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Perhaps dating had become too serious, with too many structured responsibilities for both sexes, too much undesired pressure; an inherited, evolved dogma that felt stifling to modern young people. Hanging out became the relaxed alternative, the less-structured group activity. Over time, hanging out even extended to one-on-one couples, becoming a ritual-free, unpressurized dating lite. Yet Unheard of Books author W. Town Andrews, Jr. found it puzzling that such an established phenomenon, having evolved in the waning decades of the 20th century and half a decade into the 21st—to the point of nearly replacing old-fashioned dating entirely—still lacked two essential ingredients; 1) a simplified, descriptive, and definitive vocabulary loosely corresponding to the archaic terms of dating, and 2) a written guide to the practice and perfection of the techniques of hanging out--because in any age, and no matter the terminology, there are beginners and awkward souls to whom social skills don't exactly come naturally. Seeing no reason why these two needs shouldn't be solved simultaneously, and simply, Andrews applied an ingenious formula: |
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The result is an old-fashioned guide to new social lifestyles, filled with in-your-face surprises and unexpected linguistic somersaults. |
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And, as an added bonus, as one reads The Art of Hanging (between chuckles, giggles, and the occasional out-and-out guffaw), the thought occurs that perhaps injecting a little bit of the old-school code and structure into the newer, looser social lifestyles might not be such a bad thing after all. |
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And the benefit to the average reader? Beyond amusement? |
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Every reader is to some degree also a speaker, and a writer. Art of Hanging will show readers that they too can use the everyday English of the past, and the present—and their own imaginations—to have fun expressing themselves. “We all have the right—though some grammarians and English Professors may want to restrict or outright squash it—to use our language in creative ways to communicate, and even to amuse,” says Andrews. Art of Hanging—and the pastiche of slangs called The New Manglish—simply use that license to extreme effect. |
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“For the reader, The Art of Hanging renews your license to be unreservedly expressive in informal settings,” says Andrews. |
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Full Title: The Art of Hanging…and Stylin’ Limp |
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IS NEW MANGLISH THE NEW LANGUAGE OF LOVE? Free Pocket Guide to The New Manglish™ Language by Mail or Online – and for Valentine's Day (Berwyn PA, February 8, 2008) – New Manglish is modern American English that incorporates multiple variations in usage and vocabulary, created specifically to add spice, interest and humor to a new series of self-help and how-to books updated from nearly forgotten out-of-print works. Unheard of Books, LLC is publishing these under the series title New Mangled™ Guides. Everyone has heard words used in popular culture like doodah, blam, bling,
peeps, combobulate and yadda yadda. So where do they come from? How do you
use them? And what do they really mean? |
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New Manglish is a written form of English, but is certainly spoken as well. Indeed, New Manglish draws from multiple linguistic percolators in its spicy blend, including numerous spoken argots, cants and slangs. It’s fun to learn about and try out. New Manglish was constructed by first selecting the most enduring, charming, amusing, essential and useful terms coined by youth in the English-speaking world during the second half of the 20th century and the first half-decade of the 21st. 50s, 60s, 70s, 80s, 90s and 00s slang was sifted and sorted for its pithiest and most poignant contributions to our culture. But this was not enough. In order to make these quaint and dusty works stand out as truly newly mangled, many more linguistic twists and tourniquets needed to be found, researched, and layered into the mixture that was to become New Manglish. Skate Slang, HipHop, Ebonics, Film Noir, ‘40s Gangster Patois, Cowboy Slang, Aussie Slang, Business Cliche, Cockney Argot, Classic Cartoonisms, Surfer Lingo, Office Jargon, Stoner Dude, Urban Lingo...to name just a few, were all consulted, raided, and wrung for their savory contributions. |
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Other terms came in from pop culture--from Madison Avenue, from the Nintendo and Sega universes, from sport, movies, the internet and television, medical terminology, pop psychology, self-help movements, culinary cant. Even technical, scientific, medical and legal jargons made their contributions. |
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We slotted this hodgepodge of words and phrases into a find-and-replace matrix and unleashed it on the unsuspecting text of our first victim, a 1950s self-help book for young people just entering the confusing world of love and relationships. |
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To receive the free Pocket Guide (8 mini-pages accordion-folded to fit in a wallet slot or shirt pocket, packed with terms and trends ) to the New Manglish Language send a self-addressed-stamped #10 envelope to Unheard of Books, PO Box 153, Berwyn PA 19312. Or, download the print-it-yourself version below |
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