The Awesome Democracy Of Words

I'm starting to take to "refudiate." It puts me in the mind of that great Mobb Deep line, "My gun-shots will make you levitate." or Rakim's "Hit em at point-blank range and watch em radiate." There's something extra about the word. Plus it blends nicely with my whole notion of language as most expressive when it's organic and democratic. 

The whole subject got me thinking of my favorite slang. I think the verb "to son" has to be up there. To put someone "on blast" is a good one. Kool G Rap once referred to his gun as "an organ-shifter"--beautiful double entendre there. 

I'm a sucker for understatement. One of my son's football coaches once told him (the kid was a defensive end) that if was where he needed to be, the opposing lineman would "be forced to address him."  But probably my favorite innovation is the urban invocation of "to see." As in, "He don't want to see me." Or, taking it back to 88, "Tell him, after class, that I'ma see him."

Somewhat related, here's a great episode of Radiolab dealing in the connection between language and thought. It's pretty amazing. I did not realize that Shakespeare invented so many damn words. Given my current project, it was really inspiring.

One last phrase. In the antebellum South, unrefined garments, or homespun, were often called "Negro cloth." That's a great one.