Report of Fall 2012 Group N-R

Fall 2012 Group Reports

Bibliographies and Study Guides : Report of Fall 2012 Group N-R

Created by Unknown User (cam37) on Dec 04, 2012

Final Dictionary PaperBecca Miller, Madison Mcniffe, Oliver Horowitz, Bridget Joyce, Abigail Litman, Chrissy Montelli             Our group looked at the words beginning with letters N-R on the Dictionary of Geneseo English. We added words, adjusted them, or marked them obsolete, and found that there were patterns to our edits. In a nation where people sometimes lament the slide into American English slang, we found Geneseo to be just as flexible and creative in its slang vocabulary, and confirmed that campus organizations tend to be leading the way in developing a unique campus language.The first step we took when looking at our words was to put them all on a Google Doc. This is a page that everyone in our group could see and edit. It facilitated great conversation and communication when we couldn’t schedule a meeting in our busy schedules. From this page, we eliminated words that had already been marked as obsolete on the Dictionary page. Then, we marked among ourselves the words we absolutely knew no one ever said anymore. This was a short list, including “Nancy,” which we marked as obsolete. Then, we brainstormed new words. This process took several weeks, as we listened to people around campus, talked amongst ourselves, and often found that one word led to many more, especially ones that were internet-related.            The next step in our process was to survey both these new words and words we weren’t sure of from the original list. The paper survey we distributed was based upon a form of a Likert scale. We listed numbers one through five, and asked the people we surveyed to assign a number to each word. If the word received a three or higher, they were asked to also include a brief definition. A “1” meant, “I’ve never heard this word on campus, and a  “2” signaled, “I almost never hear this word/I don’t hear it anymore.” A “3” meant, “I sometimes hear this word used.” A “4” meant “I hear this word often,” and a “5” was “I hear this word often and I use this word myself.” So, it’s important to remember that, for example, a 3 isn’t necessarily a low score; the numbers relate more to how the word is used on campus more than the popularity of the word. But, any words that received and overall average lower than a 2 we marked as obsolete, and made sure to make note of low numbers on the Dictionary.            Each member of our group handed out at least five copies of the surveys to our friends at Geneseo. This means our total number of surveys was around 30 students. We reached a wide variety of different student demographics. For example, Oliver’s respondents were largely involved in WGSU and the Lamron. So, these subjects largely had a disregard for more established varieties of slang and a general disassociation with forms of slang that are more local to Greek life or the bar scene. Bridget is involved in Greek life, and she mostly surveyed RLKs, Phi Kaps and male rugby players, who were all juniors and seniors living off campus. Madison’s respondents included members of the men’s rugby team, the women’s softball team, the Sigma Kappa sorority, and the Bhangra dance team. Chrissy’s pool of respondents did not belong to any singular group on campus, and were not familiar with many of the words as a result. Becca polled her suitemates, who were all sophomore girls living on campus, but have majors in English, Biology, Psychology, and Education, and brought knowledge from those majors to the surveys.            Initially, we had planned to do a second round of surveys for the words that averaged around 3 in our surveys. But, it turned out that most words were very definitively ranked, staying closer to less than 2 or 4-5. So, we marked the low-scoring words as obsolete, and didn’t add words we had thought of that scored low. We then looked at the definitions of original words that scored high, and edited them as needed. Some words needed additional definitions, and some had changed in definition or part of speech all together. Finally, we added words we had thought of that scored high on the surveys, adding roughly 40 new words to our section.            There were some patterns to the changes we made in the Dictionary. As far as definition changes, some nicknames for particular campus locations have become obsolete over time, or have even been replaced by other words: Retch, in reference to Red Jacket Dining Hall, is now referred to as simply RJ, and the MacVittie College Union is no longer referred to as the Onion. In the case of slang that doubled as typical, non-Geneseo-specific common terms (words such as nest, nurse, and ogle), respondents either disagreed on the word’s definition or assumed it was defined as the common, non-Geneseo-specific understanding of the word. Specifically, for the word “Nest,” although people generally recognized this word, they did not give slang definitions. While some thought it meant a literal bird’s nest others thought it meant to get cozy on the couch and “nest.” However, overall the scores were much lower than expected and even when we reminded the people surveyed not to think of the word in the most literal form (bird’s nest) they still agreed that even the slang use of the word is now obsolete. Many of the words that referred specifically to the Geneseo “party scene” (i.e. those involving types of parties, drugs, and intoxication) were largely used by most of the respondents, but when it came to specific definitions, many respondents felt the present definitions should be altered or made more inclusive to reflect new usages and meanings of the words in question. Words that related to sex or various types of relationships were also more generally agreed upon.New words also seemed to fall along thematic lines. Considering the varied age ranges of the students, and the perhaps subsequent proclivity for ‘house parties’ over going to the bars, many aspects of the ‘house party’ scene were expressed.  For example, noise violation, had an average of 2.80/5. Though not exclusive to partying, North st., received a 3.2.  One or two bathrooms often fail to relieve countless bladders, so sneaking a piss (3.3) outside is common.  Unsettlingly, OD received a 3.2, which may reflect conversation over illicit drug use such as reefer (3) or study-turned-party energy chargers Red Bull (3.2). Another robust trend was the prevalence of terms that referred to internet-based activity and to the social media tendencies of society.  