I have been reading, but not replying...had to think a bit.


there are two issues...one is the little interjection phrases that people sometimes don't even realize they are using, like 'like' and like 'yaknowhadimean?' ("in terms of" might fit here)..these can drive listeners batty.

The other is more what Azzizi refered to-- little local or personal bits of slang, cant, euphemisms and colloquialisms. If you have said "that's a trip" for enough years in a certain group, you know it will be understood, as most everyone will get the reference, even if they don't know the origin.

What bothers me is when people have no idea how to speak, write or otherwise communicate without recourse to these personal and local words & phrases. There are situations where you need to recognize that they will be heard & read by folks who have no idea what you are talking about, and if you find yourself unable to translate, you have a problem.

Many years ago, Mad magazine (a silly US humor mag...mostly for kids) would put strange phrases into cartoons...on wall signs & such). One of these phrases was "It's crackers to slip a rozzer the dropsy in snide." ...Well, I though that was just cute nonsense, until I tried it in Google, and I find it is a local form of British slang which sorta means( as near as I can tell) "It is a foolish thing to try to bribe a policeman with counterfeit money". There was even a brief discussion of it here (Mudcat) and I don't think even all the Brits could agree....but I DO see regular reference to 'loo' and 'bog', which just don't "ring any bells" for some folks. Words for food get a LOT of variants...the euphemisms for 'sandwich' could fill a book..*grin*.

What's the point? Just that it's a good idea to be aware of where you are, and to try to know what the more universal terms for the vernacular are...just in case you really NEED for others to know "what you're on about".