Are slangs important?

[Mickey]

I have done all the Grammar exercise except slangs.

Are slangs important?

[Prezbucky]

To be understood, no... slang is not important generally.

But to fit in and to show mastery of a local, regional or national version of a language -- yes, slang is important.
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Billie Jean is not my lover. Hee.

[SkiIucK]

In my opinion, slang English is a lot harder to master than regular English.

[Prezbucky]

Yep -- slang requires time and total immersion in a language, engaging in verbal forays with speakers of a distinct area.

I know English pretty well and I listen to rap music from time to time, but were I to encounter an inner-city (US) gang, their slanglish would likely leave me dumbfounded.

Slang nouns and adjectives are grammatically acceptable generally. That said, slang does breed mistakes from time to time. Here are some examples:

- "Where are you at?" OR "Where you at?" -- Firstly, "at" is redundant here. The latter rendition also lacks the verb "are", which is obviously an issue.

- "I be chillin'." -- There is no problem with "chillin'" but, um, the correct conjugation of the verb is "am".

- "We eats together." -- This is, again, obvious: the verb should be "eat".

I'm cool with slizang, homies. But I draw my usually stubborn line at engaging in speech that rapes proper grammar.
_________________
Billie Jean is not my lover. Hee.

[BrianL]

People will be much more impressed with you if you can use slang properly. As others have said, it shows a deeper understanding of the culture and language.
That said, English has more slang words than most of the world's languages put together. It's almost as daunting as learning the entire language all over again.

[Prezbucky]

TD (Torsten),

We do have a "slang" topic on this site, right?

At your convenience, would you mind putting it on the front page?

Thank you, friend!
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Billie Jean is not my lover. Hee.

[Torsten]