Recently, while waiting in line at a restaurant, my husband and I overheard some teenagers talking about a friend of theirs who was “so chalant” about something or other. They weren’t talking very loudly, so I didn’t catch it all. My husband and I gave one another knowing smiles, and I even whispered, “Well…that should be a word.” If nonchalant is a word, then why not “chalant?”
Little did I know, “chalant” is a word! According to multiple sources on the Internet, “chalant” has gained popularity with young people recently as a way of expressing that someone cares deeply about something. Previously, nonchalant was considered an “unpaired word” or an “orphaned negative,” much like disgruntled or disheveled. Though not included in the dictionary (yet), chalant was created through a process that also has a fascinating name…”back-formation.” Back-formation occurs when a new word is formed by taking away an affix (whether actual or perceived) from an existing word. The words laze, scavenge, surveil, and edit are all examples of back-formation.
Upon further investigation, I discovered that some words created via back-formation are considered more worthy than others! This fascinated me. Apparently, linguists have a sort of hierarchy of new words generated through back-formation. One author, Mark Nichol, whose work I read on his blog claims that some of these words, including enthuse and liaise, should not be used because they are “inelegant.”
Needless to say, I have become quite “chalant” about this subject and intend to continue my research. Before retirement, I always learned from my students; and now I’m happy to discover I can learn something new from eavesdropping on the younger generation!
17 responses to “Chalant”
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Just proves that we can learn something new everyday. This was new to me. Thanks for sharing.
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I’ve always wondered why gruntled wasn’t a word, and now I know the answer to that as well!
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This was new to me, too. I appreciate learning something new today!
I enjoyed the way you brought up the subject, by sharing the overheard conversation & word.-
Thanks, Linda! I probably eavesdrop more than I should, but this time it paid off with some good information.
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Lori,
Love that you’re still learning from young people. Thanks for sharing. Fun to think about how our language evolves.
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Thanks, Sharon! Interacting on a daily basis with my students helped make me feel a little more in touch with what was going on in the world…or at least in their worlds. I miss that.
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There is nothing better than learning something new from young people, and I have to admit, I’m gonna write “chalant” on a post-it and try to work it into my next conversation with a teenager (or maybe my own 20-something kids). I have *never* heard of back-formation and it feels like just the sort of thing to bring to a teacher dinner party and get a ton of ooohs and ahhhhs. Thanks for an informative post!
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Thanks, Lisa! I hope you’re able to strike up a conversation about it with someone who knows much more than I do. I find it very interesting! I’m sure there are some language arts teachers out there who could really give us a great lesson on it, and I imagine my students would have enjoyed researching about back-formation.
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Thanks for sharing. This is new to me, too.
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After posting this slice, I thought for a moment that maybe I was the only one who would find the topic interesting and the information new. I’m so glad I’m not alone!
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This was news to me as well. Love the cultural literacy!
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Thanks, Anita! I enjoy vocabulary building and word games, and back-formation seemed like a little of both.
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Amazing to learn of back-formation and that “so chalant” is a thing! I never in a hundred years would have done the research on it, just writing it off as a “bless their hearts” thing, thinking they misunderstood. And I would have remained in the dark but for you sharing your learning.
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I love this way of learning from kids. My 5th graders always use the word “preppy” but their definition is “COOL.” I told them that I knew the author of the original Preppy Handbook, and I got instant street cred as being cool!
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A fun slice! Chalant!
(Spellcheck tried to change it!) Hope I get a chance to use it soon! -
Love this! The linguist nerd in me loves learning all this. And the teacher in me loves how you respect teens creative use of language. That’s how languages grow and change, right?! Great post and exploration. I’ll be trying to insert ‘chalant’ into my conversations- see how it goes!!!
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Fascinating! Thanks for sharing this. I am a fairly chalant person overall, so this is the word for me! Also, I never had heard of “back-formation.” Man, I wish I’d known about it when I was teaching. This is the kind of obscure—well, to me anyway—information that would titillate my eighth graders about language study.
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