Southern African Linguistics and Applied Language Studies 2013, 31(1): 89–96 Copyright © NISC (Pty) Ltd

Printed in South Africa — All rights reserved SOUTHERN AFRICAN LINGUISTICS

AND APPLIED LANGUAGE STUDIES
ISSN 1607-3614 EISSN 1727-9461
http://dx.doi.org/10.2989/16073614.2013.793954

An analysis of students’ slang terms for academic activities

in a Nigerian university: A semiotic approach

Grace E Adamo
Department of English and Literary Studies, Kogi State University, Anyigba, Nigeria
e-mail: graceadamo@yahoo.com

Abstract: Using a semiotic approach, this article analyses Nigerian university students’ slang
terms for academic activities. It inquires into how students in an ESL context are able to exchange
meanings with one another using their own form of English. Using a combination of Peirce’s, de
Saussure’s and Barthes’ semiotic models of analysis, the research findings present evidence of
linguistic change as prescribed by youths. It reveals that slang is one of the ways in which students
represent meanings that are important in their socio-cultural environment. It represents the ideology
of the youths. These symbols accurately measure the range of their thoughts and values at any
given time and they function in the mind of the interpreters to convey specific meanings in specific
situations. Slang is therefore a symbolic semiotic system, whose signification can be unveiled.

Introduction
Studies have been carried out on youth culture and language. Some of them present evidence of
linguistic change as prescribed by youths (see Longe, 1999; Alimi & Arua, 2008; Adamo, 2005;
Bucholtz, 2001; Ekpe, 1998; and Widdicombe & Wooffitt, 1995). These are studies done in different
geographical, linguistic, temporal and spatial settings and are carried out from different methodo-
logical perspectives. To my knowledge, no one has applied a semiotic approach to the study of the
everyday informal verbal interactions of students on campus.
Using a semiotic approach, this article analyses Delta state university students (DELSU) slang
terms for academic activities. It inquires into how students in English as a second language
(ESL) context are able to exchange meaning with one another using their own form of English. It
discusses a selection of English language slang terms that students use to label their academic
lives and examines what and how each term and expression mean by providing the ideological
context of each of the slang terms. This article will help to unveil the values that are inherent in the
culture of these students through examining the different linguistic codes that they use to express
issues that related to their academic activities. Lastly, the article aims at documenting the wealth of
lexical resources available to students in the creation and display of youth identity.
This study is important because students’ slang is a contemporary social phenomenon that needs
to be given significant and prominent attention in scholarship, if we must understand some aspects
of the nature of students. To get along with students (especially as parents and teachers), we need
to know their ideas and concerns and these are expressed best through language use.

Scope of the study

This study is limited to Delta State University students and it examines the particular slang words and
expressions of students in speech. This is because speech is the most continually interesting part of
language that could be versatile and entertaining. The slang terms analysed in this article are neither
Nigerian pidgin nor ‘popular’ Nigerian English terms; they are slang terms used particularly by the
students in their English expressions. These words and phrases are being enriched by innovative
meanings that are specifically student oriented. New meanings are added to existing meanings of
existing words, and new words with new meanings are created. This article examines these by using
a combination of the approaches of de Saussure and Barthes to the study of signs.
We have used a semiotic approach in this article because the slang words and expressions

Southern African Linguistics and Applied Language Studies is co-published by NISC (Pty) Ltd and Routledge, Taylor & Francis Group
90 Adamo

employed by students are permeated by an underlying system of significance, which allows them
to foresee an established correspondence between the signifier and the signification. Students can
communicate with slang because they share particular signs (words and phrases), share a code (or
structure), and share an understanding of how these codes convey meaning. In any case, semiotics
is concerned generally with the way that communication structures and generates meanings in
order to circulate it socially. Semiotics also traces ‘the interconnection between the structure of
communication messages and the structure of society in which they work’ (Griffiths, 1996: 14).

