NYT Magazine: Campusspeak

Parents Forum
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<p><a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2007/09/30/magazine/30wwln-safire-t.html?_r=1&ref=magazine&oref=slogin%5B/url%5D"&gt;http://www.nytimes.com/2007/09/30/magazine/30wwln-safire-t.html?_r=1&ref=magazine&oref=slogin&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p>

<p>I'm not sure if someone started a thread on this. I'm hearing new words coming out of D's mouth every day that I'd never heard before. Here's one I'd like to share:</p>

<p>"Pomping" is the process where small sheets of colored paper called "pomps" are stuffed into the individual holes of the chicken wire and secured with glue to decorate a float.</p>

<p>My D said she was busy "pomping" her sorority's homecoming float; when I first heard it, I immediately thought it sounded dirty! When I found out what it meant, I had to laugh!</p>

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<p>Only a few of those are actually very common, but I bet it's funny reading from a parents point of view. I remember my parents response to the phrase, "sexile", as well as their response to another friend mentioning the M.R.S. degree (though I'm quite sure that one has been around for a while).</p>

<p>Sketchy is not all that recent and quite common. Hallcest/unitcest is a good one, too, and chillax is from when I was a freshman in high school...</p>

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<p>How 'bout the use of the word "true..." scattered throughout an entire conversation, as a constant, repetitive affirmation while listening to what the other person is saying, instead of nodding or saying "uh huh".</p>

<p>Sort of like the yankee, "ayah".</p>

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<p>Thanks for posting the article - now I feel like I'm really "in the loop".</p>

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<p>I gotta say, as a college sophomore, I use very few of those words on a regular basis. Yam??? Really??</p>

<p>Although it was really funny to get my Shakespeare professor all confused when he was talking about how we now use "sweet" to describe really awesome concerts/plays/fun events/etc, and we informed him that we also use "sick". And it means the same thing ;-)</p>

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<p>hahaha. my AP Lang teacher loves his column and always photocopies it.
but she didnt because of the "sexile" and "hallcest" thing.
she was like...."It was really funny. but I was told I shouldn't copy it for you. <em>rolls eyes</em> Well I always keep the magazine here so you can read it if you want to. But, obviously don't read that article. <em>sigh</em> Ahhh the wonders of reverse psychology."
I love her.</p>

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<p>


Hey, wait a minute. We've been using this on cc for years. Are we hep cats or what? :cool:</p>

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<p>
[quote]
How 'bout the use of the word "true..." scattered throughout an entire conversation, as a constant, repetitive affirmation while listening to what the other person is saying, instead of nodding or saying "uh huh".

[/quote]

I'm guessing this comes from the Spanish-speaking population - I've heard "verdad" a lot... as in "You like chocolate, verdad?" , with the first part of that question spoken in Spanish.</p>