About Us
SLANG
Reason
The idea of studying the Slang Language of colleges after seeing a dictionary for Yale Lingo on campus. It became a deep dive into understanding why students, faculty, and alumni call an object, place or building different than the actual title. We also wanted to know what the lingo was on campus.
Basic Research
Understanding campus lingo is essential for fostering a sense of belonging and inclusion within any academic community. To shed light on the unique linguistic culture at Sarah Lawrence College, a renowned liberal arts institution, basic research has been conducted. This research draws inspiration from the methodology used in Yale's lingo dictionary and applies it to the Sarah Lawrence context.
The study delves into the diverse and idiosyncratic vocabulary and phrases that have emerged over the years at Sarah Lawrence, contributing to the college's distinctive culture. Through interviews, surveys, and observation, researchers have sought to identify and document the key terms, expressions, and slang that are commonly used among students, faculty, and staff.
By conducting this basic research, the goal is to create a comprehensive Sarah Lawrence Lingo Dictionary, which will serve as a valuable resource for both newcomers and seasoned members of the Sarah Lawrence community. It will help bridge the gap between generations of students and provide insight into the college's evolving culture. Moreover, this research will aid in fostering a stronger sense of community and communication on campus.
The website dedicated to this research project will serve as a repository for the collected data, definitions, and explanations of Sarah Lawrence's unique lexicon. It will also provide a platform for ongoing updates and contributions from the community, ensuring the dictionary remains a living document that reflects the ever-changing nature of campus lingo.
In summary, this basic research project at Sarah Lawrence College aims to unravel the intricacies of the institution's campus lingo and create a resource that promotes understanding, inclusivity, and connection within the college community, much like Yale's lingo dictionary has done for its campus culture.
The Hypothesis
From our own perspective as students (Class of ‘25 & ‘26) in our time spent at the college, we considered students to be most influential in creating the lingo/slang vocabulary on campus. We have observed that campus terminology has become reworded from their original word in dialogue held by Sarah Lawrence affiliates, as well as official emails, social media, and other documents. We want to gain perspective on who influences lingo creation and why it is done, and if there is popular usage. Searching for such, we will format a community dictionary that highlights the terms in order of greatest usage for members of the community. Such will test the theory that students are responsible for these changes made to official vocabulary. This should reflect a cohesive vocabulary that reflects mutual understanding within Sarah Lawrence. The effect will be measured by an extensive survey of popular spaces and terminology on campus to further study if lingo is class-specific.
Connections between Yale, Harvard, Princeton
When using the terminology sites of these three Ivy League institutions as resources, we sought to compare the colleges with Sarah Lawrence as it has been compared to such schools with the way the college is run. Yale has a college-specific name for the student body as Yalies; Princeton uses their mascot to call the student body Tigers, or Princetonians; Harvard does not have an official term, similarly to SLC. However, Harvard uses the terminology first-year student as we do, but nicknames them as a Frosh. Additionally, Harvard has Crimson Cash as we have 1 Card Cash, which is multi-use as well. Like SLC, Harvard uses the term concentration, yet in contrast our concentration is open-ended and student-designed, while concentration for Harvard is synonymous with the term major. With a similar sounding name to The Barb, Harvard has The Berg for their freshman-only dining hall Annenberg. Harvard’s “SPANGLER” is officially termed Spangler Center, and is “the epicenter of student activity. It is home to the dining hall, game room, US Post Office, Harvard COOP, MBA offices, and more”. It sounds similar to Bates, yet Barb is considered our student center. As we have our First Year Experience for incoming students, Yale has Camp Yale. All college’s traditions are college-specific, yet Harvard’s Primal Scream holds similarities to Princeton’s Nude Olympics, a tradition from 1970-1999 until it was banned. Before Bacchanalia and Sleaze Week were adjusted for more modesty, this was SLC’s contribution to the nudity trend during the time. Our greatest tradition according to the survey is Rocky Horror, yet the college considers the Princess Bride screening as an adjacently important one as well. Harvard’s main tradition is the Primal Scream, a streaking tradition through campus. Yale’s institutionally-recognized tradition is The Game, which references the annual Harvard-Yale football game. Princeton’s “most memorable” current tradition is The Bonfire, which celebrates the football team’s record of the most wins among the “Big Three”: Harvard, Yale, and Princeton. What we’ve found in our research is that there are some striking similarities across these colleges and ours considering certain events and terminology, yet most terms are community-specific to the college, suggesting that the culture of each college’s terminology is built and upheld by the student body, according to what is deemed relevant.