So there I was at work helping out a graduate student with her writing, and while I was talking to her about representing scholars’ ideas accurately and with purpose in her own writing, she says something about not wanting to “throw shade” on these scholars. According to Urban Dictionary, throwing shade means “acting in a casual or disrespectful manner towards someone/dissing a friend.” I had heard the phrase before, but I must have had a puzzled look on my face because she quickly rephrased her comment to say something along the lines of – you’ve got to represent the work fairly and respect the author’s ideas.

Although this was a really quick dialogue, I have been thinking about it quite a bit. I’m in the business of language learning and teaching. I have a PhD in applied linguistics, so I have studied extensively in the area. I analyze language and people’s use of language constantly. This particular interaction had me thinking about language registers (level of formality we use in different contexts), how we use multiple registers in our daily interactions, and how we can quickly adjust our tone based on circumstance. The student I worked with had opted to use slang with me (I had only met her once before), but quickly realized another explanation may be more suitable for the context of our interaction. I thought about how this student applied a slang explanation to explain an academic writing concern. Language – and how we use it – is fascinating!

If you’re not as interested in the intricacies of language as I am, you may like this other version of the word “shade”. These white shades are from one of my favourite eyeglasses companies.