Date: Tue, 27 Jan 1998 23:09:58 -0400

From: JANE M SPALDING-JAMIESON JSPALDINGJAM[AT SYMBOL GOES HERE]UPEI.CA

Subject: "to dis"



Is "to dis" a verb now?



I am a student of linguistics at U.PEI. in Canada, and have heard two

instances of a slang term, wondering if anyone else has heard it, or

knows about its origins:



1/ Last week, Will Smith on "Fresh Prince of Bel Air" tv show says to

his girlfriend, "Are you dissin' me?"

Apparent meaning is something like, Are you trying to get rid of me,

or Are you disrespecting me?



2/ Here in Charlottetown, Angela Marchbank of PEI Special Olympics

said to me, also last week, "If you don't get through on the phone,

or if they say no to a donation ... just throw them all in a dis

pile. The dis pile is what we throw in the garbage later."



Dis- is listed in the Oxford dictionary as a prefix, which can mean

rejected, among other things. But how did it become a word? Any

thoughts?



(I realize this is just slang, but sometimes yesterday's

slang is today's serious vocabulary ... and I see in my peers a more

and more informal attitude towards the English language, which at

some point affects standard usage)



- Jane Spalding-Jamieson

jspaldingjam[AT SYMBOL GOES HERE]upei.ca

(University of Prince Edward Island,

Charlottetown, PEI, Canada)