Language Lore

"Dad, please don't say 'Way cool' in front of my friends."

   Language changes with every generation, and slang becomes standard usage when a majority of users believe it is. When parents start using teen slang, their children quickly drop it and invent new ones.
   Words and phrases enter and leave a language constantly. What is popular this year may be gone next year, and terms that are mocked and derided today may become standard usage next month. Words that were considered obscene last year may be fully acceptable today. However, it's still true that some words are banned from broadcast media, but are heard regularly on cable outlets.
   Just because a word isn't in a dictionary is no proof that it doesn't exist. A dictionary is a history book, not a law book. Furthermore, its name derives from the root word "diction," and the book was at first a guide to pronunciation as the merchant class acquired enough wealth to challenge the alleged dominance of the aristocracy.
   To be accepted into "elite, polite," society meant folks had to talk like them. This was perhaps more true in a class-conscious society than in others where class was considered less important.
   Americans like to think they live in a class-less society, but that's true only to the extent that there are no aristocrats or hereditary landed gentry, as in some countries that still have monarchs and royalty. The reality is that class in America is based on money. Thus, the wealthy comprise the elite, compared to what is called the "working class," which implies that the money class doesn't work.
   The truth is that money can't buy class. That's a matter of behavior. There are many folks who  have trunkloads of money, but no class.