<h1>Mastering the Finer Points of American Slang
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<h3 class="byline">By <a href="http://online.wsj.com/search/term.html?KEYWORDS=ALINA+DIZIK&bylinesearch=true">ALINA DIZIK</a>
</h3>
<div class="insetContent embedType-image imageFormat-G"><div class="insetTree"><div class="insettipUnit"><img src="http://si.wsj.net/public/resources/images/PJ-BH518_SLANG_G_20120529180425.jpg" alt="[SLANG]" border="0" height="369" hspace="0" vspace="0" width="553">
<cite>Jessica Scranton for The Wall Street Journal</cite>
<p class="targetCaption">Entrepreneur Gaurav Dhy, in
Wellesley, Mass., has found informal small talk to be an important part
of doing business in the U.S.</p>
</div></div></div><p>
Gaurav Dhy studied English when growing up in India, but
soon after moving to Boston five years ago, he realized he had a lot to
learn about the way Americans talk. Some phrases that left him
wondering included "I'm all set" and "I'm peachy."</p>
<p>Most meetings "start with chitchat," says the 39-year-old co-founder
of LearnFunGo, a discount software-learning website, who moved to Boston
five years ago. "And you're like 'Hmm, I don't get it.' You're left
out." </p>
<p>While learning American idioms has always been challenging, texting,
email and social networks have generated a tidal wave of new slang and
abbreviations in English. It is difficult enough to decode "OMG" (Oh my
God) "BFF" (best friends forever) and "GTG" (got to go), let alone
understand why it's funny to call something a "fail" (but not a
"failure"). </p>
<p>"Nowadays, peppering our speech with nonstandard English is being a
regular Joe," says Jason Riggle, assistant professor of sociology at the
University of Chicago. </p>
<p>Getting comfortable with slang is essential for building
relationships and communicating at work. For a manager, relying on
formal English can create distance. "Without [knowing] idioms, they look
at you and say, 'Oh my God, who is this woman?' " says Vladimira
Gueren, 51, a former chief financial officer in Palm Coast, Fla., who
moved from the Czech Republic almost four years ago.</p>
<p>Textbooks aren't much use for managers trying to keep up with viral
expressions emerging in music and videos, says Amy Gillett, author of
English slang and idiom vocabulary books including "Speak Business
English Like an American." Many professionals don't realize they need
help until they arrive here, says Ms. Gillett, who also is a director of
executive education at the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor.</p>
<p>Another hurdle: choosing which words and phrases are appropriate for
the speaker and the situation. In her books, Ms. Gillett presents terms
like "slack off" and "stressed out." But she says she doesn't want to
teach idioms that are too cutting-edge, such as using "sick" to mean
"cool" or "epic" to mean "awesome." </p>
<p>Over the past 10 years, instructors at Berlitz Language Schools have
been asked to put more emphasis on the context in which particular terms
are used, says Shawn Scott, North America's director of instruction at
Berlitz International, which runs schools around the world. "With slang
and idioms, [learners] can read it but don't understand the meaning,"
says Mr. Scott.</p>
<p>At Kennesaw State University in Georgia, the Intensive English
Program doesn't teach a slang expression until it is in use for more
than one generation, says David Johnson, a professor of English and
director of the program. "We teach things like 'home run', which has
staying power," he says.</p>
<p>At times, the slang terms promulgated in classrooms can be outdated. A
recent Berlitz English as a Second Language class in Chicago taught
students the meanings of "skedaddle," which dates back to the Civil War,
and "Valley girl," from the 1980s. </p>
<p>One way to learn the latest in conversational English: Rana Al
Ruhaily, 29, a doctor who moved to Chicago from Saudi Arabia last year,
says she and her husband consider the show "Family Guy" to be required
TV viewing, to help them fill in gaps.</p>
<p>
John Hayden started English, Baby!, a website based in
Portland, Ore., to help nonnative speakers keep up with slang. The
10-person staff scours celebrity interviews to add to its list of
commonly spoken phrases. Posts about "never say never" (from a Justin
Bieber song) and "slack off" have been some of the most popular, Mr.
Hayden says. </p>
<p>One trouble spot he sees: "families" of slang words used in many
different ways. "You can have a crush that you're crushing on, but you
can't crush your crush," Mr. Hayden says. "See how that could get
confusing?"</p>
<p>Even people who live overseas are eager to pick up American idioms.
