One of the greatest challenges is Americans’ seemingly fathomless propensity to set aside formal speech in favor of casual conversation. “Slang” is not unique to Americans, but we seem to elevate the art form constantly to new and confounding levels.
(Doubters: Google the lyrics to pretty much any rap hit of the last 20 years and try to produce a dictionariable definition of every word found there)
Following is a Top Ten list of common slang words and phrases that help mold the distinctive flavor of the English language ... while confusing, amusing and befuddling us on a regular basis:
Top Ten – A catchy way of listing “bests” or “worsts” in myriad categories. Popularized when sportswriters started rating college football teams in the 1950s and 60s, Americans now rate almost anything from one to ten (or in the case of a particularly odious late-night TV host, from ten to one).
OK – The ultimate Americanism, nearly two centuries old, derived from some variant of the German “oll korrect” or from the papers of President Martin Van Buren, who often approved documents with the first letters of his nickname, “Old Kinderhook.” The G.I. Joes who liberated Europe in WWII found kids at every stop who, though they spoke not another word of useful English, had mastered the phrase “OK, Joe!”
Fast food – Not a reference to horse meat or the flesh of rapidly flying birds, but to a wide variety of hamburgers, chicken nuggets and tacos that can be quickly ordered and purchased at chain restaurants. Some will argue that the word “fast” has long since become irrelevant with the evolution of longer lines and ever-slower service as the popularity of fast-food joints has grown over the last 50 years. Others will dicker over whether the sometimes bland or nasty fast-food offerings actually can be considered “food.”
Drive – One of those English words that’s not so much idiomatic as it is rich in variant meaning. To drive is to travel in control of a car – to go for a drive – or to strike a golf ball off the tee. Ambitious individuals have drive, but their driven nature will often drive you crazy. You can drive a mule team, or your team of employees; a baseball player hits a line drive, while a good businessman drives a hard bargain. A bicycle (and various machinery) is propelled by a chain drive. And, a drive can be a political, fund-raising or military campaign.
Fly – Similar to drive, in many ways, the slangish uses of the word “fly” are legion: Obviously, a bird flies ... but so does time. A flag flies, and a door is said to fly open. A man’s fly is the zipper on the front of his pants – and the black insect that flies into the man’s gaping mouth when he realizes his “fly is down.” To fly is to travel rapidly by pretty much any mode of transport. Scenery or actors suspended above a stage are “flown” and the aforementioned baseball player flies out when he doesn’t drive the ball hard enough to make a hit. We fly blind, pick up projects on the fly, fly in the face of authority and into the teeth of the wind; sometimes we fly off the handle and tell a friend to “go fly a kite” (the friend, in turn, lets fly with a barrage of angry words).
Next: Slang-bashing (Part 2)
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