Nothing Illegitimate About ‘Gutter Slang’

A reader called the other day and, boy, did he sound dissed.

That’s not a typo. For those unfamiliar with modern American slang, he felt disrespected. And all I can say is: No disrespect was intended.

It took me awhile to understand the caller’s grievance. He called, introduced himself and politely inquired as to my Thursday column about a southeast Valley neighborhood that officially divorced itself from North Hollywood to become West Toluca Lake. What did I mean, he wondered, when I wrote that West Tolucans “say they weren’t trying to diss their neighbors to the north.”

“Oh,” I answered helpfully, “that’s a slang term that’s short for disrespect.”

Now he pounced. Oh, he knew all along what the word meant. He knew the etymology. He knew it was the creation of urban black youth, lingo associated with gangs and rap.

“Gutter slang,” he sneered. “So The Times thinks it’s OK now to use gutter slang.”

*

Now it was obvious this reader, after pretending to have an innocent question, had just called to diss my diction.

I rather like that kind of scrape. It so happens that words are a pet subject of mine. Now, I don’t pretend to be an expert, and goodness knows several readers have caught grammatical gaffes. But I do have a keen interest in words and their meanings and strong opinions about the circumstances under which controversial words may be fit to print. Language is a battlefield, and I’ve got the scars to prove it. I’d love to share a few war stories here. . . . But alas, I’d just wind up with more editorial wounds.

But clearly this reader was a man of strong convictions too. Trying to engage him in a discussion, I reminded him how the English language and, if you will, the American language, is a dynamic organism that keeps growing and evolving. New words pop up all the time, from all walks of life.

I wanted to dazzle him with the kind of example that would make him say, “Really? I didn’t know that.” Unfortunately, the example that came to mind is familiar to many. I asked him if he knew the (World War II-era military) root of snafu.

“Situation Normal: All Fouled Up,” he quickly replied.

Only he didn’t say “fouled.” He used gutter slang, but at least it was historically correct.

I invited him to write a letter, but he soon hung up, apparently more interested in dissing than discussing. That’s too bad. I wanted him to amplify his thoughts, to further explain why he was so offended. A defender of the King’s English? Doubtful. My guess is that he believes the more that mainstream society recognizes such dialect, the further Western civilization slides down that slippery slope to moral ruin.

Just a guess. But I’d be curious to hear his opinion about a more significant, more provocative debate. George Will, among other conservatives, argues that society should once again embrace the term “illegitimate” to describe children born out of wedlock. By de-stigmatizing the lexicon, has society legitimized and thus encouraged unmarried parenthood? Or, as the prevailing wisdom has it, is this term unfair and insulting to the children and their parents?

My scars were won in battles over political correctness--on questions that, I believe, are best judged on a case-by-case basis, because everybody with an agenda pushes their own brand of PC. The multicultural left is typically blamed, but the “illegitimacy” crusade comes from the right.

The I-word is much more interesting than diss. As a rule, language is thought to mirror social behavior and attitudes, but language can influence attitudes as well. I prefer the neutrality of “out-of-wedlock,” but I can follow the opposing argument.

But what about diss? By using this slang, am I sanctioning criminal behavior? Am I glorifying gangsters? Will this word encourage graffiti vandals?

That’s a slippery slope I don’t see. In this case, I submit, the fundamental rules apply: A word is just a word, a diss is just a diss.

And so in the turf battle over West Toluca Lake, a little street slang seemed appropriate. (Or maybe it’s just that I have a birthday coming up and this was a desperate, subconscious attempt at sounding young and hip.)

Whatever. The fact is, I just like diss, gutter or no. It’s pithy and colorful and has such an edge, ending with that angry hiss. “Don’t disrespect me” sounds so wimpy. “Don’t diss me” doesn’t.

For that matter, I even like dis, which is how the Random House Unabridged Dictionary prefers to spell it. Anne H. Soukhanov, monitor of the Atlantic Monthly’s “Word Watch” column, first elaborated on diss in the 1980s. It had been spoken on the streets for years.

It’s popped up in newspapers for years now. Oh, maybe diss will prove to be a passing fad. Maybe it won’t have the staying power of snafu. But it’s popular now. A quick check with the library found several examples. This ‘hood lingo has found its way into the vocabulary of novelist Salman Rushdie as well as a certain Yorba Linda councilman. (The pol is still angry that Jack Kemp, before his recent conversion, had visited his hometown “to diss Prop. 187.”)

And remember, if this word were taboo, The Times couldn’t have put this headline over Stephanie Simon’s feature Monday about an autobiography of Johnnie L. Cochran Jr.:

He Chose to Diss More Than Tell

Scott Harris’ column appears Tuesdays, Thursdays and Sundays. Readers may write to Harris at the Times Valley Edition, 20000 Prairie St., Chatsworth 91311. Please include a phone number.