Two conflicting things.

#1.  I taught Sr. English for approximately 10 years.  I graduated with distinction as an English major.  The point here is that I completely adore the English language (even though some of the rules are really, really dumb & prompt my frequent dictionary purchasing sprees).  The best thing about English is its fluid nature.  It really wasn’t THAT long ago when everybody was running around in their robes, speaking like they do in Macbeth & Hamlet.  If you’ve read Shakespeare lately, you’re probably thrilled about this fluidity of the English language….

#2.  I really adore the brains of teens.  (Teens, as you are probably aware, are the next leaders of the universe.  You’ve got to have a healthy dose of respect for THAT, if nothing else.)  Teens, by nature, like to flex the rules a bit.  It’s actually their primary job.  This goes for language stuff, too… and I must admit, I totally enjoy their crazy speech & text patterns.  One semester, I had a group of students who kept a running list of words and terms for me to absorb.  A fabulous education, I tell you! 

So.  To reconcile the two… and so as not to totally leave the learning curve loop (while out of the classroom), I have a great resource for all of you who find the new wave of lingo fascinating — but too cryptic to figure out sans assistance.  Head to www.urbandictionary.com…  If nothing else, you’ll laugh.  BUT you might learn some new and fabulous things to use in your next Email conversation.

This entry was posted on Friday, January 25th, 2008 at 9:11 am. You can leave a comment below.