Mind your language please is all about the using inappropriate colloquial language, slangs, slurs and jargons in our daily life. These unsuitable words affects our behavior too and are irrespectful for the listeners.

In 1970’s, a British TV comedy series Mind Your Language was very popular. It captured global viewership of around 18 million people at that time. That series was about teaching English as a foreign language to immigrants in United Kingdom from various parts of the world. In this article we are not discussing this comedy series itself but want to point out

What are inappropriate expressions?

Slang is nonstandard, informal language. A few examples are “I’m Audi 5000” for “I’m leaving.“, “What up, dun?” for “How are you, man?“, “That film is really trippy” or “He’s cool“.

Colloquial language is a common man’s conversational language. It is usually too informal for use in writings and formal speaking events. A few examples are “That totally grossed me out” for “That really disgusted me.“, “This food is the real deal” for “This food is really good.“, a soft drink may be called “pop” in one area, “soda” in another, or “coke” (no matter what the brand) in various parts of the world, “Y’all, wanna, gonna” are some more examples. (Courtesy: Yahoo Answers – Asker’s rating & comment)

The culture of using improper language developed through media, television programs, movies, social networking sites, gaming networks and text messaging systems. Use of discriminatory language has become so common that people, especially youngsters and teenagers, do not realize that how improper use of words creates havoc in the listener’s life.

Language Etiquettes

In the guide ‘FREEDOM OF INFORMATION REQUEST‘, published by Police Service Ireland, is a tabulated list of words that shows what words should be avoided while communicating with the specific community. Such as “Nigger”, “Negro”, “Colored”, “Half-caste”, “Old codger”, “Homo”, are few of the words that may consider offensive by that particular community. Visit their website at http://www.psni.police.uk for further information.

English is a widely spoken global language. It adapts itself in the local environment easily. In America a ‘tire is flat not punctured’, while in Britain ‘a tire is punctured’, or ‘the bar is empty tonight (British Slang)’, ‘the bar is dead tonight’ (American Slang).

We should not worried about the slangs used in our normal life if they are non-provocative. Even the people, who speak those words, do not realize that what they have spoken is not respectable or appropriate. Especially youngsters and teenagers do not realize about the improper slangs they use.

Common Slangs in use Today

A few slangs used in the society are very inappropriate to the listeners’ ears, such as ‘f**kin‘, ‘sh**t‘, ‘404‘, ‘stinky‘, ‘a**, ‘bullsh**‘. Some of the double meaning words are creating lots of chaos, misunderstanding and fights in the society. These are ‘cow- a farm animal if used as ‘cow- fat woman‘, ‘a**- a beast of burden‘ and ‘a**- stupid person‘.

We should avoid bad words, double-meaning words and impolite words in our daily conversation. We must keep checking that what kind of language our kids are using. From where they are learning it.

We can use slangs efficiently with the correct knowledge learned at school and at home. Ability of an adult cultured conversation without offending anybody is the main objective to follow in a conversation. We must avoid use of slang like ‘raisin da roof‘ in our communication.

It will not take lot of efforts to correct these problems in the society. Support from like-minded peers, teachers, parents, and mentors are needed to change this trend. We must know it is not going to happen overnight. The time and positive efforts can let our children and people around us to realize this bad habit of communication. This is our responsibility towards younger generation in forming a healthy society of distinctive values. It will make our society more healthy and respectable.

Your comments and insights are always Welcome.