One of the best things you can do this new year expands your vocabulary. Learning more about the language you speak is a straightforward goal that can make you feel accomplished and bring many benefits to your life. The main problem with new year’s resolutions is that often they need to be more ambitious for their good. While learning an entirely new language may be a goal, if you are looking for a way to make appreciable steps that will enforce positive accomplishment – consider expanding your knowledge of English.
How Are You Going to Expand Your Vocabulary?
There are quite a few pathways you can choose when it comes to expanding your vocabulary and adding to your knowledge of the English language. Yes, you can read more, highlight, and research the words you may need help understanding instead of skipping over them. You can also use any number of useful apps that create fun, daily, or weekly challenges that help you expand your vocabulary.
However, you can also make your goal to learn new slang terms. Learning slang terms will expand your vocabulary and knowledge of key societal and cultural aspects of the English language you may need to be made aware of. This is a fun way to introduce new words and concepts to your vocab!
If you have been curious about expanding your knowledge of slang terms in 2023, here are three terms you need to know!
1. The G.O.A.T
First on the list is one you have probably heard in passing and if you need to become more familiar with it – doubtless were confused. This term is a very popular phrase that has permeated almost every aspect of American society, and that’s the slang term ‘the GOAT’. So, what is this term, and what is behind the goat meaning?
The slang term ‘the goat’ originated with a negative connotation because this typically referred to someone who would be considered the weakest link. This could be for several reasons, from moral to physical strength or just an unpleasant personality. The lowliness of the goat, as in the actual animal, gave this term an obvious negative connotation.
However, as language has evolved, pop culture has taken this slang term and replaced the word ‘goat’ with the acronym ‘G.O.A.T’. The significant turning point for this phrase came from the infamous hip-hop artist LL COOL J. He took this term and replaced its original meaning with an acronym that stands for, Greatest, Of, All, Time.
The term has become ubiquitous in modern society with success, prowess, and power. This term has become a compliment used widely and is loved by many. The exciting thing is that such a positive phrase originally had a negative connotation.
2. Blood is Thicker Than Water
The second phrase you should know is blood is thicker than water. This term has been adopted as an old English proverb that speaks to the importance of family ties. The idea behind the term is that the blood of a kinship and family relation is stronger than the waters of friendship.
Friends can stand in the same water and be united in commonalities; however, water has a naturally low viscosity. Blood, on the other hand, is not only thicker and more viscous but stronger than water. The concept here is simple enough. However, it gives people reason to stop and ponder its meaning regarding their immediate choices. Are they honoring the people in their life that are connected to them through familial bonds, or are they holding their friends in a place of higher regard?
For familial bonds to be thicker than water, they must be taken seriously by both sides of the equation. Often family dysfunction can lead to seeking out the love and companionship of friends as those elements may not exist in a person’s given family.
3. Chosen Family
When a person’s given family may not be too dysfunctional to feel safe, valued, or respected, that person will often look for the third phrase – a chosen family. The origin of this phrase is hard to track, but its meaning is deep and powerful. When someone expresses that they have a ‘chosen family’, it simply means that they have found a group of individuals treating them with the same kind of respect, value, and love that a given family ‘should’ be giving them.
Conclusion
These three slang terms and phrases are a great place to start your journey of learning more about the English language and American culture!
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