English Communication: Modern Slang

American slang.

Every era has a pattern: a group of people — the young, pop stars, social media influencers– create new words or phrases. It can be helpful to know this slang in order to understand what people are saying.

While understanding slang is not dangerous, be careful in using them unless you are confident you know what they mean. Mistakes can be embarrassing.

Here are some slang words you might hear:

• YOLO (Acronym for a sentence): ‘You only live once.’ Often used as a reason for deciding to do something–perhaps enjoyable or perhaps risky. For example, ‘I probably should save the extra money I have, but I’m going to invest in a gold mine instead. YOLO!’
• Peeps (Noun): People (especially your friends). For example, ‘What are you doing?’ ‘Oh, just hanging out with my peeps.’   In American vocabulary, we describe the chirping sound of a baby chicken to be “peep, peep.”  Thus use this if you are young .
• Swag (Noun): This word has multiple uses, but a common meaning is ‘style: being cool in how you talk, dress, and present yourself,’ For example, ‘Look at that jewelry. She’s got swag,’
• Fail (Noun or interjection) Used to express disapproval. For example, “My internet keeps cutting out. Comcast fail!” or “I left my phone at work. Fail!”  
• Hater (Noun): Someone who is negative and criticizes others. For example, “Don’t be a hater. You’re just jealous.”  You can follow up with a change in topic in the conversation.
• Meh (Interjection): Wikipedia calls this term ‘an expression of indifference or boredom.’ For example, “Do you want to go to a movie?” “Meh. I’ll go if you want to.”  
• Whatever (Interjection): Used to express “It doesn’t matter” or “I don’t care what you say.”  For example, “I really wanted that job, and I didn’t get it. Whatever,” or A: “You need a haircut.” B: “Whatever.”

So the next time you’re browsing social media or conversing,be on the lookout for this slang.  It’s never a bad idea to increase your English vocabulary and cultural literacy… and maybe gain a little swag while you’re at it.

Be sure to watch our English Speech Tips videos and Accent Reduction Tip videos  for more English pronunciation and accent reduction exercises.

Contributing editor: Amber McKinney, MA

copyright Clear Talk Mastery 2021

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Make conversations and presentations pop like a balloon with analogies

People remember vivid mental images, like an exploding sun, longer than they remember words. Analogies, like the best Swiss or Italian or Peruvian chocoate, make your case or argument memorable.

Best Body Language for Virtual/Zoom/Skype/Teams & In-Person Meetings & Interviews

What’s the most important body language during virtual and in-person meetings and job interviews?

1. Once you have entered the virtual meeting or physical room, do not adjust your clothes which can be interpreted as lack of self-confidence.  Check your clothes before the appointment. 
2. Good posture means square shoulders and straight back. Slouching makes you seem disinterested, bored, and unprepared.
3. Keep your arms in an open position, and don’t fold your arms across your chest. You can be interpreted as not flexible, or stubborn or belligerent (i.e., warlike).
4. Do not rub your neck or back of your head. That can be interpreted as distracted or uninterested.
5. If in person, do not overdo perfume or cologne. Consensus is to not wear any. A great fragrance to one may be abhorrent or allergenic to another. 

Be sure to watch our English Speech Tips videos and Accent Reduction Tip videos  on YouTube/ClearTalkMastery for more English pronunciation and accent reduction exercise.

Low budget but want to level-up your English speech? Check out $19.95 per month subscription called ClearTalk Weekly, www.subscription.cleartalkmastery.com. You get a new lessons each week with videos, different audios and written lessons. Do one month, then cancel if you want. Or do the subscription the next month. This subscription launched April 2, 2015. Tested and proven effectiveness

Blog March 27, 2021 copyright 2021 Clear Talk Mastery, Inc and Dr. Antonia Lawrence Johnson

BLOG #194 FOR FRI. FEB 26, 2021    

 — 5 Things to Say When Reaching Out to A Friend Right Now

 Copyright 2021 Clear Talk Mastery, Inc.

Date: Feb. 4, 2021 Title: Impress Your Friends and Colleagues and the Best Reason to Master the “N”

In the preceding blog in Dec. 2020, you learned “How to impress your friends and the best reason to master the “Th”.

Now get this “Impress your friends and colleagues and the best reason to master the “N”.

Why master the “N”?   “N” is the most used consonant in English.   In OEC, the Oxford English Corpus’s list of the 100 most frequently written English words, N occurs in twenty (20) words, or one-fifth.  Here are those 20 words:

 #5 and

 #7 in

 # 13 not

 #14 on

 #32 an

 # 51 when

 #53 can

 #56 no

 #59 know

 #62 into

 #71 than

 #72 then

 #73 now

 #75 only

 #79 think

 #91 even

 #92 new

 #93 want

 #95 any

     Notice that  eight (8), almost half of these 20 words, end with the consonant N  —   in, on, an, when. can, than, then, even.  N at the ends of words and syllables are more difficult to pronounce than at the beginning of words or syllables.

      Notably N is also the most frequently spoken English consonant because of  prefixes and suffixes:

     Prefixes include ano-, ana-, in-, en-, on-, -non-, -mon-, non-, anti-, down-, hind-, mini-, under-, anglo-, ante-, con-, contro-, counter-, Franco-, Indo-, infra-, inter-, intra-,  neo-, non-, omni-, pan-, syn, trans-, uni-

     Suffixes include -en, -in, -on, -tion,  -tian, -cion, -ment, -mint, -mont, -mount, -ain ain, -ation, -ana, -nic, -nik, -onym, -senior, -junior, -yllion.

   Also, Wikipedia lists 66 Latin stems in English which begin with the letter n.

    Importantly, high pronunciation error is n, especially for “N” at the ends of words.

    Top error for pronunciation of “N” is  making it loud enough, again, especially at the ends of words.  The physiological reason for this error is that the mouth is closed for this sound and air is directed through the nose; such a small area muffles the sound.

      The second reason for error for English “N” is positioning of the tongue is different for other languages.

Below is a brief description of pronouncing “N” in American English:

Positioning of the tongue is the critical and super important feature: Push the tip of your tongue up to the roof of your mouth, right behind your front teeth.

 Minimum duration of  “N” is to hold the tip of your tongue again the roof of your mouth long enough to force the air through your nose and long enough and loud enough to hear a clear “N” sound.

Maximum—there is no maximum duration of the “N” pronunciation  for work-out practice.  Do work-out practice for home practice.  Push the tip of the tongue hard and stiff to the roof of the mouth, right behind the front teeth, and hold.  This work-out practice will make the muscles strong that push the tip of the tongue against the roof of the mouth. These are slow- twitch muscles.

This technique gets a loud enough “N” every time– go up in pitch on the speech sound, like singing.

Why does this technique work? Closing the mouth and the flow of air through the nose changes the air pressure above and below the vocal folds which stops the vocal fold vibration.  By going up in pitch, the speaker is stretching or lengthening the vocal folds which automatically pushes them together and voicing can occur more easily for a greater duration.

Seeing pronunciation of “N” is often better than written words. YouTube.com/ClearTalkMastery –  Accent Reduction Tips #23  “N” for “environmental”.

Copyright 2021 Clear Talk Mastery, Inc