Title: Dartmouth Slang

Informant info: Myself (Garrett Martin), Date: 5/28/16, Location: Hanover, NH, Dartmouth Student, Class of 2018, male, went on Canoeing trip

Type of lore: Verbal (Folk-speech)

Language: English

Country of Origin: U.S.

Social / Cultural Context:  Initially exposed at the very beginning of trips, on campus, in front of Robinson hall (for which slang was given), and then also throughout my trip, so in the wilderness and at the lodge.  This slang, however is used in everyday speech all around campus and among those in the dartmouth community wherever they may be.  I personally have brought some of this slang, such as “grim”, back to my hometown and used it outside of the dartmouth folk.

Transcript: It was on trips that I was first introduced to a lot of Dartmouth slang. For example I was told by my trip leader that ’53 Commons is called “Foco”, that Robinson Hall is called “Robo”, that the Courtyard Café is “the hop”, and that baker lobby is “blobby”. I also learned to call conspicuous socialization or doing something that brings attention to yourself “facetime” or an activity that provides this “facetimey”, and to call things that are bad or undesirable “grim”.

Informant/Collector’s comments:  I think the function of this slang being exposed to us during our trips experience was in a way an aspect of incorporation.  By teaching us this slang, our trip leaders were providing us with the necessary tools to navigate this new Dartmouth community to which we were being introduced.

Tags/Keywords: slang, folk-speech, Dartmouth, verbal, trips, foco, robo, grim, the hop, blobby, facetime