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<p>[QUOTE=&quot;Mansons2005, post: 257652, member: 121&quot;]Language and slang in particular were a source of division in the academic world of Social Anthropology when I was at university. I had a prof at Oxford who swore by the use of slang in dating and defining some cultural history. As well, I had a prof at Harvard who declared that slang was too common and unchanging and was by definition not helpful, or at the least not conclusive, in dating cultural history. </p><p><br /></p><p>Its amazing that BOTH used the example of the word Hello as a common, spoken greeting - vulgar and unacceptable in most societies, now a completely acceptable word anywhere, in almost any situation (partially fueled by the telephone). </p><p><br /></p><p>The other example is the word Okay. Not socially acceptable in England/Europe for centuries within any class - once used by the lower classes in the US it quickly came into use almost universally. Though I personally detest BOTH Okay and hello as unimaginative and pedestrian.[/QUOTE]</p><p><br /></p>

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