Switching Codes — Codeswitching Explained

Let’s say you’re at a family cookout. You have the crew of cousins, and you’re pulling out all of the slang like, “Yesss, b*****. You cute or whateva!” However, that same terminology may not go well if you are communicating to your great grandmother at the table of elders.

Codeswitching is often a form of behavioral adjustment as it relates to mannerism, appearance, linguistic traits, in-order to conform to diverse groups of people. One carefully weighs the appropriateness of their style according to the audience present. To do so, a person measures their formality based off the social, historical, or cultural construct in relation to the demographic of people.

The Early Stages of Codeswitching

In childhood, kids may experience the phenomenon of codeswitching at a very young age. In Michelle Obama’s book, Becoming, she sheds light on an example.

An early moment came during Obama’s childhood in Chicago, when she was sitting with other young girls. “At one point one of the girls, a second, third, or fourth cousin of mine, gave me a sideways look and said, just a touch hotly, ‘How come you talk like a white girl?’” she writes.

“The question was pointed, meant as an insult or challenge, but it also came from an earnest place,” Obama writes. “It held a kernel that was confusing for both of us. We seemed to be related but of two different worlds.”

While Michelle Obama described her childhood interaction with her cousin, this presents a wider perspective. For people of color, this highlights the intentional choice a parent or community member may make to assimilate to fit the dominant cultural expectations or standards of white audiences.

Growing up, my mother was often particular about language. Instead of using the word white, we were told to use caucasian to describe white people. Instead of using the word Black, we were taught to use the word African American to describe Black people. My mother also ensured we knew the word was “converse” not conversate when we were describing the act of communicating with another person. In the family, I was often referred to as a white girl, because according to the family, I talked like one.