Methodology
This article examines slang terms as they manifest in the utterances of students in a particular
cultural and social environment thereby favouring a corpus of naturally occurring language and
natural language in its spoken form as the key linguistic system.1
The peculiar slang terms that label students’ academic lives in the English expressions of
students were selected and compiled. These were distributed to 300 and 400 level students from
various faculties to supply the meanings of each slang expression. They were distributed to this
category of students because they were thought to have stayed long enough in the university to be
familiar with the slang that students use to describe their academic lives.
The analysis of the slang terms used by students was done using a combination of semiotic
models. Slang terms, being made up of words, are purely linguistic signs. Following Peirce’s signs
types, linguistic signs are predominantly symbolic. The symbolic sign is fundamentally arbitrary,
because there is no one to one correspondence between the signifier and the signified. The signifi-
cation of the sign comes alive only because of the intervention of the community of users of the
signs.
These symbolic signs used by students were then analysed using de Saussure’s dyadic model of
the sign as consisting of the signifier and the signified. The signifier is the term for the sign itself, the
image as we the audience perceive it. The signified refers to the mental concept, which is broadly
common to all members of the same culture who share the same language (Fiske, 1987: 43).
Following also the thesis of Barthes, meaning or signification takes place at three levels. Barthes
makes an important distinction between what he refers to as orders of signification of a sign.
The first order produces the denotative or definitional meaning of the sign. The second order is
connotative (a further meaning), which according to him, is introduced by human intervention. He
says that when we look at connotation, we are looking at ‘the activation of meanings deeply rooted
in our culture’ (1957: 52). Connotative meaning refers to the ‘socio-culture and personal association
of the sign’ (Chandler, 1995: 1). This second order of signification must arise from the experience
we have had and the association we have learnt to couple with signs.
The third order of signification is a matter of the cultural meaning of signs, and at this level,
‘denotation and connotative meaning combine to produce ideology’ (O’Sullivan et al., 1994: 287).
The cultural meanings of signs derive from the way that society or a speech community uses and
values the signifier and the signified. Such meanings are drawn from the stock of images, notions,
concepts, and myths, which are already in the culture in a particular context and at a particular time
(Underwood, 2003: 5). Barthes refers to this as ‘mythology’ the sets of myths, which operate as
organising structures within a culture, organising the meanings, which we attach to the signs (1957:
53). So, for each of the linguistic signs chosen for analysis (which are foregrounded in bold italics),
the denotative and the connotative as well as the ‘ideology’ or mythologies behind the choice of
the linguistic item are indicated. The denotative meanings are adapted from the Oxford English
Dictionary (OED) and the Webster’s Universal Dictionary and Thesaurus (WUDT). Each slang term
is presented as used in an utterance.

The concept of semiotics

Mead, in 1962, described semiotics as ‘patterned communication in all modalities’ (Sebeok, 1964:
275). Semiotics has developed into an interdisciplinary field with many theories that cover a wide
conceptual range.
In semiotic study, the notion of sign is central. It is the ‘pivotal notion of the field’ (Sebeok, 1964:
Southern African Linguistics and Applied Language Studies 2013, 31(1): 89–96 91

