What Can Students Learn from the Urban Dictionary?

I've just been struggling to write another activity for my Daily English Activities blog. I spent most of an hour browsing through the Urban Dictionary, another user created record of the modern English language.


On the one hand I thought that it was a complete waste of time in terms of finding any usable materials for EFL ESL students, but on the other hand I found it to be a really fascinating doorway into our modern culture and lifestyle.

The Urban dictionary is largely a user generated and edited collection of 'invented' words, some of which are gradually becoming part of our mainstream language, such as 'muffin tops' and 'spin doctor', whereas others .... well who knows? Will mass merchanditis and boyfriend drop soon become part of your everyday vocabulary?
In the end I decided to go ahead and use the site, as I thought that the cultural information in the content was so valuable. These are the word and definitions that I've chosen to use, and I think they give some valuable insights into our modern culture. Hope you enjoy them.

• Silent Rave
• Bus Surfing
• Deface
• Joe The Plumber
• The Spousal We
• Spin doctor
• Tag hag
• Gigabucks
• Guitarthritis
• Thumb lashing

Related links:

• Video Dictionary 2.0
• 12 Second Video Clips for EFL ESL
• Using Word Clouds in EFL ESL
• Picture phrases
• Personalised flashcards

Best

Nik Peachey