Lecture 12b:
Language, Thought & Culture –
Style, Slang, Jargon, Taboo Words,
Gendered Language
Styles, Slang & Jargon
• Styles or Registers: varieties of language that
are specific to a particular situation
• Formal or informal
– Are you going to take Linguistics 20?
– Gonna take Ling 20?
• We all have control over different styles
• Other languages have more elaborate codes
of style usage
– Thai: dæk, kin, thaan, raprathan, chan
Styles or Registers
• Can you think of other examples of how you
might say the same thing in two different
ways, depending on the situation (i.e., when,
where, to whom) in which you were speaking?
Styles, Slang & Jargon
• Slang: informal, nonstandard vocabulary, usually intelligible only to
people from a particular region or social group.
• Function: to mark social identity
• Subject to rapid change
– Old words, new combos: Spaced out, right on, hangup, rip-off
– New words: Barf, flub, pooped
– Shortened forms: dis, narc, fan
– Old words, new meanings: grass, pot, pig, rap, stoned, slit
• Slang can become standard
– tv
– Fan
– Phone
– mob
– Etc.
Slang
• Can you think of examples of slang that you’ve
heard recently that you didn’t understand?
• Can you think of examples of slang that may
be different in other parts of the country or in
other social groups?
Styles, Slang & Jargon
• Jargon or Argot: a set of words unique to a particular
science, profession, trade or occupation
• Linguistic Jargon:
– phoneme, morpheme, case, lexicon, phrase structure rule,
etc.
• Computer Jargon:
– Modem (modulator + demodulator)
– Bit (binary + digit)
– ROM (Read-only memory
– TAM (Random-access memory)
– Morf (male or female)
Jargon or Argot
• What is some of the jargon of your major field
of study?
• Can you think of jargon related to other
aspects of your life, i.e., you job, your hobby,
etc.?
Denotations & Connotations
• Denotation: that which a word refers to.
• Connotation: the affect that use of the word
‘conjures up’
– Terrorist vs. Freedom fighter
– Aggressive vs. Pushy
– Closemouthed vs. Secretive
– Ballsy women’s libber vs. Courageous women’s advocate
Taboo Words
• Sex is a four letter word.
• Certain words are taboo – they are not to be
used, or at least, not in ‘polite company.’
• In English, words borrowed from Latin sound
‘scientific’ and therefore appear to be technical
ad ‘clean,’ where as native Anglo-Saxon
counterparts are taboo.
• A reflection of the opinion that vocabulary used
by the upper classes is superior to that used by
the lower classes.
– Norman Conquest of 1066
‘Taboo’ vs. ‘Clean’ Words
• Anglo-Saxon taboo words:
– Shit
– Tits
– Prick
– Cock
– Cunt
– Fuck
– Balls
– Etc.
• Latinate acceptable words:
– Feces
– Breasts
– Penis
– Penis
– Vagina
– Intercourse
– Testicles
– Etc.
Racial, National, Religious, Gender,
Sexual Orientation Epithets
• The use of epithets for people of different
religions, nationalities, race, gender or sexual
orientation tells us something about the users of
these words.
– E.g., boy, slant, bitch, fag, Buddha-head, to gyp
• The use of epithets perpetuates stereotypes,
separates people from one another and reflects
racism, sexism, homophobia.
– Have you ever had any experience with epithets? If
so, what was the reaction?
Euphemisms
• A word or phrase that replaces a taboo word or
serves to avoid frightening or unpleasant
subjects:
‘unpleasant’ word
euphemism
die
pass (on/away)
mortician
funeral director
urinate / defecate
go to the powder
room
Conclusions
• The discussion of taboo words and
euphemisms shows that words of a language
are not intrinsically good or bad, but reflect
individual or societal values.
Language and Gender
• 1970s Riddle
• Reflection of stereotyped gender roles
– ‘My cousin the doctor / professor / engineer / airline
pilot’ vs.
– ‘My cousin the nurse / elementary teacher /
secretary / typist’
– ‘My neighbor is blonde.’
– ‘Pioneers and Their Wives’
Language and Gender –
Pejorative Terms
• How many words can you think of for
men?
• How many for women?
–Among those the book identifies are:
Dish, tomato, piece, chick, piece of tail,
bunny, bitch, doll, slut, cow, etc.
• Why are there so many more for
women?
Language and Gender –
Marked and Unmarked Forms
• One striking fact about the asymmetry between male and
female terms in many languages is that when there are
male/female pairs, the male form is unmarked and the
female term is created by adding a suffix to it:
– Prince / princess
– Count / countess
– Actor / actress
– Host / hostess
– Hero / heroine
– Etc.
• Is this true in the languages you know?
Language and Gender –
Generic ‘He’
• The unmarked, or male terms used to serve as general
terms:
– ‘All men are created equal’
– ‘The brotherhood of man’
– ‘Everyone must pick up for himself.’
• In the past generation, this area of language has changed
quite a bit:
– Mankind > people, manpower > personnel, mothering >
nurturing, to man > to operate, mailman > postal worker, fireman
> firefighter, etc.
– ‘Everyone must pick up for themselves.’
• Is this happening in other languages that you know?
Language and Gender - Dialects
• In many languages, there are separate forms that
are distinctive of male or female use:
– Thai
– Japanese
– Other languages you know?
• In English
– Lovely, cute, darling, adorable, marvelous, etc.
– Can you think of other ‘gender marked’ features of
English?
How we are socialized into gender
roles since early on – and it’s effect
on the language we use.
Deborah Tannen
Department of Linguistics
Georgetown University
Conclusions
• Linguistic (dialect) differences do not represent deficits or
deficiencies in our thinking.
• To command a wide range of language varieties allows us
to function in a wide variety of setting with a range of
other participants.
• At the same time, our use of language is the single most
powerful indicator of who we are:
– Our regional origins
– Our social class
– Our educational level
– Our values and beliefs
– The clarity of our own thinking