Saturday, October 31, 2009

The life cycle of a high school neologism

On my Facebook status, I commented on the speed with which my students can create a new word, or conjure some new meaning for an existing word, and drive it headlong into cliche.

My favorite current example is the word "beast":

Beast (transitive verb):
1. To excel at; to perform exceptionally on

Examples:
1) "I totally beasted Montgomery County's point guard."
2) "Our color guard is going to straight up beast that band competition."
3) "Chill out, Mr. Williams; I am beasting this essay."

By the time I become aware of these coinages, they are already racing toward banality. But in my brief tenure as a teacher/sociological observer I've sketched out the following life cycle:

  1. Day 1 - Word spawned - the actual germinal moment is shrouded in mystery. "Beast" may have come from the popularity of the phrase "He is a beast" amongst teenagers. Or someone may have just texted ChaCha with a request for a random word.
  2. Day 2 (Before lunch) - One student uses it in discussion and gets odd looks and chuckles from classmates.
  3. Day 2 (After lunch) - Two or three students per class use it ironically, casting sideways glances, bemused at the moronic nature of the coinage.
  4. Day 3 - The coined term constitutes 60% of the words spoken by teenagers in the school.
  5. Day 4 - Some teacher uses it in class: "Hey, you guys totally beasted that vocabulary quiz." Under desks, inside sleeves, thumbs dart across cell phone keypads. It all happens quickly now.
  6. Day 5 - Students only use the word ironically, casting sideways glances, bemused at the lameness of that word.