75). Sign is everything that on the grounds of previously established social convention can be
taken as standing for something else (Eco, 1976: 16). The sign is generally seen as a meaningful
unit, which stands for something other than itself. Signs according to Lang (2004) are considered
in terms of their functions in the communication process as vehicles or carriers of meaning. They
must naturally have a material basis but their essence is the mediation of information between two
systems.
Eco, one of the pioneers of semiotics, states that semiotic studies all cultural processes as
processes of communication. Each of the processes is permeated by an underlying system of
signification. For communication to take place there must be the existence of a code (a rule) or a
signification system that is socially conventionalised. A communication process is defined as the
passage of a signal from a source to a destination or an addressee, in so far as the signal that is
emitted follows a system of rules or codes known to the addressee. When based on this underlying
rule, something that is presented to the perception of the addressee stands for something else,
there is signification (Eco, 1984: 8). The rule or code should foresee an established correspond-
ence between that which it stands for and its addressers and addressees at all times. This is
the reason communication is easier among people of the same culture. Thus, Eco says a sign
is ‘everything that, on the ground of a previously established social convention can be taken as
something standing for something else’ (1984: 10).
In summary, the sign is generally perceived as functioning in a communication process
as vehicles or carriers of meaning. It is a meaningful unit, which is interpreted as standing for
something other than itself. Therefore, we can say that semiotics involves the study of any
meaningful unit, which is interpreted as a sign of something by some interpreter, based on certain
social and cultural conventions. Signs generally take the form of words, image, sounds, odours,
acts, objects or gestures. Such things have no intrinsic meanings in themselves. They become
signs only when we invest them with meanings (Chandler, 1995: 5).

Defining slang
Slang is highly informal words and expressions often thought to be inferior to the standard form of
a language. It is a non-standard vocabulary of extreme informality. It includes newly coined words,
shortened forms, and standard words used playfully out of their usual context. It is used to identify
speakers within an age group or social group.
Linguists have shown considerable interest in slang because of its prominence among youths
including university students; and there have been efforts to sustain a scholarly examination of slang.
There are different perspectives on what constitutes slang. For example, Dumas and Lighter
(1978: 14–15) say that an expression should be considered ‘true slang’ if it meets at the least two of
the following criteria:
(i) It lowers, if temporarily, ‘the dignity of formal or serious speech or writing’. In other words, it is
likely to be seen in such context as a ‘glaring misuse of register’.
(ii) Its use implies that the user is familiar with whatever is referred to, or with a group of people
that are familiar with and use the term.
(iii) ‘It is a taboo term in ordinary discourse with people of a higher social status or greater
responsibility’.
(iv) It replaces ‘a well known conventional synonym’. This is done primarily to avoid ‘the discomfort
caused by the conventional term or by further elaboration’.
This suggests that Dumas and Lighter define slang in terms of how they deviate from societal
norms and attitudes.
Eble (1996: 11) also defines slang as ‘an ever changing set of colloquial words or phrases that
speakers use to establish or reinforce social identity or cohesiveness within a group or with a trend
of fashion in society at large’. Eble focuses on the social function of slang and she observes that
the vocabulary of students depict ‘the ephemeral and innovative character of slang’ (ibid: 13).
Alimi and Arua (2008: 39) define slang from the social function perspective. They say that slang
is the informal and highly expressive product of students’ creativity, which is used to describe their
cultural, academic and social lives.
92 Adamo

For the purpose of this study, we view students’ slang as any linguistic label that deviates signifi-
cantly from standard linguistic usage, which students use to describe things that are important in
their social and academic lives.
Slang can act as a code which excludes outsiders and linguistically it can be seen as a
sub-dialect which is hardly used at all in writing – except for stylistic effect. Slang terms are often
known only within a clique or in-group. Partridge (1937) as such, identifies a number of reasons for
the creation and use of slang:
(i) To be different, startling, or original.
(ii) To display one’s membership of a group.
(iii) To be secretive or to exclude others.
(iv) To enrich the stock of language.
(v) To establish a friendly rapport with others.
(vi) To be irrelevant or humorous.
Longe (1999: 237) states that slang is a specialised language intended to disguise its meaning,
unintelligible to the uninitiated and is distinguishable from ‘related and potentially confused’ terms
such as argot, cant, jargon and vulgarism.

Slang terms for academic activities

This section discusses the slang terms that students use in reference to academic activities.

