Playwriting - Part 7E - Creating Unique Dialogue, Using Slang

In a way, this post is related to Finding Speech Patterns and to Using Regionalisms. Sometimes regionalisms may be referred to as slang. However, slang may easily change within local groups while regionalisms are fairly well known throughout a region, hence why they are called regionalisms.

Instead, slang are words used by certain groups. The words used may only be local to a group. They may span across a country or even the world, but only make sense to a group that understands them. When I was in high school, my local friends knew what I meant if I said I had QB practice. That is because they knew me and knew my interests and activities. It meant that I had Quiz Bowl practice. However, I once type that I had QB practice, not thinking about how others would interpret that. I had somebody asked me if I had Quarterback practice.

I looked up some slang because I wanted to find some slang that I probably didn't know. It was easy. Within the first post I viewed, I found slang that I didn't know. I saw GOAT. I'm not really into sports in any fashion. I'll watch some at times, but they aren't my thing. Apparently GOAT means Greatest of All Time, referring to an athlete when people think they are the greatest "something" of all time. So, GOAT is slang that is familiar among people who are sports fans.

Of course, if there is a sports fan in a group of more people that are not sports fans, then that person might bring GOAT into that group. Sometimes slang can be between just a few, or even two, people. My sister and a few of my Facebook friends know what I mean when I put that I am going to flosh my teeth. The term means to "floss and brush" my teeth. It came about from a slip of the tongue. I was going to say, "floss and brush," but it came out "flosh." That's also some slang.

To make dialogue more authentic in your play, use slang if it is appropriate for the characters. Don't force your characters to explain the slang. Let the context clues explain the slang unless explaining it is actually part of the conversation that happens naturally in the play.

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