Help! Linguistic Study in Polyamorous Vocabulary

[sweetmusic_27]

Hello! I'm doing a linguistic study on vocabulary in polyamory and
morphology for my final project in the Study of Language.

Here are the details:

This is a study of slang in polyamory. By slang I mean "a specialized
vocabulary used by a specific group within the larger group of language

users." So this slang is like jargon rather than casual language;
"poly"
rather than "gonna," for example.

If you're familiar with polyamorous language, I'd be REALLY happy if
you
could answer the following questions for me, replying here or via email
at
***@yahoo.com :

1. Name at least five expressions, words, or usages that are prevalent
especially within the polyamorous community. (I should note here that
you
can freely duplicate other people's responses, or just mention ones
that you
use a lot. A big part of my study is determining which expressions are
most
popular.)

2. Define and describe them, including, if you can, which part of
speech
they fall under, and any history you know about the expressions, words,
or
usages.

3. Tell me if it's okay for me to directly quote your reply. All names
and
usernames will be kept anonymous, quoting or no, for purposes of this
study.

Thank you very much!
-sweetmusic_27
(cross-posted to various poly groups)

[Chris Croughton]

On 14 May 2005 14:20:07 -0700, sweetmusic_27

Post by sweetmusic_27
Hello! I'm doing a linguistic study on vocabulary in polyamory and
morphology for my final project in the Study of Language.

Oops, something really weird happened to your line wrapping, I've

Post by sweetmusic_27
This is a study of slang in polyamory. By slang I mean "a specialized
vocabulary used by a specific group within the larger group of
language users." So this slang is like jargon rather than casual
language; "poly" rather than "gonna," for example.
If you're familiar with polyamorous language, I'd be REALLY happy if
you could answer the following questions for me, replying here or via
1. Name at least five expressions, words, or usages that are prevalent
especially within the polyamorous community. (I should note here that
you can freely duplicate other people's responses, or just mention
ones that you use a lot. A big part of my study is determining which
expressions are most popular.)
2. Define and describe them, including, if you can, which part of
speech they fall under, and any history you know about the
expressions, words, or usages.
3. Tell me if it's okay for me to directly quote your reply. All names
and usernames will be kept anonymous, quoting or no, for purposes of
this study.

And let me just add to the users of UPP that (a) it's legit and (b) I
recommended UPP as a place to ask real people <g>...

Chris C

[sweetmusic_27]

Wow!

Thank you so much - the people on alt.poly haven't been very friendly
or helpful.
I'd like to note, as the alt.poly people brought it up, that this was
not intended to become a wide study, and I only meant to keep it within
a small circle, until I realized that I only had a few, biased results.
Participation is entirely voluntary, and if you'd like more
information on myself, my course, and my institution, I will happily
provide it via email (mostly because I'd rather my professor not
recieve a barrage of spam, snail or electronic).

Thanks again, Chris.
-Amy/sweetmusic_27

[Marc Wilson]

In uk.people.polyamorous, "sweetmusic_27" <***@gmail.com>
(sweetmusic_27) wrote in

Post by sweetmusic_27
Wow!
Thank you so much - the people on alt.poly haven't been very friendly
or helpful.

For good, if largely historical reasons:

There are frequent "drive by" postings into alt.poly, from a number of
sources- these generally take one of three forms:

- journalists in search of a "story". Mostly they are after some "gosh
wow" stuff, rather than any serious enquiry; it's usually clear from the
conditions they place on participation. Normally they're looking for FMF
or MFF triads, under 30, and photogenic, or they're looking for disaster
stories.

- pseudo-academics, looking for subjects to provide data to support their
pet theories. They generally discard, or even argue with, and data that
contradict their ideas.

- "please do my homework" requests from undergraduates.

This rather looked like one of the last type.

As a consequence, the people in alt.poly have taken to requesting some
background on any study that is mentioned in there: is it properly carried
out, by a legitimate organisation, with safeguards in place to prevent data
bias or improper breaches of confidentiality? Is the methodology sound?
Is there an "agenda"?

Remember: 1) Alt.poly has a large number of US posters, and people in the
States remember the Meese Commission; 2) There are quite a few serious
academics in there, who actually have a proper understanding of the correct
way to run such a study, and do not want their lives used as academic or
political grist for anyone's mill.

Post by sweetmusic_27
I'd like to note, as the alt.poly people brought it up, that this was
not intended to become a wide study, and I only meant to keep it within
a small circle, until I realized that I only had a few, biased results.
Participation is entirely voluntary, and if you'd like more
information on myself, my course, and my institution, I will happily
provide it via email (mostly because I'd rather my professor not
recieve a barrage of spam, snail or electronic).

I'd certainly insist on hearing the background, before participating.

[sweetmusic_27]

I understand.
While I am tempted to be insulted, I feel some empathy for your
trepidation, as well as alt.poly's. No, I was not attempting to create
a correlation between the alt.poly posters' serious scholarly knowledge
and their manners, though I also understand their brusqueness, as, as
you say, they get several "drive-bys."

Being poly and very familiar with the terms, I'm not in need of that
sort of help, nor am I in need of help for my linguistic "homework."
Nor have I any agenda.

I was only pointed here by Mr. Croughton, above. Thank you again,
Chris.
But, as I have recieved enough results, I withdraw my request and put
in its place my thanks for your time and consideration.
-sw_27