Wednesday, September 20, 2023

Hippie Dictionary

 



The Georgia Straight of Vancouver was hawking these helpful volumes for parents who had lost track of their longhaired offspring.

The phenomenon of code-switching has been studied mostly in context of Black cultural practices, but I think most people who travel across tribes find themselves making different word choice and phrasing decisions so that they might best be heard.
This practice might be especially prevalent among journalists whose beats carry them into many communities. I used to joke with friends about my tendency to change my coding based on who I was with or talking to. I worried that might be seen as patronizing. That certainly wasn't my intention and continues to be my (unconscious?) practice.
Over the course of time, I've become fairly conversant in boho and corner boy and counter clerk, Honduran green grocer and Low Country farmhand. My Hogwarts chalk boarder is getting rusty and my thug hoodlum is laughably bad. When caught off guard, I guess I speak aging window watcher with the best of them.

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