Slang is often seen as a lesser form of language, one that is simply not
as meaningful or important as its 'regular' counterpart. Connie Eble
refutes this notion as she reveals the sources, poetry, symbolism, and
subtlety of informal slang expressions. In Slang and Sociability, Eble
explores the words and phrases that American college students use
casually among themselves. Based on more than 10,000 examples submitted
by Eble's students at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill
over the last twenty years, the book shows that slang is dynamic
vocabulary that cannot be dismissed as deviant or marginal. Like more
formal words and phrases, slang is created, modified, and transmitted by
its users to serve their own purposes. In the case of college students,
these purposes include cementing group identity and opposing authority.
The book includes a glossary of the more than 1,000 slang words and
phrases discussed in the text, as well as a list of the 40 most enduring
terms since 1972. Examples from the glossary: group gropes -- encounter
groups squirrel kisser -- environmentalist Goth -- student who dresses
in black and listens to avant-garde music bad bongos -- situation in
which things do not go well triangle -- person who is stupid or not up
on the latest za -- pizza smoke -- to perform well dead soldier -- empty
beer container toast -- in big trouble, the victim of misfortune
parental units -- parents