New slang comes from technology

NEW SLANG terms have been creeping into our language for years and the trend has only been accelerated by the invention of the text message. Now a new study posits that technology could be driving and perpetuating the adoption of new slang terms.

Lexicographer, Jonathon Green specialises in slang and has been working closely with the telecommunications arm of the Post Office in order to come up with some answers.

Certain slang terms such as "404" have entered the English language. This particular number is of course the error message given when a web browser cannot find a webpage, and the term has now come to mean 'clueless'.

Other technology related terms that have become popular include 'Code 18', which refers to someone who cannot use technology; the term stems from the distance between a person and their computer screen.

Another is 'CGI Joe', a takeoff on the term 'GI Joe' that means 'a bit of a geek'. It comes from the reputation of CGI script programmers for being way nerdy.

The study suggests that these terms are emerging and, although not widely used now, will be soon enough.

"What we're seeing is the influence of technology coupled with current events and, inevitably of the young, who in many cases drive language," says Mr Green.

New language emerges from the world of mobile phones as abbreviations are perfectly suited to those little screens, he said.

Not only is technology driving the takeup of new terms, it is also influencing their creation. As mobile phones seem to be the driving force for this new lexicon, it is not surprising that this technology's predictive text is throwing out new uses for words.

An example of this are simple, predictive text algorithms that come up with the word 'book' before they come up with the word 'cool', so instead of simply changing the word, 'book' has now come to mean 'cool'.

But there is more new technology, such as the Oyster card system, that is also bringing out new terms, such as 'Code 35' which has come to mean broke. This comes from the fact that when the card has run out of money, it shows the number 35.

The Oyster card also brings us 'Code 11', which appears if you use an out-of-date card. This term has now come to mean 'behind the times'.

Yet although this all seems very hip and certainly not Code 11, a study by psychologist Nenagh Kemp at the University of Tasmania shows that this language benefits the sender far more than the recipient.

Among a group of 55 students asked to send and read out text messages either in standard English or its vowel-impoverished cousin 'textese', nearly half the students took twice as long to read messages aloud in comparison to standard English versions.

Contrary to the idea that shortenings and deliberate misspellings are dulling our language skills, Dr Kemp argues that expertise with phonetics and grammar is directly tied to the ability to decipher messages in textese.

Although some may argue that this is just another manifestation of the laziness of the yoof of today, Green argues that it is the natural progression of our language, "It's just another form of the Queen's English - not better, not worse," he says.

Just in case you're still Code 404 we thought we'd put together a little table to help you out. µ

L'Inqs
UK Post Office (PDF)
University of Tasmania