The Power of Language

I would have to say that I do use different dialects of English, but this mainly depends on whom I am around at that period of time. Even though I do not think of “ Slang” as another language, most of the time it feels as if it is my second language. “ Slang” is just like any other language you have to speak, write, and understand “Slang” in order to get the correct meaning that you want. Don’t get me wrong, when I am around people of higher authority my way of dialect turns completely around.

I remember one day when I was sitting in my friend’s dorm room, and as we were all talking, Vanessa walked in the room. My first statement towards her was “ Wutz up shawty,” but in a joking manner of course. Everyone else in the room began to laugh at how puzzled she appeared. Even though the others may have understood what I said, she stood there with a blank face for nearly two minutes. Then I immediately had to explain to her that, “ Wutz up shawty” is slang for “ How are you doing?” And the word “Shawty” is mainly directed towards females. Because Vanessa was not raised around people who spoke “ Slang,” she could not grasp the understanding of my phrases that I would throw at her. To sum up, the key to this dialect is to know when and when not to use it.

Most people I talk to especially over text message or even on “AIM” type in short hand and does not require you to write whole words out. For example, “ Would you like to go to the movies”, in short hand you would simply say “ Wud u lke 2 go 2 da movies”. In the means of text messages short hand is the easiest and fastest way to get your point across. Some people have to write the whole word out, and include every single punctuation mark. But once again you have to remember that everyone does not understand short hand.

Don’t get me wrong, when it is the time and place I do speak “ Proper” and “Correct” English. One time I went to the eyeglass doctor and he asked me if I had a family member in the military, because every question he asked me, I would respond with a yes or no sir. He also told me that he was extremely proud to hear me speak “Proper” English to someone in authority. I glanced at my sister and she looked at him with that face of “If you only knew”. This just goes to show that the power of language is really strong. Even if you are not bilingual, knowing one language and the entire do’s and don’ts about the language is challenging enough.