Exploring the Buffy Slang

Over the course of seven years, the popular UPN show “Buffy the Vampire Slayer” has brought about a new form of slang to the American lexicon. Expressions such as “break and enterish,” “carbon-dated,” and “cuddle-monkey” have found their way from the Buffy scripts into the everyday language of pop culture. On Wed., March 19 at 7:30 p.m. in Daniel Recital Hall, Drs. Michael Adams of Albright College and Anita Rose of Converse will lead a forum that explores the effects Buffy has had on contemporary culture. The presentation is free of charge.
Dr. Adams is a widely published linguist and currently serves as editor of Dictionaries: The Journal of the Dictionary Society of North America. His upcoming book, Slayer Slang, A Buffy the Vampire Slayer Lexicon, illustrates how expressions such as “break and enterish,” “carbon-dated,” and “cuddle-monkey” have found their way from the Buffy scripts into the everyday language of pop culture. Dr. Adams talks extensively about the innovative ways the Buffy writers play with language: fabricating new words, morphing existing ones, and throwing usage on its head. His Slayer Slang even contains an introduction from Jane Espenson, one of the show’s most inventive writers.

Dr. Rose is an expert in 19th century literature, and has recently researched an essay regarding the modern recasting of Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein in an episode of Buffy. “I am a Buffy fan,” she says, “and I found that particular story line to be of special interest.There seems to be something about the whole idea of ‘man and technology’ or ‘man and his created monsters’ that touches something deep within the human psyche.” Her essay appears in the nationally published anthology Fighting the Forces: What’s at Stake in Buffy the Vampire Slayer. During her part of the presentation, Dr. Rose will speak of the resurrection of mythological ideas in Buffy.

For more information, contact Rick Mulkey at (864) 596-9099 or Dr. Rose at (864) 596-9114.