Idioms and Slang

[Soleil]

I believe I've heard that autistic people tend to have trouble with idioms and with slang, so I'm wondering about your experiences.

I'm generally good with idioms, but then I'm pretty good at languages in general. So I have no trouble recognizing that certain set phrases mean something totally different from what the phrase suggests.

Slang can be a little trickier, but I think that may just because there's less exposure; most idiomatic expressions have been around for decades or longer, while slang tends to fall out of use before I get a chance to really understand it.

I do recall in elementary school a visiting youth group handed out shirts and said they were "tight". I was a little confused by this, but figured out they meant "cool, hip". I was also very confused by their little dance party when they said someone was "in the house" and talked about "raising the roof", both of which I only understood from context.

 

[VictorR]

I sometimes like interactions with older clients who like dropping idioms (e.g. water under the bridge) though admittedly I sometimes go scrambling to look them up.

I don't think I've encountered "tight" but I recall "phat" become very confusing the first several times I heard it.

 

[Bolletje]

I don’t struggle with either.

 

[ASD_Geek]

Yes, I struggle with some. One that confounded me until relatively recently was, "you can't have your cake and eat it too." I always thought that what's the use of having cake if you can't eat it... lol

 

[Aspychata]

l like slang, l like learning different words that add a slant or color the meaning. l think you can be a word artist and connect dots to a different meaning causing others to open up their thinking.

 

[PastelPetals]

Slang is hard for me. It changes too fast.

 

[Au Naturel]

Slang is just an extension of the language too recent to become universal. If you can look up something in a dictionary and it includes (slang) it is well on its way to not being slang anymore.

 

[Moonhart44]

i dont use trendy slang. by the time i grasp it, the trend has past

 

[Tom]

I find some idioms interesting and try to learn the origin. Others are humorous as far as what people learning English must think when they hear them for the first time.

 

[Progster]

I don't have difficulty with idioms and slang if I know them. I keep coming across slang all the time, I don't always know it, but do usually understand that it is slang or an expression and not to be taken literally.

What causes me the greatest difficulty is acronyms. Sometimes I haven't a clue what a post talking about because the person is using acronyms specific to their country, culture or hobby and not explaining them. On an international forum like this, acronyms need to be explained. How am I to know that AMV = animated movie video if I'm not into anime, for example?

 

[Alexej]

How am I to know that AMV = animated movie video if I'm not into anime, for example?

There have been multiple cases where folks have posted here using language or jargon that is alien to me.
However search engines are a good source of enlightenment

 

[Suzanne]

I am a little better now, with idioms, although do get caught out with literalism. My husband is natorous for them and could be the reason why I am better now.

As for slang words. I honestly have never understood the concept, but guess it is teens who want to rebel.

Languages? I wouldn't mind getting a hit on my head lol Absolutely useless!

 

[Au Naturel]

I don't have difficulty with idioms and slang if I know them. I keep coming across slang all the time, I don't always know it, but do usually understand that it is slang or an expression and not to be taken literally.

What causes me the greatest difficulty is acronyms. Sometimes I haven't a clue what a post talking about because the person is using acronyms specific to their country, culture or hobby and not explaining them. On an international forum like this, acronyms need to be explained. How am I to know that AMV = animated movie video if I'm not into anime, for example?

If Google isn't an option or doesn't turn anything up, it is one of those things you have to ask. A lot of the autism jargon we throw around here would leave an NT confused.

 

[Rae Ray]

Yes, I struggle with some. One that confounded me until relatively recently was, "you can't have your cake and eat it too." I always thought that what's the use of having cake if you can't eat it... lol

super funny

 

[Statest16]

Slang is just an extension of the language too recent to become universal. If you can look up something in a dictionary and it includes (slang) it is well on its way to not being slang anymore.

Yes^^^
Noam Chomsky espouses this theory in the "language doesn't exist theory"
Hence that people surely use spoken and written words to communicate but language does not exist.
Through accentation and slang,language is ever changing and not absolute.

 

[Streetwise]

I find some idioms interesting and try to learn the origin. Others are humorous as far as what people learning English must think when they hear them for the first time.

Try speaking with my accent and using idioms ,my accent is not received pronunciation ,what is thought of by a percentage of Americans as British,it's a mixture of Scots (not Edinburgh),R of Eire Irish ,Welsh and Yorkshire ,I hate speaking to call centres ,I use what some might call a slang word Scrike but it's Norwegian in origin

 

[Streetwise]

I am a little better now, with idioms, although do get caught out with literalism. My husband is natorous for them and could be the reason why I am better now.

As for slang words. I honestly have never understood the concept, but guess it is teens who want to rebel.

Languages? I wouldn't mind getting a hit on my head lol Absolutely useless!

It's not useless, it's that you speak a very artificial language !,English you speak was created by tradesmen and how many are they? ,if you had learned old English ,you would find latinate languages logical !but you learned a very complex language ,latinate languages(French ,Italian ,Spanish ,Portuguese,German (slightly different has neuter(neutral) words)are another system ,how could you easily learn that words are male or female !!!

 

[Nervous Rex]

i dont use trendy slang. by the time i grasp it, the trend has past

I feel like I can kill any cool trend simply by adopting it. Me doing it instantly makes it uncool.

I know what slang is, because I google whatever new slang I don't understand. But I don't use it because I never feel like I could pull it off.

 

[Progster]

There have been multiple cases where folks have posted here using language or jargon that is alien to me.
However search engines are a good source of enlightenment

Yes, Google does often help, but not always. Or, people could take the trouble to write it out in full once at least, putting the acronym in brackets, as is common in academic practice

If Google isn't an option or doesn't turn anything up, it is one of those things you have to ask. A lot of the autism jargon we throw around here would leave an NT confused.

Yes... what's NT?
NT =
Next Topic
National
Northern Territory
New Technology
No Time
New Testament'
etc, etc for another 5 pages.
What does NT stand for?
(I know what NT means - I'm just using it here as an example to illustrate how sometimes Googling things doesn't always help much )

 

[Streetwise]

I sometimes like interactions with older clients who like dropping idioms (e.g. water under the bridge) though admittedly I sometimes go scrambling to look them up.

I don't think I've encountered "tight" but I recall "phat" become very confusing the first several times I heard it.

Being autistic, I consume researching like a wildfire, I discovered the urban dictionary for slang! as I listen to a react to music channel(YouTube) and Jamel the person reacting uses a certain amount of African American slang .