General Information:

         Verbal Lore, Slang

         Language: English

         Country of Origin: United States

         Informant: CR ’23

         Date Collected: 11/4/2021

         Location Collected: New Hamp Dorm Room

Informant Data: CR is a ’23 from Orinda, California. He is 20 years old, and a philosophy and environmental science double major. On campus he plays club soccer.

Contextual Data:

Social Context: The phrase “need ___” is used when asking people to do an activity with you. It is most frequently used in group chats, often in large group chats for clubs or greek organizations. Common uses of “need” are when people want to play pong, get a meal, or go somewhere off campus. It is often texted out, and then people will respond in a specific manner to indicate that they are interested.

Cultural Context: Dartmouth students have a unique way of talking, and like to shorten and simplify words. The phrase “need” is a simple, efficient way of asking people to do something and saying how many people are needed. This phrase is especially useful for pong, a game that is fairly unique to Dartmouth. It has a fairly neutral connotation.

Item: “Need ___”: Need is a way to express that you want people to do something with you, so you say need followed by the number of people needed and the activity you want to do. Example: “Need 3 for pong”

Associated File: Notable quotes

“Need is an easy text to send when you need a certain number of people to do something with you.”

“I mostly use ‘need’ when I want to play pong, and I usually text out in our fraternity group chat, as that is where I usually get the quickest responses.”

Informant’s Comments:  CR said he uses this word mostly for pong, although he mentioned that his freshman floor group chat used it a lot for meals and other activities. He also started using it more frequently once joining a fraternity.

Collector’s Comments: I started using this word a lot more once I joined a greek organization. It is an easy way to communicate to a large group of people and helps me find people to do activities with.

Collector’s Name: Ben Ryan