The drinking age in America should not be lowered

There are many reasons why the legal drinking age should remain at 21 years of age, the first being a matter of public safety. Lowering the drinking age would contribute to more car accidents. There are already 11 accidents a day due to alcohol consumption, and that’s without increasing the number of drinkers. This is because alcohol consumption decreases motor responses, and it's more pronounced in young drinkers with low tolerance. Second, alcohol severely damages the developing brain, which does not finish maturing until 21. How can we expect our high school students to perform academically if they start abusing alcohol and damaging their brains at 18? The final reason is due to the increase in personal insurance premiums that could arise from more people on the road able to drink. The average insurance premiums increase from approximately sixty to two hundred dollars per month, dependent on male/ female driver. Imagine the price increase for something as important as the level of alcohol usage among the general population, especially for parents that have dependents that are able to consume alcohol legally at 18. These are just a few reasons why the drinking limit should not be lowered to age 18.

Assignment 4.3 Pro stance by Jacqueline and Sara

Everyone in America Does have equal access to a happy, productive life.
Group #1 debate

We are fortunate to live in a country such as ours; with so many opportunities, living in America ensures that everyone has equal opportunities to pursue happiness, productivity, and, equality in all areas of life.

Anyone who wishes to go to college can with the help from many financial aid programs and funding that is available for those in need. I have gone back to school twice now. I have pursued my being a productive person in society and am happy that I have had access to, and have been able to use, financial aid. Children and adolescents from K-12 have access to professionals at their public schools to address any learning issues that they may have. To illustrate my point, “The No Child Left Behind” act directs families to needed specialist services that are provided to ensure they are on their way to becoming productive students, as well as citizens. Think about being in a different country where laws do not support women and your husband is cruel and abusive. You may have no rights at all in another country, but here in America we have a court system that protects and honors women with a no-fault divorce. Any woman can have access to use the court’s “Help Desk” tool and also sign up for a free attorney to represent you in court. Now that’s a strong access to obtaining happiness when in a harsh situation as that. I have used these tools myself. There are many government agencies that are focused on helping everyone in need of their services. To name a few: rental help, food stamps, emergency cash aid, help with car repairs, child care aid, utility shut-off aid, damage deposit aid, and the list could go on forever. I have seen some of these programs when I was doing rental checks and contracts with a home rental company. If you want access to these things, you have to know how to find these available resources. Once you have done your research, you then can start to take advantage of some of these exceptionally accessible programs. Happiness is in the eye of the beholder and a productive life is what one makes out of what is freely given to everyone in this country, and it is up to us to gain access to these things.

Slang

The word "nigger" has acquired so many meanings and different usages over the years that sometimes it's rather difficult to tell if it's being used offensively or not. It can change its simply based on the tone of the person using it, or become horribly offensive it certain people use it. The word, as we use it today, originated as a bastardized version of the Spanish word "negro", whish is a descendent of the Latin word "niger", referring to the colour black.
In 1619, African slaves being shipped to the Virginia colony were described as "negars" by John Rolfe, thus creating the racially offensive use of the word. Since then, the word has centrally been used as an offensive way of referring to African Americans. The term "nigga, please" first appeared in the 1970s, being used by comedians such as Paul Mooney. Since then, its use has become increasingly prevalent in African American comedy routines. Chris Rock once had a routine called "Niggas vs. Black People" in which he distinguishes between the uses of the term by saying that "there's, like, a civil war going on with black people, and there's two sides. There's black people, and there's niggas. And the niggas have to go!" The terms widespread use in the comedy circuit is largely thought to be a result of the influence of the hip-hop or rap culture. Artists like N.W.A. (Niggaz with Attitude), Notorious B.I.G., Jay-Z, and Snoop Dogg use the word quite frequently in their songs, thus contributing to the ever-growing use of "nigger".
Though the word seems to have been reclaimed by the African American culture (an act know as reappropriation), it is still widely considered a social taboo to use it. Furthermore, the word has a massive double standard behind who can use it and who can't. For instance, it's use has become popular with younger generations of African Americans, often being used to refer to ones companions (like "bros" or "dudes"), but if used by someone of a different ethnicity or race, can be viewed as a hostile or racist remark, even if it wasn't intended to be. Because of how delicately this word must be used, it would be much easier if people just stopped using it all together.

American Slang: Wasted

We would first like to say welcome to the United States. As you are still learning the English language we would like to help by shaking things up with a slang term. Like the language you speak is dependent upon what part of the World you are from, American slang can vary by region in the United States. Today, we have chosen one of the most popular slang terms found in America; “wasted”. The word “wasted” in general means an extreme impairment. Like all slang terms, the definition of “wasted” is derived from the meaning of many other words. When a person uses the term wasted, they are referring to them self or someone else who is either: drunk, stoned, or high.

Not all impairments suffered mean that you are “wasted”. A person could be drunk but not considered “wasted”. A “wasted” person who drank too much alcohol and is considered drunk would be found stumbling, unable to see, and getting sick. An example of using this term would be the following; “My friend is wasted! He is so drunk he can’t even stand up!” Somebody would be visibly drunk and unable to control their actions in order to be considered “wasted”.

Being “wasted” does not mean that you are unable to conduct yourself in the most basic manner. One measure of being “wasted” would be that you are not cognizant of your surroundings. You sit, stare, and don’t move. When a person exhibits these symptoms, they most likely under the influence of the drug marijuana. When a person has smoked marijuana they are considered stoned, or high. If they have smoked a large amount of the drug marijuana, you would than consider them to be “wasted”. An example of using “wasted” in this circumstance would be, “My friend smoked so much marijuana he is wasted. All he wants to do today is stare at the television.” Someone would be visibly tuned out and unresponsive in order to be considered “wasted”.

