Recently, Trump used the ‘f’ word without giving any pretension of tongue slip while being asked about the Israel-Iran conflict before boarding his aircraft. Using slang is not at all news these days, where it is uttered at the drop of a hat, thanks to the evolution of language to slanguage, courtesy of social media.
Slanguage originated in the 1800s with very few knowing its significance, but along with other facets of development and modernization, slanguage too picked up its momentum proportionately.
In fact, any POTUS or any leader of any country using slang indoors informally is also not news but when he or she goes public in an official designation, it becomes news. Slang per se doesn’t shock the people more than what triggered Trump to use the f word. Was it frustration, or the expression of anger and impatience when things are not going the way he wanted occupied the curiosity of his followers and antagonists alike? These are the days when leaders hardly show any remorse or regret, more so when demanded by the offended public. Instead of shutting their mouths, the leaders expect the viewers/ listeners to shut their eyes and ears, respectively.
When this writer wanted to know how many Presidents of the USA till now used slang in its history, he approached the AI as these days it is a rarest of the rare to find well learned people instantly to dole out the required empirical data. Now AI is not only intelligent but clever too in saying and quoting from Wikipedia that it’s difficult to give an exact number of presidents who have used slang in public or with the press, as it’s not a formally tracked statistic.
However, some presidents are known for their more informal communication styles, while others have been more careful to adhere to formal language.
Gone are the days when people were cool, patient, and relaxed in listening to leaders who too were wise with their words, calculated, mature, and cautious in not rubbing the audience on the wrong side. However, if the speakers wanted to make an impact, they were articulate, gestural, and emphatic with an aplomb of authenticity that simply used to silenced the audience. Slang was never a part of responsible speeches.
Now get back to the 21st century when people are restless, impatient and expect spice from the speakers who, in turn, do not want to disappoint their audience. They freely use all such words which can keep their followers glued and avoid them trooping out in the middle. The audience shamelessly agrees that all the cuss words used are what they look forward to from their political heroes and heroines. We have reached a stage unlike earlier years when there is no gender disparity in usage of slanguage. Both genders vie with each other, though masculine ones often lead the race in the intensity of the slanguage. Assuming some audience is not happy with the slang used and retaliates, that is welcomed by the speakers as the media colours the uttered slang as a much-needed controversy, giving it a multiplier effect, thanks to the outrage expressed hitherto.
In order to study the slanguage patterns in India, it needs an exclusive write-up to separate language from slanguage. In this, we in India stand out, and because of our unbridled democracy, we may be the global leaders both from the speaker and audience point of view.
