UNC professor tracks evolution of slang

by Reema Khrais

UNC linguist Connie Eble may be the only professor in the nation who encourages students to speak slang.

Every year, Eble asks her students to write down slang words they say or hear around campus. She then compiles the words – like “craycray” or “rando” – into a master list of about 300 words college students regularly use. Eble has been doing that with her students since 1972 and, as Carolina Connection’s Reema Khrais reports, she finds that some words hang on for decades, while others simply come and go.