In the English language, the term “wasted” is a heavily used word. There are so many instances when people have consumed too much alcohol or smoked too much marijuana. The team “wasted” is another way to express the level that a person has taken their recreational drinking or drugs. When someone goes too far in their pursuit of fun, they are probably “wasted”.

Slang Term "Bitch"

Elaine and I had email difficulties, so I would like to write a little bit about the slang word "bitch" also.

If someone came to America and was called a bitch, would they take that personally or blow it off like it was a good thing? I sometimes wonder what peole think of our slang terms and how it affends many people. I remember when I was a teenager, I was always referred to as the crabby one in the household so to by funny my mom bought me a shirt that said "You call me a bitch likes it a bad thing". I wore it all the time and looking back at it now, I think to myself that its things like that, that makes it ok to use these kinds of words in our society.

If in America, you were called a bitch, it could be referred to as many things. People can call someone a bitch and mean it to be a term for you being mean, rude, or even crabby. Some times people call others bitch to be funny, sarcastic, or even as a joke. Some peole will laugh after being called a bitch and other times people will truly have their feelings hurt and look back at the situation to see what made it ok for the person to call them that, or what made it not ok for that person to call them that. If a man should call a women a bitch, it would hurt that women much more than if one of their girl friends called her a bitch. In my opinion, a guy should never call a women a bitch. Its kind of like playing with fire, as the women may become furious. Either way, bitch is a very common word that should not be used everyday like its currently used. You hear this slang term everywhere you go -- school, malls, work, home, groups, etc-- everywhere you go, someone is talking about someone else who they think is a bitch. Why not just say you thought they were mean, or sarcastic, or whatever the case may be. If you, or anyone else should tell me that I am a bitch, I am going to ask you why you think that. That way, if I truly was, I would be able to look back at the situation and not do it again. If you are called a bitch in America, please dont be afraid to ask what it means if you don't understand that way you know if you should take it personally or not. Its ok to ask questions even if you look silly; at least you would know what they meant by it. Some people may not tell you why they called you a bitch because they might not even know, but most times its because you said something that came off to them as being crabby, rude or even mean. Other times its just to be sarcastic or joking with a friend or family member. I do however recommend that if you want to use this slang term, please be careful who you call a "bitch" as if its a teacher or co-worker, know that you will be in more trouble than if you called your sister a bitch. Just be careful when using the term.

Slang!

Slang is vocabulary that is not standard, and it is usually extremely informal. Slang words are often used because they’re funny and lively. If you look up a slang word in the dictionary, you will often find that it is has a different definition to the one you were expecting. For instance, let’s look at the word ‘bitch’. If someone called you a bitch and you had no idea what it meant, you might look it up in the dictionary. The dictionaries definition of ‘bitch’ is ‘a female canine (oxford, 2009)’. This might not match your expectations of the word in the context it was used! In slang terms ‘bitch’ can mean a couple of things. First, that you’re an unpleasant and unkind sort of person. Second, it means a complaint, or anything difficult. Obviously, the definitions can illicit different responses and sometimes cause a few problems.

How do we get slang words in the first place? Words aren’t magically slang over night, and there is a process involved. Sometimes a word starts out being popular in a smaller group, such as in certain age or ethnic ranges. This word can then either stay within those boundaries, or it can spread out and become mainstream. In many cases, the word will be used so much that it becomes standard, but sometimes it will simply remain a slang term. For example, the words ‘moving pictures’ were used within a small group of people that liked to go to the movie theatre. These people shortened the word ‘moving pictures’ to ‘movies’ for convenience. As the moving pictures became popular the word ‘movies’ spread and became more mainstream. Today the word ‘movie’ is not slang, and in the dictionary it is defined as a ‘motion picture (dictionary.com)’There are many other instances when words that used to be slang become mainstream, for example, the word ‘okay’, and the word ‘mob’, which came from the latin word ‘mobile vulgas’.

Mr. Gilbert Chesterton stated “All slang is a metaphor, and all metaphor is poetry,” which is one of the popular viewpoints of slang words. Another viewpoint is that slang words are an unfortunate butchering of the English language. I personally think it depends on which words are being analyzed. Either way, it’s interesting to see which words passed the test and became standard and which ones did not. We’ll have to wait and see if the word ‘bitch’ ends up having more than one standard definition in the future!

Slang Terms Group 2

Let us start by Welcoming you here to America. To aide you in your language transition, here is a sample of what we Americas affectingly call slang terminology. Slang terminology is a word used different from it’s definition, some origins may make more sense then others. A popular slang term we have here in America is the slang term “gay”. Its origin comes from the Old French word "gai" in the 12th century. Since that, time "gay" has evolved into many different aspects of our language throughout the centuries. So far, its meaning has gone through many transformations. The term gay can be defined as having or showing a merry, lively mood, bright and showy, or a homosexual. However, in America you will see a lot of Americans, mostly of the younger generation use it as a slang term for describing something “stupid” or “lame”. None of the definitions listed above from www.dictionary.com mean stupid or lame, but yet again that is how “gay” is used as a slang term. In our nation people take old words and try, to give them new life by inventing new meanings and we call this “slang terminology.” We hope that you enjoy life here in America and will suggest if you would like to copy and use slang terms that you try to find out of the actual word meanings first to help you make a smoother transition here in America.