Cooperate
We must cooperate in SOC 301 today.
The term cooperate in conventional English means ‘to work together, to act jointly or in conjunc-
tion with somebody to an end or purpose; to concur in producing an effect; to practice economic
cooperation’ (OED II 963; WUDT 123).
In students’ slang, to cooperate signifies ‘cheating in an examination’. But this kind of cheating
connotes that the students involved work together or act jointly in order to copy from each other’s
examination papers or whisper answers to each other. What cooperate signifies in students’ slang
is derived from the notion of the term in the conventional sense of ‘to work together with somebody
to an end; to concur in producing an effect’, but there is extension in meaning. In informal
contexts and in the context of academic studies, the signified is ‘to have an agreement to cheat
in an examination’. This ‘cooperation’ serves the purpose of producing an effect, which is that the
students involved would pass the examination, albeit fraudulently. Therefore, to cooperate is a
means to an end. Cooperate is used in this context as a euphemism.

Expo
Andy carried expo to the (exam) hall and they caught him.
Expo is a clipped form of expose (or exposure). Expose means to put out; ‘to deprive of exposure
or shelter, to subject to an influence e.g. light; to display, reveal; to uncover or disclose; to present
to view, put forth; to show something that is usually hidden’ (WUDT 183; OED III 442).
Among students, expo is a term that signifies ‘carrying something, e.g. a piece of paper on
which prepared answers are written for use as an aid in an examination hall’. The term connotes
‘cheating’, therefore, it is a euphemism adopted by the students to refer to this. The signified is
derived from the notion of the conventional meaning of expose, which has the sense of ‘to uncover
or disclose; reveal; to show something that is usually hidden’, because such expo, when taken to
the examination halls, has to be uncovered, secretly though, to enable the student to copy form it.
The creativity and imaginativeness of students are displayed in the use of the term expo in that
expose, which is a verb, or exposure which is a noun does not normally collocate with carry, but the
students clipped off a part of the word and use it as a noun that collocates with the verb carry. In
DELSU slang, students always ‘carry expo’.

Jack
I am going to jack this night.
Southern African Linguistics and Applied Language Studies 2013, 31(1): 89–96 93

The term jack as a noun, means ‘any of various mechanical or hydraulic devise used to lift
something heavy; a playing card with a knave’s picture on it, ranking below the queen; a small flag
flowing on a ship’s bow as a signal or to show nationality; a small white ball used as a target’.
As a transitive verb used with in, jack can be used as a slang to mean ‘to abandon; to inject a
narcotic drug’. Used with up, jack means ‘to raise (a vehicle) by means of a jack; to increase (e.g.
prices)’ (WUDT 226).
The students in DELSU use jack to signify reading or the act of being studious. It connotes that
the student is deliberately and laboriously devoting his/her time to serious study. The reason for
using the term jack is not clear but it is somewhat related to jack in conventional slang usage, which
has the sense of ‘to abandon’. When a student jacks, the mental image one has is that the student
abandons every other thing in order to devote his/her time to study.
In a related usage a jacker, therefore is ‘one who jacks’ (one who is studious).

Effico
Huh, that effico!
This word effico is a coinage derived through the morphological process of clipping of the
adjective, efficient. Efficient means, ‘achieving results without waste of time or effort; effective;
competent’ (OED III 51; WUDT 168).
In students’ slang effico is a noun, which is used to stand for ‘a student who is very studious’.
It connotes one who does not devote time to frivolities. The signified of the term effico among
students has some affinity with the conventional meaning of efficient based on the notion that a
studious student/person is expected to be competent and achieve desired results without waste of
time, but it is often used rather derogatively among the students.

Bullet
You will throw me bullet today.
The term bullet (noun) in conventional usage means ‘a ball of lead or other metal, used in firearm
of small caliber; formerly, the missiles from a sling; a cannonball (of metal or stone); a term in card
playing; as a transitive verb, the term bullet means ‘to shoot, with a bullet, a small metal missile
fired from a gun or rifle’ (OED I 981; WUDT 278).
However, in students’ slang bullet signifies something else. In reference to examination, it is used
to stand for a piece of paper containing answers to questions which has been prepared before
hand and brought into the examination hall. It is used for cheating, after which it can be rolled
into a ball shape and thrown at another student for use. The choice of this linguistic sign by the
students is quite imaginative because a bullet in its denotative meaning is round and it is dangerous
if fired at somebody. It is similar to the manner in which the rolled piece of paper is thrown at
another student. It connotes that just as a bullet fired at somebody is dangerous, so do the students
face the danger of expulsion from the university authority if they are caught. The term bullet is a
euphemism for a material used for cheating in an examination and it is related to expo discussed
previously, but bullet conjures a different mental image when used. The notion derives from ‘the
missiles from a sling’.

