Youth Slang Expressions Relating to the Consumption of Alcoholic Drinks in German and French

Abstract

This article focuses on German and French youth slang expressions that refer to the consumption of alcoholic drinks. Since 11% of 17-year-olds admit to consuming alcohol regularly at different places such – as friends’ houses, bars, or even school – a cataloguing study of conversational habits in this field promises a productive evaluation as these habits also influence older people’s conversational habits. The largest part of the corpus has been collected, analysed, and discussed in a three-week field study in one of Leipzig’s most popular spots among young people. Short forms are one of the most common expressions used by young people, while metaphors as well as ironic and satiric expressions are just as common. Even new creations have been registered, such as the acronym ‘Uwe’ (‘unten wird’s eklig’, i.e. ‘at the bottom it’s nasty’), which is also an allusion to the German male name ‘Uwe’, but here it refers to the last sip of a beer or any other drink. Translation may seem hard due to puns and a given contextual reality. However, there are many lexical options available to make sure that the intended message is kept alive.