常常感叹不及时更新大脑的信息库就听不懂年轻人在讲什么,他们的语言文字里充斥着网络语言、火星文甚至各地方言,这也让老师、家长们头疼不已。其实不仅是中国的新生代,英国年轻人也有不少让人纠结的词汇和说话方式——
Everyone knows that you can study the English language for years and still not understand a native speaker of English when you meet one. Everyone knows that native speakers say a lot of things that you can’t find in any dictionary. Well, here’s a secret for you; a lot of British people can’t understand each other either! 
There are different regional accents across the UK, and a number of regions have several different dialects, that is, they have their own unique vocabulary and grammatical phrases. There were at least six different accents 1)indigenous to London the last time I counted.
Worse than that, it is not just where a person is born in the UK that decides their accent. For example, the language and its accents often vary across class or level of education. Another example is how language can differ among age groups in the UK. The words and pronunciations used by young people in the UK can be 2)radically different compared with those used by adults.
众所周知,你很可能学了多年英语,却在遇到一个英语母语人士的时候完全听不懂他在说什么。大家都知道这些当地人会说出很多你在字典里查不到的东西。好吧,告诉你一个秘密:许多英国人也搞不懂对方想表达什么!
英国各地有不同的地区口音,而一些地区又有多种不同的方言——他们有自己独特的词汇和语法词组。上一次进行统计时,我发现仅伦敦当地就有六种不同的口音。
更糟糕的是,决定一个人口音的因素并不仅仅是这个人的出生地。比方说,一种语言及其口音常常因人们所处阶层和受教育程度的差异而有所不同。另一个例子则是英国各年龄层所使用的语言也大相径庭。与成年人相比,英国年轻人所使用的词汇和发音存在很大区别。
3)Yoof Culture
The word “yoof” is a slang spelling of “youth.” Some people consider it to be a negative term, since its pronunciation is easier and lazier than “youth.” Other people see the term as positive, because it describes how young people are creating their own language, concepts and identity. When parents find it difficult to understand their children, the children can say more things without the 4)censorship of their parents. In this way, young people are starting to find freedom, independence and self- expression. They are creating a yoof culture.
It is not possible to come up with a complete list of words used by yoof. By the time the list was completed, it would be out of date. New words come and go like fashions. However, a few features of the yoof style of language are as follows:
● instead of saying something like That’s good! or I understand, yoof will use a single adjective like Safe!, Sort!, Sound!, Cool! or 5)Wicked!
● instead of She then said no!, yoof will say She was like: no!
● instead of …if you understand what I’m saying, yoof will say kindathing or sortathing
● instead of think, the, that, what and because, yoof will say fink, da, dat, wot and coz
● instead of She’s attractive!, yoof will say She’s fine! or She’s fit!
● instead of using different 6)tag questions like …isn’t it?, …can’t you? or …don’t they?, yoof will use 7)innit (e.g. “It’s hot, innit!,” “You can dance really well, innit!” or “They always say that, innit!”)
● instead of using very or really, yoof will use well (e.g. “I’m well tired.” or “You well got it wrong.”)
● instead of I don’t care!, yoof will say Whatever!.
青年文化
“yoof”这个单词是“青年(youth)”的俚语拼写形式。因为其发音比原形“youth”较为容易和懒散,有些人称其为贬义词汇。其他人则认为这个单词表示褒义,因为它正说明了年轻人创造出属于自己的语言、观念和个性。当家长难以理解子女在说什么时,孩子们便可以毫无顾忌地谈论更多话题。年轻人通过这样的方式开始寻找自由、独立和自我表达。他们正在创造一种青年文化。
我们无法将年轻人使用的单词一一穷尽。单词清单一旦完成,便又将过时。新词的出现与消亡犹如时尚潮流,来去匆匆。不过,年轻人的语言风格有如下几个特点:
● 不说诸如“好极了!”或者“我明白”,年轻人会使用单一形容词来表达,如“妥当!”、“收到!”、“漂亮!”、“酷!”或者“赞!”
● 不说“她那时说不行!”,年轻人会说“她就说:没门儿!”
● 不说“……如果你知道我在说什么”,年轻人会说“就是那样那样”或者“八九不离十”
● 不说“思考”、“这”、“那”、“什么”和“原因是”,年轻人会说“想”、“介个”、“内个”、“神马”或者“因为”
● 不说“她真有魅力!”,年轻人会说“她很养眼!”或者“她很赞!”
● 不说各种反义疑问,如“……不是吗?”、“……不可以吗?”或者“……他们没有吗?”,年轻人会使用“是伐”(如“天气真热,是伐!”、“你很会跳舞,是伐!”或者“他们总是那么说,是伐!”)
● 不说“非常”或者“真的”,年轻人会使用“哈”(如“我哈累。”或者“你哈搞错了。”)
● 不说“我不在乎!”,年轻人会说“爱干嘛干嘛!”
New Social and Political Language
Certain groups of society feel threatened by yoof culture or by the British working classes having more social freedom. As a result, a negative term now commonly used in the UK is “8)chav.” It is an insult and is meant to describe someone who is uneducated and anti-social (e.g. “He’s a chav!”) A young person who wears a jacket with a 9)hood (after all, it rains a lot in the UK) is sometimes called a “hoodie.” It is a negative term and suggests that the young person is interested in committing crime.
新生的社会政治语言
某些社会群体觉得自身受到青年文化或者拥有更多社会自由的英国劳动阶级的威胁,由此衍生出一个被英国人广泛使用的贬义词——“没文化愤青”。它是一个侮辱词,意指那些没受过教育的反社会分子。(例:“他是一个没文化愤青!”)一个穿着连帽夹克衫的年轻人(毕竟英国常常下雨)有时会被称为“连帽衫混混”。这是一个贬义词,暗示这个年轻人喜欢干犯法的事情。
Where Does That Leave Us?
Learners of English often feel that the best test of their English is how well they can talk to a native speaker. Yet learners should not worry about communicating with native speakers so much. Research 10)commissioned by the British Council shows that 94% of the English spoken in the world today is spoken between non-native speakers of the language. In fact, when we think about “international English,” there is no such thing as a native or non-native speaker. The UK no longer owns the English language.
何去何从?
英语学习者通常认为检验自己英语水平的最佳方式就是看自己与英语母语人士交谈有多顺畅。不过,英语学习者不必过分担心与英语母语人士的交流。英国大使馆文化教育处的研究显示,如今在世界范围内,人们所讲的英语有94%发生在非英语母语人士之间。实际上,当我们提及“国际英语”时,并没有母语人士与非母语人士之分。英语这门语言早已不是英国专属物了。