Polari - the slang used by a subculture of gay men for much of the twentieth century - is the focus of a really excellent article by top linguist and author, Paul Baker.
The A2 textbook mentions both Polari and Baker's work on this slang variety, but there's more good stuff to have a look at here, including the ways in which the slang evolved in different ways through its widespread but unstandardised usage. Baker also makes the point that the conditions that gave rise to Polari - draconian legislation against gay people, disapproving public attitudes and widespread prejudice and violence (just like Uganda, Zimbabwe and several other African states these days) - no longer exist in the same way in this country these days. And while that's got to be something to celebrate, the language (or anti-language) spawned by the repressive social climate is now nearly extinct, which is sad.
Black British English vs MLE
The latest episode of Lexis is out and it features an interview with Ife Thompson about lots of issues connected to Black British English, i...
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As part of the Original Writing section of the NEA, students will be required to produce a commentary on their piece. This blog post will pr...
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As lots of students are embarking on the Language Investigation part of the Non-Exam Assessment, I thought it might be handy to pick up a fe...
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When Dan asked what he should post about next on this blog, one of the most common responses was this, the World Englishes topic. Maybe ...