American Indian Student Slang

traditions may include folk speech and, more particularly, slang. At Haskell Institute, one of the most famous federal schools for Indians, located in Lawrence, Kansas, the more than I,ooo students attending in 1962 came from no fewer than eighty different tribes from thirty states. Although the boys and girls who go to Haskell for vocational training may still speak their native language, the language spoken at the school is English. Thus, English serves as one of the few aspects of non-Indian culture which all the students are willing to accept. They do so because it is necessary as a means of communication. Whereas a Navaho at home may resent English and accordingly may prefer to speak to his friends in Navaho, at Haskell he finds he must use English to converse with new friends, who may be Eskimo or Chippewa or the like. For this reason, the English spoken at Haskell is of special interest. An investigation reveals that there are a number of slang expressions in widespread use. Many of these expressions appear to be unique. This sampling of slang also serves to demonstrate how, in an acculturation situation, the borrowing culture may not necessarily simply accept the dominant culture and its language, but may rather adapt some aspects of that culture to form something entirely new. Some of the student slang at Haskell corresponds quite closely to standard American school usage. To cram*l means 'to study hard right before an examination'; flunk* means 'to fail a test or course'; goof off* is 'to waste time'; get shook* (very popular) means 'to be upset'; fake somebody out means 'to deceive someone'; go stag* is 'to attend a dance or social function alone'; hit the pad* means 'to go to bed'; brown nose* or suck around* means 'to curry favor'; shag* or shag A [ss] means 'to remove oneself from or leave a place'; make tracks is 'to go'; and get a charge* out of something is 'to enjoy it.' Here one finds a sex difference. The girls often use rhyming slang: large charge; while the boys say big charge. There are other obvious borrowings. A church key is 'a beer can opener'; a rumble* is 'a fight'; a big wheel* is 'an important

Art · Converse · Functional programming · Haskell · Linguistics · Literature · Slang · Sociology · Test (biology · Vocabulary · Computer Science · Lexicography and Language Studies · Mathematics · Multilingual Education and Policy · Psychology · Swearing, Euphemism, Multilingualism · History · Philosophy

• Youth and student slang in British and American English

  Open Access•Félix Rodríguez González•Revista Alicantina de Estudios…•1994

  Add to list