Yesterday I did my final SAC for the year. It was for English Language and was on the role language variation plays in developing a sense of identity. I used both eBay and Discworld as examples but I can’t think why.

eBay is a good example of in-group and language variation with its acronyms and slang. FVF is a popular one and unless you’re in the know you won’t understand that it means Final Value Fee… So I explained all of this trying to use the metalanguage I’m meant to use.

Discworld was a fun one to write about but I lost the plot after a bit and managed to miss writing about some of the things I was thinking of. I did talk about The Duck Man but missed discussing bacon, Sam Vimes love of it and how it seems to come through in so many memes on Discworld Monthly.

I should have rambled about things like bacon memes and duck photos on Discworld Monthly and how I feel they’re phatic lubricant (i.e. small talk) to enable some people to feel more comfortable in the group, I think I’d get a better mark with this thought but I forgot.

So, the reason I was talking about these groups is because I wanted to talk about in-group solidarity and how we use jargon or slang to shut people out and keep them in the out-group. Of course, this doesn’t really work well for Discworld fans as most people are more than happy to share their obsession and assist people to find Discworld books as well as introduce them to the jargon, this behaviour is hardly in keeping with keeping the out-group out of the in-group but that’s the way we roll.

It works much better in prison or in the drug world where they use slang that is ever changing. Words that can keep the prison guards or the police from knowing what’s happening. And transient is one of the definitions of slang.