Date: Mon, 10 Nov 1997 16:06:24 -0500

From: Jim Crotty Monkmag[AT SYMBOL GOES HERE]AOL.COM

Subject: Re: NEW TOPIC: Slang in the Movies!



In a message dated 11/10/97 12:24:55 PM, you wrote:



Jim, how do you define slang? As a Minnesotan, I found nothing in

"Fargo" which suggested a distinctive slang (except, perhaps, "you

bet"). Aren't you talking about dialect--both accent and, to a lesser

degree, lexicon? Come to think of it, "you bet" has been used as long

as I can remember (and that's a _long_ time), which suggests it's not

slang, i.e., it's not ephemeral, age-graded, etc. The same goes for

"real well," "pretty good," etc. These are indeed part of the regional

vernacular, i.e., dialect.



Yah, you betcha there.... See, I was talkin' slang in a very broad sense. So,

okay, dialect would be okay too then. The whole kit and kaboodle. Slang,

dialect, vernacular, idioms, what have you and whatnot.



Okay then.



Jim Crotty

How To Talk American

monkmag[AT SYMBOL GOES HERE]aol.com

www.monk.com