-Subculture (n.) A group with different economic, social, ethnic or other characteristics from the dominant culture.
-Beverage (n.) A synonym for the word “drink.”
-Awesome (inf. adj.) Excellent
-Totally (inf. adv.) Completely, absolutely
-Conversation filler (n.) A word or sound used to fill a pause in a conversation.
Use of English in the USA
Like in the UK, regional accents and slang words abound in the US. Additionally, there are also many subcultures in the US, such as rappers, skaters, videogamers, etc., and each of them have unique slang that they contribute to the English spoken there.
Southern American English is the largest accent group in the US. It is
found in many states, such as Alabama, Georgia, Tennessee, Mississippi, etc. The colored map below shows the geographical extent of the Southern American English accent group. One of its distinguishing characteristics is the use of the contraction ya'll for "you all" for the second person plural pronoun. Here is an example of how this is
"I have ya'lls assignments here."
"I know all ya'll."
Other characteristics of Southern American English include using "was" in place of "were" (For example, "You was sittin' on that chair"), double or triple modals (For example, "I might could do that") and using the word "yonder" to mean "over there" ("The cafeteria is over yonder").
accent groups exist in regions like New England, the Midwest, the Northeast and the Northwest. These regions sometimes use different words for the same
item. For instance, a carbonated beverage is called "soda" in the
Northeast, "tonic" in New England, "pop" in the North and in the Midwest,
"coke" in the South and "soda" or "pop" in the West and Northwest.
Soda, pop, tonic or coke?
The slang that originates in subcultures sometimes becomes widely used outside of the subculture as well. For example, the slang word “newb,” or “noob,” which originally was only used in videogaming circles to describe someone who was a novice videogame player, is now used in American English more generally to describe a person who is new to something.
California English has produced some slang that is now used across the nation, such as "awesome," "totally," "for sure," and the use of the word "like" as a conversation filler instead of "um" or "uh." Many movies and television series are filmed in California and then distributed across America, and around the world; thus, California English has become a recognized standard of American speech, although other regional dialects still exist.
1.) What is the largest accent group in the U.S.? Where is it found?
2.)What words are used in the U.S. to mean “a carbonated beverage”?
3.)How do subcultures contribute to the use of English in the U.S.?
4.)Why has California English become the standard of American speech?
Written by Jenna Hartsell