Vernacular language, whether adopted from a certain dialect, social slang or the Internet, is crucial for developing connections, increasing relatability, fostering understanding and creating a sense of authenticity.
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Many people don’t realize how deeply integrated vernacularism is in everyday language, and how language evolves across generations.These forms of expression make communication and topic comprehension more accessible.
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Vernacularism has become a cultural shorthand for students at UNC Charlotte — a way to build connections with peers and signal their identity. From casual language in friend groups to students in leadership roles, vernacularism is so deeply embedded in how we communicate that many people don’t realize that it shapes our understanding of the world and how we build relationships with one another.
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Vernacularism’s meaning and its ties to connection and identity
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To understand how impactful vernacular language is, it’s important to know what the meaning of vernacularism is and how it pertains to student life in terms of building communication, identity and the way students navigate campus life.
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The term ‘vernacularism’ refers to the use of everyday language, idioms and expressions that connect to a specific community. Vernacularism isn’t limited to spoken words; it includes visual and auditory language as well, with memes, popular audios, Internet slang and dialect as strong forms of vernacular English.
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It’s also a powerful tool for community identification, particularly in other forms of vernacular expression, such as African American Vernacular English (AAVE) and Toronto Slang.
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These popular genres of vernacular expression essentially laid the groundwork for modern internet slang, with AAVE expressions like «finna,» «deadass,««lit« and «on God« being widely used in digital and in-person settings, like in friend groups and at social events.
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For UNC Charlotte students, vernacularism is one of the biggest keys to connection and authenticity. With the rise of social media, certain vernaculars spread faster, making it easier for students to incorporate them into their everyday vocabulary.
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Social media: a catalyst for the use of vernacularism
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Social media has significantly accelerated the use of vernacular, fostering community-specific slang and intertwining digital culture with everyday communication despite differences in format and audience.
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Memes are a strong subset of Internet culture, acting as a hilariously chaotic space where niche community memes, slang and shared humor form in real time.
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«A lot of the stuff that we’ll see on social media will be integrated as phrases or jokes inside of our friend group that we’ll build even niche or smaller meanings onto. And it’s how we communicate,« first-year student Aidan Potter said.
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Because vernacularism is seamlessly adaptable, social media users can easily rework trending slang and memes into their own content.
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This creates a reinforcement loop that quickly boosts visibility, turning niche expressions into universal ones like the phrase «67,« which has evolved from a specific reference to a general buzzword that resonates on a global scale.
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«The more popular that some memes or some words get, the more they could spread everywhere. And when you start seeing it, like funny stuff, you start repeating it to people. So my friends and I will just keep repeating it to each other all the time until it’s in our vocabulary,« third-year student Sabrina Syboutlan added.
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Social media also plays an important part in the spread of knowledge and in understanding audiences. It can immerse students in new slang that spreads like wildfire across campus.
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«It opens up new slang for you that you’ve never seen before, and then you go back and be like, ‘Oh, yeah, I saw this video,’ and then you and your homie start using it,« third-year student Justus Overton said. «Then it starts spreading. A text message is faster than a carrier pigeon.»
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The genre is an outlet to educate and communicate emotions in an easily shareable way, as it blends vernacular slang to further promote authenticity and user-driven creativity.
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«Most of [my friends] aren’t Hispanic, so a way for them to connect with me is actually learning slang in Spanish. And they use it with me. I’m just like, ‘Oh my god, you learned Spanish?‘» first-year student Fatima Castillo said. «They’re learning Spanish in a way by using slang, and I feel that’s awesome that they’re connecting with my culture in a way.«
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A 2023 study by Pew Research Center found that nearly 70% of teens say that they learn a lot from social media about certain things that they are interested in.
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Vernacularism in leadership roles and professional settings
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Vernacularism in student life is also helpful when it comes to leadership or when trying to convey topics to someone.