Awoko
We are going to blow awoko this night.
Awoko is a term coined from the word awoke (the past tense of awake). The term awake as
an adjective, meaning ‘to come out of the state of sleep; to cease from sleep; roused from sleep;
to rise from a state resembling sleep such as death, indifference, inaction; to become active or
vigilant; to awake to something; to become fully conscious of; to become alive to; to be aware; to
watch’. As a transitive verb, it means ‘to arouse anyone from sleep; to become aware; to rouse from
inaction; figuratively: to rouse from a state resembling sleep; to stir up, excite, make active’ (OED I
591; WUDT 47).
In students’ slang, the term awoko is used as a noun, and it is made to collocate with the verb
blow. This is basically an invention of the students because normally awoke, which is a verb,
94 Adamo

cannot collocate with the verb blow in conventional usage. To blow awoko in slang, stands for a
situation whereby a student stays awake all night to study. This coinage is borne out of the imagina-
tion and creativeness of the students. It has a connotation of suddenly becoming studious because
of an approaching examination. This expression is borne out of the notion that in order to pass
examinations, a student must ‘cease to sleep’ and become active and ‘be fully conscious’ of’ his/her
studies.

Block
Go and block the lecturer now.
In conventional usage, the term block as a noun means ‘a solid piece of wood used as a base, of
which the top or surface is used for various operations (for chopping etc.); a log of wood; the stump
or trunk of a figure without the limbs; a group or roll of buildings; a number of things as a unit; the
main body of a petrol engine; a building divided into offices; an obstacle or obstruction; a child’s
building brick’. Used as slang, it could mean ‘the head’ in British English. Figuratively: a person
resembling a block or a log of wood, is unintelligent; a blockhead; in want of feeling; a hard hearted
person’. It is used in phrases, e.g. ‘a chip off the (same or) old block’; a piece of the same stuff; a
descendant reproducing the qualities of a parent or ancestor. To ‘cut block with a razor: a metaphor
describing absurdity, incongruous and futile application of abilities or means’.
Used as a transitive verb it means ‘to impede or obstruct; to shape, to sketch roughly; to lay
out, plan; to shut up or in by obstructing ingress and egress; to prevent access to or exit from; to
blockade, invest; to bargain’. Used as an intransitive verb, it means ‘to obstruct an opponent in
sports’ (OED I 928–1932; WUDT 65).
In students’ slang however, the sign ‘to block’ is used as a verb in the context of academic
activities, stands for ‘to bribe’. It connotes giving gratification either in cash or in kind especially
to a lecturer in order to pass a course that a student would otherwise have failed, or it is given in
order to score a high grade. The concept that brought about the choice of this linguistic sign block
emanated from the sense in which block means ‘to impede or obstruct’. It is generally believed
that a bribe is offered illegally to obstruct justice or fair play. Rather than use the term bribe, the
youths substitute a euphemistic term block for the offensive term bribe. So, a student who gives
such gratification is a blocker and a lecturer, for instance, who accepts such is said to be blockable.
Blocker and blockable are new signs created by the students through the morphological process of
suffixation, from an existing sign.
In another context, the term block could stand for ‘to meet with somebody; to encounter
somebody; as in ‘we will block you later’.

