No, street slang is not some sort of incredibly slow moving urban sewer beast that lurks deep beneath the city's infrastructure. It is a form of expression not introduced in the dictionary. Street slang is considered a "language" all of its own. It is not recognized by traditional language - in my particular case, Brazilian Portuguese. It is a set of codes that people use to converse in a secret society. Only members of that society know the code. Outsiders must learn the culture of the society if they wish to learn the "code". Does this pretty much explain your experiences with learning a new language? Only to find out that - wow! - there is so much more for me to learn beyond just common Portuguese, or Spanish, or Japanese, or Italian, or what ever it is you learnt. I remember saying to myself many a times "Brazilians speak Portuguese or am I missing something here?" Yeah, I really felt left out. Like an outsider. Like I had wasted all that time learning the tongue just to find out how much further I had to travel. But, you can't expect to get an invitation to a party if you don't know the people on the guest list do you?
Brazilian Expression vs English
I used to think that the English language was one of the most expressive languages in existence. There are many ways to say, for example; let's say you are hungry. You could say:
I'm hungry I'm starving I'm so hungry I could eat a horse I'm dying of hunger I'm so hungry I'm so hungry I could eat a raw dog
Or how about this one:
I'm all rumbly in my tumbly
Yeah, I remember that one from Winnie-the-Pooh. So what about the Portuguese versions?
Eu tou com fome Eu estou morrendo de fome Eu estou faminto Eu tou com muita fome
Or lets say you just arrived at your aunt Betty's house and you wish to announce your arrival. You could say:
I'm here I have arrived I made it Roll out the red carpet
In Portuguese, could be:
Eu cheguei Cheguei Eu tou aqui Eu acabo de chegar
Alright, maybe that was a little out there with the red carpet, but There is a whole new world of expression to be learned in the Brazilian Portuguese language. It is a constant evolving process. And anyone else who has learned any language will probably tell you the same. Street slang is as much a part of a language as its traditional parts.
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