© Underwood & Underwood/Corbis distinguishes it from the wider society. Such argot allows insiders—the members of the subculture—to understand words with special meanings and establishes patterns of communication that outsiders cannot understand. In so doing, it clarifies the boundary between “us” and “them” and reinforces a shared identity. We see something like this in the taken-for-granted words and acronyms in the instant-messaging and text-messaging world. There, abbreviations come fast and furious, from the well known, such as lol (laughing out loud), brb (be right back), and g2g (got to go), to the more obscure, such as 1337 (meaning “elite” and referring to symbolic language or “ leet-speak”) or pwned (leet term meaning “defeated”). In India a new subculture has developed among employees subculture A segment of society that shares a distinctive pattern of mores, folkways, and values that differs from the pattern of the larger society. Chapter 3 / Culture • 59 at the international call centers established by multinational corporations. To serve customers in the United States and Europe, the young men and women who work there must be fluent speakers of English. But the corporations that employ them demand more than proficiency in a foreign language; they expect their Indian employees to adopt Western values and work habits, including the grueling pace that U.S. workers take for granted. In return, the corporations offer perks such as Western-style dinners and dances and coveted consumer goods. Ironically, they allow employees to take the day off only on such American of cultural universals such as courtship and religion, great diversity exists among the world’s many cultures. Moreover, even within a single nation, certain segments of the populace develop cultural patterns that differ from the patterns of the dominant society. Cultural variation, as described by sociologists, takes a number of forms. Subcultures Rodeo riders, residents of a retirement community, workers on an offshore oil rig—all are examples of what sociologists refer to as subcultures. A subculture is a segment of society that shares a distinctive pattern of mores, folkways, and values that differs from the pattern of the larger society. In a sense, a subculture can be thought of as a culture existing within a larger, dominant culture. The existence of many subcultures is characteristic of complex societies such as the United States. SOCTHINK What subcultures are common on college and university campuses? What indicators make them recognizable? Why might such subcultures be more likely to form there? Members of a subculture participate in the dominant culture while engaging in unique and distinctive forms of behavior. Frequently, a subculture will develop its own slang, known as argot—specialized language that argot Specialized language used by members of a group or subculture.
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