Max Davidson opines on Emma Thompson’s comments regarding the use of slang among the young.
I have to say, I spent much of the time reading his article nodding in agreement. Slang – good slang, juicy, rich, roll-off-the-tongue slang, filled with dark humour deftly stirred with ribald insult, is the grenade launcher in the verbal arsenal. Generally, Thompson’s complaint holds up – the use of “like” as a filler is tedious and lazy, whereas the usual filler sounds we make such as “um” and “er” are invisible to us as we filter them out and they cause no confusion in the listener. However, I suspect that Davidson is correct in his assessment that she is likely being over pedantic.
What I did like about Davidson’s article though was the inclusion of the Australian slang he picked up from his partner. This, for instance:
I came across the word “fizgig”, which you won’t hear in London or Birmingham but which in Sydney or Melbourne denotes a police informer. Brilliant.
Fizgig – it effervesces, aches to be used in a sentence, desperate for wider exposure. What a lovely word. I just can’t wait to use it…
“Volcabulary” is a new one to me, I must admit.
Whoops! No spell checker in the titles… Ahem!
Never heard “fizgig” in several years here. Possibly I just don’t people who would use it, possibly it’s just lost in all the dinkums and hooroos and bloody oaths. Mostly Aussie slang just involves excision of as much of the word or phrase as possible, often ditching almost whole words apart from the first syllable, and then sticking an ‘o’ or a ‘y’ on the end, but they come out with some gems from time to time. Nowhere else in the Anglosphere could possibly have come up with ‘flat out like a lizard drinking’ or ‘mad as a cut snake’ and whoever first referred to their microwave as “the tucker fucker” deserves to be Australian of the Year.
Sorry. There’s a link there that I didn’t request, at least not on purpose, and don’t know how to get rid of. I was commenting as an expat Brit in Melbourne rather than someone trying to namedrop their own blog and I won’t be offended if you delete it.
That’s comment luv. It’s designed to create backlinks for commenters. When someone comments anyone reading – including me – have the opportunity to visit.
Who you calling ‘luv’? 🙂 I wondered if that was something to do with it since I saw it and unchecked it the second time and no link appeared. Might have a look at it myself.
When I saw the Telegraph with a huge picture of Emma Thompson above an article repeating her complaints about slang, I wondered how the hell this could possibly be considered news.