I will definitely understand what a person is speaking about.
Example:
1. -Why don't you get along with Kevin?
-That's obvious. He is a wasteman, I'm not interested in him.
2. Don't be a wasteman! Study hard!
Besides those two expressions he also told me lots of remarkable slang expressions which are widely known all over the world in present time. I would like to pay special attention to them as they may be extremely useful not only for me but for everyone who is going to be relevant to their demesne.
First of all, an extremely popular word is "cheers'. It is used massively: in films, TV-series, TV-shows, by mass media and also just in streets. Looking up in the dictionary we find the meaning “applause”. But the slang meaning is simply “thanks”. It may also be used to ask a person to keep his or her chin up or to say a toast at a party. In our everyday routine we say “thank you” hundreds times a day. That means that there is a necessity among teenagers to be different, not to be dull and boring, to express gratitude and not to be rude.
Example:
1. -Hey, guys, I've brought the cake!
-That's awesome! Cheers!
2. Happy New Year! Cheers!
I don't remember any Russian equivalents of it and I failed in finding them. Furthermore when I asked people if they know what “cheers” means most of them did not know. The results of my survey are shown in a graph which clearly exhibits the difference between those who are aware of the meaning and who are not:
Next word I would like to speak about is in a wide use beyond any reasonable doubt. “Skint” is used to say that one is completely out of money now (bare no money). As money unfortunately take a great part in our everyday lives, the word will definitely be irreplaceable in everybody’s vocabulary.
Example:
1. -Mate,could you land me some money?
-Sorry, I got bare no money. I'm skint.
As a rule, people use some word formations to make their usual informal sentences shorter and more precise. The word “ting” could be one of the greatest examples. I guess everyone would agree that there are some words which are used very often and gave a variety of definitions. The word “ting” stands for the English word “thing” which itself makes the English language so English. So “ting” is used instead of saying “thing, event”. But there also is an official meaning of it “ring, jingle”. For example, you may hear in a street: “Hey, did you see this ting?”; “I want to tell you about an amazing ting!”.
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Gesture idiom
Speaking of the most popular idioms would be ridiculous not to speak about an idiom taking number one spot during the last 15 years. Probably, we say this simple word without even noticing it, that’s how native it became in almost every language in the world. Of course, I'm speaking about "OK'. It is used by everybody and everywhere. It became common and familiar for all variety of nations and races. But does anybody know the history of this word and its first meaning? I assume none. The meaning is “I'm fine, everything is good”. Sometimes it is also used instead of “You are welcome”. OK is always associated with some gestures. The first gesture that we recognize since our childhood is a raised thumb. But at present there exists an alternative gesture: number one finger is put together with a thumb and the other three fingers are raised. It reminds the letters O and K at the same time. The second gesture appeared in Germany and effused all over the world. This idiomatic union is highly popular, though people try to avoid it in formal conversations.
My study has proved that a majority of people around me use this word pretty often. The results of my study are shown in a graph.
4. Idiomatic expressions
Speaking about the most popular among youth expressions I would like to say that expression “to keep calm” turned out to be very popular among teens and all the net surfers. So I felt curios about the real meaning of it. The dictionary says that “to keep calm” is not to lose temper. I guess it is clear to everybody. In my point of view this expression clearly exhibits the mentality of Englishmen, since it is a well known fact Englishmen are restricted, rather say nothing than say a lot. Staying calm in order to cope with difficulties sounds very English.
Idiomatic expression that sounds very English to me is “Bob’s your uncle” (and fanny’s your aunt).This expression means that something will be successful. It is the equivalent of “and there you go” or as the French say ‘et voilà!’ Adding the “and fanny’s your aunt” makes you sound even more British.
Example: “You go down the road, take the first left and Bob’s your uncle - there it is on the corner!”
Guided by my curiosity I wondered if anybody could guess the meaning of this expression. The options which were given:
a) oh, damn; exactly!
b) used to say that something is related to something else
c) and there you go.
A bar graph below shows how Russian teenagers understand this expression.
As you see not many people could even guess the right meaning. I asked people who have been studying English for a rather long period of time and wanted to work abroad. This means that Russians do not pay much attention to little special things in the English cultural, which definitely is not a proper way to study language.
5. Letter idioms
One more amusing example is 'G'. Yes, just a simple letter. It is more commonly used among teens and young adults. “G” stands for “ganster” or “friend, mate”. My pen-friend told me that it is a very funny formation. Since I am a teenager I should be ready to understand this strange, but popular expression. Example:
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G, cheers for your letter
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G, you are awesome!
One more slang word which I really liked and that was also given by my friend is used to express strong emotions of excitement, delight and pleasure. I reckon it will definitely be useful - chuffed. Dictionaries suggest it stands for “puffing”. This is how English people see happiness: puffing from delight. I don't think there's any Russian equivalent of it, so I found it absolutely amazing and very fascinating.
My study has only confirmed my statement that the English culture is very specific and diverse, and one should never stop studying it.
Conclusion
To end up I would like to say that I enjoyed my little study. I've learned lots of new expressions, which is going to be helpful in developing my English skills and in understanding the specifics of the language, which is changing really fast.
Idioms definitely are a special part of any language. They are sometimes easy to understand and in this case people become closer to each other. But sometimes there are not equivalents in native language. One has to be careful then, and check meaning by a dictionary. But it only pushes the person forward on his way of learning. Slang makes people closer to their own culture and to each other. A wise person once said: “We are as alike, as we are different”.
Slang idioms are an essential part of peoples' everyday lives, moreover they are an essential part of their history.
Bibliography
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Голденков М. Осторожно, Hot Dog! Современный активный English- ЧеРо, 2001, с. 272
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Оруэлл Дж. 1984 и эссе разных лет/ Англичане. М: Прогресс, 1989, с. 314
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http://matadornetwork.com/abroad/11-idioms-brits-understand/
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