SLANG

Candy Gourlay’s post on teen slang and EMOs got me thinking, so this week, I conducted a short survey in which I asked my Year 10 class for slang words. The results were interesting- so interesting, in fact, that I decided to do a bit of research on this subject. During my exploration of this vast area, I discovered that there are quite a few others fascinated by this subject!

In fact, I found a number of articles dedicated to this subject, some more recent than others but all are still worth a read- I’d say they were phat!

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/magazine/4074004.stm
http://www.bbc.co.uk/gloucestershire/getfresh/2003/10/teen_talk.shtml

I also found a teen slang dictionary and a site where you can translate teen slang. I tried a few choice words but had difficulty getting any sense out of the translator.

For your information, some real life kids came up with the following words. I'm sure there are many more, but enjoy- all the same:

EMO- an emotional and sad person. They thought Sylvia Plath was an EMO.
Chav- commoner, rough person
Pikie- gipsy
Bredrin- brothers/ mates/ friends
Mandems- friends
Grills- teeth
Init- isn’t it
Blud- mate/ friend
Brapp- sorted/ excellent
Supp- what’s up
In the yard- in the house
Crib- house
Fit- good looking
Gutted- upset
Mingin-horrible
Yum- lovely
Brother from another mother
Sister from another mister
Wicked- very good
Rank- horrible
Skank- horrible
Milf- mother I’d like to f***
Dilf- dad I’d like to f***
Silf- sister I’d like to (you get the picture!)

MSN TALK Lol- laugh out loud
Brb- be right back
Tbh- to be honest
Gd- good
Nm- nothing much
Bm4l- best mate for life
Rofl- rolling on the floor laughing
Ily- I love you
Cba- can’t be arsed
Wtf- what the f***
Omg- Oh my God
Lmao- laughing my ass off
Btw- by the way

Return to blogosphere

It's been a while, but here I am in blogosphere. What news can I tell you?
Well, I've been busy editing my school's termly publication and have recently set up a blog/ E-Mag for students to post creative writing.

I've also created an account at my space: www.myspace.com/jude_ensaff
If you have an account there, let me know and I'll look you up and add you to my friends!!

My writing has been slow of late. In fact, I've been a bit remiss but with Easter coming up, I'm planning to do a whole load then. Also there's something else in the pipe-line which may come to fruition. If or when it does, I'll let you know. Till, then Happy Writing y'all! (I've been watching too much American Idol, can you tell?)

Ice Cream, Published Work and Art with a difference

I went to London on Saturday where I met my sister who was down here with a friend. We had a wander, took in the sights and went for a meal at an organic vegan restaurant, where the food was lovely and good value. The highlight for me was finding this-




Yes you read right- Jude's ice cream! I didn't know such a thing existed, so of course I just had to have some. And it was yummy. As the label says it's ice cream with soul. If you're an ice cream fan, try some- here's Jude's ice cream home site!

The art at TATE modern was interesting too, especially the Surrealist section. I was rather taken by a particular piece of work which was placed in a glass frame and had a strange appeal, although I couldn't quite figure out what it represented. Only later did I discover that it was about sexual fulfilment. It all made sense then?!!

To add to all this happy news, yesterday, I got my free copies of the KS3 Year 7 English Resource Pack that I co-authored for Philip Allan Updates.

Now, I can eat ice cream whilst admiring my lovely work and thinking back to that piece of art. Can it get any better?!!!!

Fingers Crossed: Agent lists

I've been a wee bit busy this week. I'm sorting out the end of term publication for my school and been busily approaching US agents... more on that later, and I'm currently completing application forms to do an MA in Creative Writing. I'm keeping my fingers crossed for all of that. (Incidentally I have linked to the origin of this action and saying for anyone who is curious!!)

In my agent searching travels, I found some interesting information which I thought some of you might be interested to know, so here are some US agents open to new authors. The list is on the Writer's Digest site, which is great, by the way. Anatasia Suen drew my attention to this.

If you're looking for representation for a children's book, perhaps you could approach one of the agents Candy talks about on her latest post. Enjoy!

A Day for Celebration

Yesterday was WORLD BOOK DAY
and St David's Day, both of significance to me.



As a writer English enthusiast, the first cannot pass by unnoticed, so in celebration of World Book Day, I devised a quiz. I've listed some of the questions below and I'm sure the enthusiasts amongst you will be able to answer them. (They're pretty easy really.)

In Pride and Prejudice what is the name of the family with five daughters?
In which country is The Garbage King set?
Name three books written by Charles Dickens.
What was the name of Sherlock Holmes’ assistant?
In which now famous road did he live?
Checkmate is the last in a trilogy of books. Name the other two books.
Who wrote His Dark Materials series of books?
The Outsiders, a novel about two rival gangs in America, is written by whom?
What kind of war did Robert Cormier write about?
In which fictional place did CS Lewis set much of The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe?
St David's Day is important to me as my mum was Welsh, and I went to sixth form in a school in Cardiff, whose motto was TUA’R GOLEUNI – TOWARDS THE LIGHT. Inspiring, don't you think?!
It must have been because famous past pupils include Nobel prize winner and physicist, Brian Josephson, the writer Craig Thomas and newsreaders John Humphreys and Jeremy Bowen ... and, of course, me :-)