A Photograph of me without me in it

A Photograph of me without me in it
A photograph of me without me in it

Friday, March 26, 2010

DAR 17: Watch your language.

DAR 17: One of the many fun aspects of teaching high school is that I get to see where cultural perceptions and the English language (and fashion) are going before most other folks my age. Way back before the turn of the century I worked in schools in Seattle's suburban neighborhoods. Some of my students gave me vocabulary quizzes on teen jargon just as I gave them vocab quizzes. That's where I learned that "rims" are "wheels" and other important vocab.

Now that I work in a poorer (and therfore, it seems, hipper) part of town, I keep learning. Today, for instance, I learned from a social studies teacher that when her students discussed what it means to "act black" one characteristic they noticed was smoking pot. When they discussed what it means to "act white" they discussed smoking crack. This would have been the opposite two years ago.

In my day (or "back in the day"), when we thought something was groovy we said, "cool." Several years ago I started hearing "filthy", especially when applied to sneakers (or "kicks"). Recently my sister tells me that my godson Sam is apparently the "dirtiest" point guard in New York state. That's a compliment, but I'm not sure if suburban New York is ahead of hip Northwes and filthy is yet to come or if hip NW is ahead and my godson will soon be "filthy."

Have a filthy day. Mary

1 comment:

  1. My daughter is a 15-year-old in public school in Greenville, NC. Apparently the new expression is "Your Sh&^**t go Hard". It seems that this is a positive comment.

    Christian, my daughter, has heard this comment several times in reference to her artwork ... which I must say is awesome.

    The expression was definitely a new one on me, but I'm trying my best to keep up. I told her, it didn't sound positive, more so painful. Apparently I am wrong.

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