Do You Think You Talk Weird/Have A Weird Vocabulary Or Filter? Is It More Important That You Use Slang, Or How It’s Used? When To Use Slang? Do I Talk Weird?

TLDR: I think I talk weird/come across stiff in social situations because I don’t use a lot of slang and have a “academic” type vocabulary. Should I use more slang?

Edit: Spelling and Grammar, ironically…

Being smart is one of the only things I’m fairly secure about, and so I value being articulate. I think some specific slang terms are dumb, that parts of society value using it too highly, that it’s used too often and in contexts it shouldn’t be used. But I want to fit in as much as anyone, and I’m always looking to improve myself, but how much should I compromise? If I started gradually using more slang, would it come across more natural and be less of a shock to people that know me??

I just have a kind of academic-like filter when I talk that I don’t mean to put on. I’m not a complete robot, but I’d definitely make more friends in a literature class than playing beerpong at a party, my interests and topics of discussion aside. (They tend to be a bit nerdy, but this in regards to how I talk, not what I talk about). I generally talk very similarly to how I’ve written this post. Like anyone, I code-switch to an extent. I don’t cuss at work but cuss without giving it a thought when I’m with my friends. Those kinds of switches come naturally to me.

Linguistically, slang is supposed to be a short cut replacement for standard English, but using it correctly and naturally can make people think you’re cool in certain contexts. My problem is the standard English way of saying something comes naturally, and using the slang replacement requires slightly more mental effort that makes it sound forced. I don’t think about what I’m saying when I say “Sounds good”, or “That’s a lie”, or “That’s funny”. But when I say “Bet,” “That’s cap”, or “I’m dead”, it requires me to think harder. I know I can come across as pretentious sometimes, and though I never mean to talk down to people, I can be elitist about my intelligence (we’re all a work in progress). I have realized my previous errors in thinking slang itself is dumb or makes you sound dumb. At the very least, that thought is racist and classist in regard to African American Vernacular and Regional linguistics.

Linguisticly, slang is supposed to be a short cut replacement for standard English, but using it correctly and naturally can make people think you’re cool in certain contexts. My problem is the standard English way of saying something comes naturally, and using the slang replacement requires slighty more mental effort that makes it sound forced. I don’t think about what I’m saying when I say “Sounds good”, or “That’s a lie”, or “That’s funny”. But when I say “Bet,” “That’s cap”, or “I’m dead”, it requires me to think harder. I know I can come across as pretentious sometimes, and though I never mean to talk down to people, I can be elitist about my intelligence (we’re all a work in progress). I have realized my previous errors in thinking slang itself is dumb or makes you sound dumb. At the very least, that thought is racist and classist in regards to African American Vernacular and Regional linguistics.

Being smart is one of the only things I’m fairly secure about, and so I value being articulate. I think some specific slang terms are dumb, that parts of society value using it too highly, that its used to often and in contexts it shouldn’t be used. But I want to fit in as much as anyone, and I’m always looking to improve myself, but how much should I compromise? If I started gradually using more slang, would it come across more natural and be less of a shock to people that know me?