Hybridity in the text is also evident in the fluidity w.r.t. to the meaning of specific terms. Although these words and terms take on different meanings, they continue to be influenced and embedded in their original meaning. In a bid to conceptualise this constant pull between ‘old’ and ‘new’, Connell and Gibson (2003:17) propose the terms ‘fixity’ and ‘fluidity’ to “reflect more dynamic ways of describing and understanding processes that move across, while becoming embedded in, the materiality of localities and social relations” (cited in Otsuji & Pennycook, 2010). The examples that follow serve to indicate that although they no longer only hold their conventional orthodox meanings, the creation of the ‘new’ meaning drew on the initial symbolic meanings of the terms – on the fixed terms and consequently resulted in the meaning being more fluid.
LOL
Before the emergence of social networks, LOL was widely recognised as the abbreviation of
Lots of love –this was its fixed meaning. Among online social networks, LOL is known as an
116 abbreviation that stands for Laugh out Loud and indicates laughter, therefore the meaning of this abbreviation has been expanded and therefore become fluid. However, the creation of the extended meaning of LOL, i.e. Laugh out Loud, drew on the manner in which Lots of love was abbreviated, that is, initialism. This comes as no surprise as Laugh Out Loud (LOL) was one of the first abbreviations on online networks and thus had to draw on existing ways of abbreviating such as initialism.
bomb
The word bomb is associated with a powerful, chemical device, however in this text ‘bomb’ refers to an individual who is considered to be amazing and/or who did something awesome. Generally, a bomb has negative connotations, i.e. deadly and destructive – a bomb’s power is thrilling yet lethal. In referring to someone as the bomb, the person or their actions is perceived as thrilling but not deadly so the fixed meaning of bomb is re-adjusted to encompass a more positive meaning.
guys
Traditionally, guys referred to males and females were referred to as ‘girls’. However, guys is currently being used as a generic term to refer to both males and females and even entered in the Oxford Dictionary as a term that refers to either sex. The expansion of the meaning can be attributed to not only vocabulary growth but the unending fluidity in terms of gender and the need to be an inclusive and non–sexist and non-discriminatory society.
please
It’s okay for the man to romance and impregnate at warp speed but making satirical comment on this predilection is an insult? Please.
117 The word please is an indication of politeness and is generally accompanied by a request, for example, “please pass me the sugar”. Therefore, it is deemed odd to use please without any prior request. However, based on the comment stated above and the context in which please is used, it is evident that please has adopted a more fluid meaning. In this case, instead of forming part of a politeness strategy, please is used as a sarcastic caution to another participant. The participant uses please to alert someone to be more critical in their thinking and its serves as an indication of the speaker’s irritation and or disagreement. Irrespective of this new fluid meaning, the participant still draws on the symbolic meaning of please i.e. indication of politeness so essential the speaker politely yet sarcastically cautioned his/her interlocutor.
bosso
The South African slang word derives from the term boss and traditionally a boss is presumed to be the grumpy, strict, pompous and most senior individual within a professional environment. Consequently, the word has negative connotations. However, in recent years the term has attracted some positive attributes. A boss is now anyone who has noteworthy achievements. Boss is also a term given to objects that are considered ‘cool’, innovative and relevant. The word bosso in this context was used in the catchy phrase bosso ke mang (Who is the boss) and even then, a boss is an individual who achieves the seemingly impossible, like consuming water but urinating Red Bull (as per the lyrics of the song). Once again, it’s evident that the re-invented meaning of boss drew on this fixed notion of what a boss originally represents.
candilicious
The ‘suffix’ -licious is derived from the word delicious and, according to the Oxford Dictionary, -licious is part of “forming adjectives denoting someone or something delightful or extremely attractive”. Additionally, according to the urban dictionary, -licious is placed at the end of a word and it now usually has sexual connotations - it is meant to imply that the thing or person is voluptuous, sexy or ‘juicy’. In this example, it is noticeable how a
118 morpheme i.e. –licious was ‘transformed’ into a word/adjective added to a noun to indicate the attractiveness of the noun (object or person) and their increased edibility.
The above stated phrases serve as examples of resemiotisation and how indeed meaning is fluid and “shifts from context to context, from practice to practice, or from one stage of a practice to the next” (Iedema, 2003:41). For instance, referring to someone or something as a “bomb” in a war-ridden country most likely wouldn’t be flattering as it was in this context. Consequently, in these words / phrases being resemiotised and ultimately having complementary meanings, Iedema’s claim that resemiotisation “evokes the creation of new realities” (Iedema, 2003:142) is validated as words / phrases are context-laden: the fluctuation of words and therefore its meaning influences how it’s used in social spaces.