Sharp up
The girl is sharp up.
The term sharp up is derived from sharp, which is mostly used as an adjective to mean ‘having a
keen edge or fine point; pointed, not rounded; clear-cut; distinct; intense, piercing; cutting, severe,
keen, biting; clever, artful; alert, mentally acute; music: out of tune by being too high; as slang:
smartly dressed’.
Used as an adverb, sharp means ‘abruptly, sharply, suddenly; exactly, precisely, punctually,
quickly’ (OED IX 634–638; WUDT 432).
The students have coined the expression sharp up, a deviation from sharp, which is used as
an adjective to signify ‘intelligent or brilliant’. The signified of sharp up is derived from some of the
denotative meanings of sharp in the sense of ‘intense; clever; artful; alert, mentally acute’. The
term sharp up encapsulates all these qualities. A person/student who is sharp up (i.e. intelligent or
brilliant) is expected by the students to possess these quantities.
The preposition up might have been used idiomatically to refer to ‘the head’. So, in essence,
sharp up is an idiom that literally means ‘smart in the head’. To the students, somebody, who is
‘smart or clever’ in the head, is intelligent or brilliant.
Southern African Linguistics and Applied Language Studies 2013, 31(1): 89–96 95

Slacker
The guy is a slacker.
The term slacker means ‘a small shallow valley, a hollow or dip in the ground; a small or refuse
coal; the passing or spending of time; a cessation in the strong flow of a current or of the tide; of
person: lacking in energy or diligence; inclined to be lazy or idle; careless; negligent, lax in regard to
one’s duty; a person who shirks work or avoids exertion, exercise etc.’ (OED IX 163– 165).
In students’ slang in the context of academic studies, a slacker stands for ‘a person who is not
intelligent’. It connotes that the person is not intelligent because s/he is lazy, carefree and irrespon-
sible. The signified in slang has an extension in meaning, which derived from the concept that a
lazy person, who does not put enough care or attention or energy into something, is not likely to be
bright, smart, splendid or intelligent. The students use the term disapprovingly. Although they may
have intended to use this sign as a euphemism for an unintelligent person, it however, still has a
negative connotation.

Conclusion
This study reveals that students’ slang has certain inherent characteristics, which may be unique
to it. First, the variety of English used by students is unique because all of the slang terms that
emerge from our data are derived from standard English words. They all have their objective or
definitional meanings as we can see from the analysis. In addition, the kinds of meanings that are
typically associated with these words and phrases have semiotic significance that are known and
appreciated only by the students and those initiated into their culture. Such novel meanings given to
words by these students often diverge significantly from the standard meanings.
Second, there are some words and phrases, which are new formal creations. One of such
creations is that which the students form through the process of clipping. Examples of such are
effico (from efficient), expo (from expose), and awoko (from awake). It is observed that clipped
items such as effico and awoko have hyperbolic semiotic effect when used because emphasis in
often placed on them to create this effect. All of the slang terms in this data are highly metaphoric
in that what the speaker intends them to mean departs from what the terms actually mean.
Although they have literal meanings, they also, and more importantly, have transferred meanings,
the signified of which may not be easily understood by those outside the culture of the students.
The transferred meanings ascribed to each of the words and expressions in most cases are the
exclusive property of these students. Moreover, like slang elsewhere, these terms are largely a
code, intelligible only to the students and those who have been initiated into their sociolinguistic
worldview. The most striking examples are cooperate, bullet, expo, block, and awoko.
Students, by creating their own academic slang terms, are perhaps trying to break loose from
a kind of English that is conservative and ‘bookish’, that which is spoken by the average Nigerian
speaker of English even in informal contexts. They provoke a greater sense of intimacy in the use
of language, bringing an air of friendly informality to a situation. Therefore, even in an ESL context,
it is possible to be deliberately original and use the English language for ease of social intercourse
without necessarily lowering the dignity of the language.

Notes
1 With informed consent from the Students Union congress, utterances of students were recorded

using mini tape recorders by designated students who could have access to students’ hostels,
classrooms, clubs and organisations, where students use flexible and informal speech. These
were replayed and transcribed.

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