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Building a sense of relatability and connection is essential for understanding your audience, and vernacular language often becomes the bridge that makes that possible, easing the awkwardness between two people and creating a sense of familiarity. When students share the same slang, jokes or memes, it lowers the tension in the conversation. Once that comfort is established, people feel more at ease and are willing to communicate as long as they feel a sense of belonging. It’s a way to speak on someone’s level without intimidating them.
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«I feel like when we’re able to use slang, or things that are easily connected, it definitely kind of breaks down that barrier of us having a job and that we’re the police of the hall,« fourth-year student and Resident Advisor (RA) Chandler Elliot said.
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Sharing the same vernacular helps lower the social stakes of a conversation. It transforms a standard conversation between two people into something more engaging, making the speaker’s intent more authentic and less intimidating.
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«A lot of people kind of look at RAs as the bad guys and that we’re only here to get y’all in trouble,« Elliot continued. «But I think whenever we’re able to use vernaculars, especially when we’re making flyers or hosting events and using media that relates to them, I feel like it definitely helps.»
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Another aspect when it comes to using vernacular language is the ability to switch from informal English to formal English and vice versa.The term code-switching refers to the practice of switching between languages or language variants.
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It’s important to have the ability to code-switch, especially in positions of leadership. Students often have to communicate with different audiences, and knowing when to use certain vernacular English helps maintain professionalism without losing authenticity.
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It allows leaders to connect without making others feel uncomfortable, while also demonstrating linguistic sophistication and adaptability.
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«As a club president, I will use less of the slang or informal speech just because there’s a certain level of authenticity I need to hold up,« third-year student and Ultimate Frisbee club president Tommy Wray said. «And I feel like the more you use informal English, the less authentic you are in a position of leadership.»
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The use of vernacular language can also be used for informative purposes. Whether learning about math, politics or different cultures, vernacularism makes it easier for others to immerse themselves in knowledge.
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The importance of educated uses of vernacularism
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But not all vernacular expressions are harmless. With how quickly vernacular slang can spread through social media, it can also reach a different genre of vernacular called dog-whistles, which are coded phrases or symbols to convey often hateful or extremist messages.
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Terms such as «like a moth to a flame,« «welfare queen,« «inner city,« «DEI hire« and many more are common dog whistles to target the Black community, along with other harmful phrases that target other marginalized groups.
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«As a culture, we’ve seen more and more that the dog whistles of racism and sexism and all kinds of really awful behavior are becoming much more clear to people,« UNC Charlotte Writing, Rhetoric & Digital Studies Professor Laura Knudson said. «A lot of stuff in the past I would not have known to be a dog whistle of that sort, but because I’ve seen it in these contexts and then had to go look it up to understand it.»
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The ongoing growth of social media has immersed others in new slang developed by different cultures, but it’s important to stay educated and to understand the contexts of certain vernaculars, especially with AAVE.
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Most modern Internet slang used today is derived from AAVE. Other genres of vernacularism, like Toronto Slang and slang that originated from Jamaican patois and Middle Eastern communities in Canada, also serve as the backbone for much of the slang Gen Z uses.
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«We see a lot of people using it, but it would be disingenuous to say that it’s not part of, or more heavily influenced by Black culture,« third-year student Jessica Lu stated.
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When slang is stripped of its cultural meaning and repurposed by mainstream media, it risks losing its original meaning, or worse, being weaponized.
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Several terms originating from AAVE have been popularized by social media and stripped of their original context. A prime example is the word ‘TS’, commonly short for ‘this shit’ or ‘that shit‘ to put emphasis on a situation.
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On social media, however, the word ‘TS‘ has been oversimplified to mean ‘this,‘ losing its original meaning and ignoring the linguistic framework that AAVE has created.
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By understanding the roots of AAVE and other vernaculars, we can help combat language-based racism and ensure better communication within diverse social settings.
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«I feel like you should probably understand where words and slang come from just for the sake of historical and cultural knowledge,« first-year student Caleb Flippin said.
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Vernacularism has shaped many students’ language at UNC Charlotte and how they’re able to interact with the world around them. From positive reinforcements and cultural immersion to just getting a quick laugh, vernacularism has sculpted itself to be the source of human connection.
