Ubonics
n.— «During slavery, oration was used as coded speech to “hide collective action from slave owners.” Today this principle is exemplified in speech such as Ubonics—a “slang” version Ebony-phonics, also knows as Ebonics—and rap.…Even if one is not a fan of rap or a supporter of Ubonics—the expression of commonness through words, and in our private space—informal speech is the manifestation of this principle.» —“In search of a unified Black culture” by Tricia Hylton Rabble.ca (Canada) Feb. 23, 2006. (source: Double-Tongued Dictionary)
Further reading
It was a dark and stormy night. So begins the long and increasingly convoluted prose of Edwards Bulwer-Lytton’s best-known novel. Today the annual Bulwer-Lytton Contest asks contestants for fanciful first sentences that are similarly...
How do social media algorithms shape the way we communicate? A new book argues that the competition for clicks is changing the way we speak and write, from the so-called “YouTube accent” to the surprising evolution of the word preppy. Also: A...