Blog

Sign Up Now!

5 Things to Remember Before Using Street Slang in Your Writing

  • April 27 2015
  • Comments Off on 5 Things to Remember Before Using Street Slang in Your Writing
POSTED BY   

Using texting slang like LOL, BFF and LMAO may work if you are catering to a teenybopper audience, as they often want a more lax writing style, however besides this, street and texting slang should be used with caution in the writing world. This is especially the case when you’re writing for a large demographic of people as you’re your writing for the Internet. When doing so you must keep in mind that not everyone knows all of the slang out there and so understanding and clearness of your writing may suffer greatly, and your writing may end up alienating your readers. Here are some things to keep in mind when contemplating the use of slang in your writing.

 

 

1.  Steer Clear of Ambiguous Language

It’s recommended that you avoid any ambiguous language in your writing, and unfortunately slang often falls into this category. This is due to the fact that people often misinterpret it. You must keep in mind that website and blog posts are read by people from all over the world, and so you don’t want to lose any of your readers because of an abrasive style that they wouldn’t appreciate, lack of clearness or an interpretation that your writing is offensive.

 

 

2.  Localisms Work in Some Cases

You can use localisms in your writing as long as you’re writing for a particular demographic in which the majority of your readers would recognize it as an everyday part of their language. Localisms are not abortions of words; instead they are words that carry a certain type of local meaning. For instance, a British person would say ‘lift’ and an American would say ‘elevator.’ Catering to a particular demographic is recommended if you have a certain region that you’re writing for.

 

 

3.  Think About Your Audience

In order to determine whether or not slang is appropriate to use in your writing it’s important that you think about whom your readership is, and what they expect. You should also think about how the use of slang words may hinder or help your purpose. If you are writing a very humorous or informal piece then idiomatic or slang expressions may work with it. However, if you are new to this type of writing then it’s recommended that you avoid using slang until you’ve fully mastered the genre.

 

 

4.  Think About the Type of Blog You Have

Using slang in your website or blog post can depend on the type of blog that you have. For instance, if you write a blog on 18th century music then you should avoid using slang all together. However, if you write a blog about current electronic and rap music then you likely can find benefit in writing using street slang, as there is a whole book full of slang used in the current music industry.

 

 

5.  The Difference Between Jargon and Slang

Jargon and slang is not the same thing, and you should know the difference between the two in order to know when to properly use both. Jargon is the special expressions or words that are used by a group or profession that are tricky for other people to comprehend. For instance, there is accounting jargon, medical jargon and legal jargon. If you are writing to a particular audience then it’s recommended that you know how to properly use the jargon needed to relate to that audience in order to write a great writing piece.

 

 

When contemplating the use of slang it’s important that you give your audience the respect that they deserve. Using language properly will not only reflect the objectivity of your sentences, but will also give you much credibility as a writer. Keep in mind that the use of slang can be reflected as negligence and slackness. It can come off as though you are doubting the intelligence of your readers or attempting to dumb down the language used in your writing, and so proceed with caution when using it.

 

 

The following two tabs change content below.

Cameron Mackey

Cameron is the Content Manager for the Vorongo Blog. He has spent three years in various content marketing roles. When he is not working with Vorongo he enjoys photography and hiking.

Comments are closed.