Photobomb (3.3) has perhaps experienced popularity due to the increasingly active network of photo sharing online because of Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, iPhone cameras with web capabilities, interest in vintage style photos with disposable cameras, and other social media websites such as Pinterest (3) and Reddit (3.8). Also, Internet slang such as ROFL scored high.Words that are common and general to all students also were popular with our samples.  For example, all students are subject to an open container (3.5) violation, eat cheap Paul’s Balls (3.5), and would use one of the vastly applicable usages of rep (2.7). The most commonly recognized and most enduring words seem to be those that are Geneseo-specific in that they directly reference particular areas of study or particular locations on the campus itself, and therefore apply to a large portion of the student body as a whole—words such as Res Life, Northside, and RJ, for example—rather than typical slang words, which seem to fall out of use at a much faster rate.We did mark quite a few words as obsolete, too. The students surveyed seemed to favor slang that applied to the school as a whole, such as things that affect everyone equally: police action, location names, and also developing trends in social media and the Internet.  Notably avoided were diminutive forms of words such as rando, props, and noms. Sexual concerns, or attributes of a ‘hook up’ culture, seem to be avoided, or at least discussed in terms not on the list.  It seems few people don special party boots (1.2), beware rape juice (1.3) or riot punch (1.3), lament queer bait (1.3), or hook up with a randy (1.5), though this may all be explained by inferring that they are all perhaps quite repressed (2.8).A general trend our group saw was that clubs organizations on campus seem to be the ones creating, using, and hearing the widest range of slang words. For example, Chrissy found that her group ranked the majority of the words fairly low, or used different, less Geneseo-specific definitions. Oliver’s group tended to be members of the media, which plays an integral role in disseminating and appropriating new language into the collective vocabulary.  It is not a coincidence that students involved in radio and the newspaper often use slang and references current to what is ‘hip’ or gaining in prevalence. Bridget’s group was heavily involved in Greek life, and therefore scored higher on slang terms for specific Greek organizations, and words related to drinking and partying. For example, her demographic gave “Noodles” a 4.6, and recognized this as slang for the fraternity sig nu (sig noodles or just noodles), but no other demographics seemed to recognize this. It is not used widely enough to be on the list but she noted in the comment box that it might be “on the rise.” Becca’s group tended to score higher on words related to academics, such as “RobDog” as a nickname for professor Robert Doggett, probably because there are several people in her suite in the Edgar Fellows Honors Program.Some potential problems from our surveys would stem from a relatively small subject pool, which didn’t include many freshmen, and the use of our own judgment to narrow down the list of words to be surveyed initially. However, neither of these flaws should be detrimental to the N-R portion of the Dictionary. Freshmen, who are new to Geneseo, are less likely to be familiar with at least some of the words upperclassmen use, especially first semester. Although they may have new words, those words will certainly be caught the next time this class is offered. And, the use of our own judgment initially simply made the surveys more user-friendly. The six of us are Geneseo students as well, and we participate in a variety of activities. So, those early decisions do reflect what a Geneseo student would think, and they were important for the success of our paper surveys.Geneseo students today are continuously picking up new Internet slang, dropping words that have gone out of style, and applying old words to new meanings. This evolving use of language was caught in our study of the letters N-R in the Dictionary of Geneseo English. What we saw was a vibrant campus cycling through a plethora of words and phrases with ease and comfort, and valuing the short and informal. This may be a microcosm reflecting changing attitudes towards slang, and certainly showed that slang is continuously being refreshed by college students in Western New York.Please take a look at the attached wordlist and answer the following questions for each word: How often do you hear this word used around campus?I’ve never heard this word on campusI almost never hear this word/I don’t hear it anymoreI sometimes hear this word usedI hear this word oftenI hear this word often and I use this word myself 1) If you answered the above question with a 3, 4, or 5 for any words, please take a moment to jot down a definition for each of those words on the attached wordlist. Please include what context you would use each word in and whether the word is a noun, adjective, verb, etc. 2.) Please feel free to add any additional commonly used “Geneseo” words below. Be sure to include a definition, context, and part of speech.                      WORD LIST NERDRAGEQUITNestNic BreakNicklebagNomsNoodlesNORMLNose candyNot notNWBOgleOver Nine ThousandPaceParty bootsPhatPiddle potQueer baitRandyRepressedRetchRIBHURiot punchRocked Please take a look at the attached wordlist and answer the following questions: How often do you hear this word used around campus?I’ve never heard this word on campusI almost never hear this word/I don’t hear it anymoreI sometimes hear this word usedI hear this word oftenI hear this word often and I use this word myself 1) If you answered the above question with a 3, 4, or 5 for any words, please take a moment to jot down a definition for each of those words on the attached wordlist. Please include what context you would use each word in and whether the word is a noun, adjective, verb, etc. 2.) Please feel free to add any additional commonly used “Geneseo” words below. Be sure to include a definition, context and part of speech. WORD LISTNo homoNoise violationNorthNorth stNurseObvObviODOn fireOn the regOpen containerOpen relationshipPantsPaul’s ballsPhi kapPhonathonPhotobombPinterestPissPiss drunkPitcherPledge momPokePolish offPoop dollarPropsPuff puff passRackRageRagequitRandoRape juiceRaveRed bullRedditReeferRepRes lifeRJ brunchRoad sodaRob Dog  

Document generated by Confluence on May 22, 2023 12:37