Jessica Beinecke reaches an audience of 8.5 million Chinese each week as
host of OMG! Meiyu, a Voice of America Web show that Ms. Beinecke, 25,
hosts in Mandarin. Recent expressions include "eye gunk" and "wandering
eyes." But students often find it hard to understand which phrases are
age-appropriate, she says. "I'm worried that [I'm] creating this
audience in China who is going to speak like a 25-year-old blonde
woman," says Ms. Beinecke.</p>
<p>
Jennifer Powell-Lunder, a clinical psychologist and
author of "Teenage as Second Language: A Parent's Guide to Becoming
Bilingual," says midcareer professionals must be especially vigilant
about recognizing when they sound like teen wannabes. "Adults will start
speaking this kind of language without really grasping the source," she
says. For example, she says, adults who use the word "phat" will be
heard as saying "overweight," rather than cool.</p>
<p>
Jie Teng, a 28-year-old business-school student from
Hunan Province, China, is reluctant to use slang, because it's so easy
to mess up. She has sworn off "hook up," which she recently used to mean
"preoccupied," not realizing that it has other meanings. "I used it the
wrong way and it was kind of embarrassing," she says.</p>
<h6>Five Terms to Love and Five to Use With Caution—Literally, Dude</h6><p>Here
is some of the slang terms that students of English most want to learn
and some of the words that are the most difficult—or risky—to use. </p>
<h6>
<strong>The Most Popular Slang </strong>
</h6><p>
<strong>Dude</strong>—This term—as in "Hey, dude!" and
"Dude, what's up?"—has had an unusually long shelf life for slang.
"Nonnative speakers are sometimes curious if there is a female version
of 'dude,'" says Amy Gillett, author of "Speak Business English Like an
American." "But these versions—'dudette' and "dudess'—never caught on." </p>
<p>
<strong>Chilling</strong>—Hanging out, doing nothing.
"Nonnative speakers who strive to sound cool will learn quickly to drop
the "g" on the end," says Ms. Gillett. </p>
<p>
<strong>Psyched</strong>—"It's easy to use—you can
basically drop it in anywhere you would normally use 'excited,' says
John Hayden, cofounder of a website called English, Baby! </p>
<p>
<strong>Man up</strong>—To "be strong, do what is
expected of you." "This one is popular because it's current—you hear
celebrities use it often," says Mr. Hayden. </p>
<p>
<strong>Big deal</strong>—To native speakers, this
phrase may not even sound like slang, but Mr. Hayden calls it "gateway
slang": "You can learn it and use it easily without much risk of
misuse." </p>
<h6>
<strong>The Trickiest Slang</strong>
</h6><p>
<strong>What's Up?/Wassup?</strong>—In its shortest form
('sup?), it can be hard to understand. It's also hard to answer, says
Ms. Gillett. Students "need to learn the acceptable replies—not much,
nothing much—instead of replying, 'Fine,' 'Good' or 'OK.'" </p>
<p>
<strong>Shut up!</strong>—This phrase can be rude. But
"with a smile and rising intonation, it could mean 'I don't believe you'
or 'Really? Tell me more,' " says Ms. Gillett. Or if you stress the
'shut' and stretch it out, it could mean, 'No way!' or 'That's hard to
believe!'" </p>
<p>
<strong>Freak out, freak</strong>—You can freak, freak
someone out or have a freak-out, but you can't have a freak. "The
flexibility of this term makes it hard to know where its limits are,"
says Mr. Hayden. </p>
<p>
<strong>Hook up</strong>—This term shouldn't be used in
any kind of romantic overture, as it can refer to many kinds of
activities, including kissing and sex. "Nonnative speakers are always
heartened to learn that native speakers don't really know what it means
either," says. Ms. Gillett. </p>
<p>
<strong>Literally</strong>—While this can mean
truthfully or without exaggeration, English students learn it can be
used to exaggerate. Example: "We have literally been waiting for a table
at this restaurant for a million years," says Mr. Hayden.</p>
<p>
<strong>Write to </strong> Alina Dizik at <a class="" href="mailto:alina.dizik@dowjones.com">alina.dizik@dowjones.com</a></p><p><br></p><p><a class="" href="mailto:alina.dizik@dowjones.com">http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052702303610504577418660113838998.html?msource=MAG10<br>
</a>
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