Do you use slang?

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I get told a lot that my speech is too proper and formal. I come from a culture where you don't talk that way at home or when you're hanging out with friends, but I have always used a lot of big words and talked like the books I'm always reading, and I find it very hard to switch into the casual manner of speaking they use. It actually feels like a physical struggle, trying to change the way I talk, and I can't seem to do it much of the time. I'm not rich or highly educated but I think I bother the people around me because I talk as if I was. I don't even want to, but I can't help it. Does anyone else have this problem?

Yes (to the question at the end of the OP), I think I have that tendency both in English and my first language. That's probably one of the reasons why people find me weird/uncomfortable. If I try to talk casually with slang, it simply doesn't suit me because my personality is not casual. I wouldn't be able to do it in a natural manner. I would look like a cat trying to bark like a dog. I'm pretty sure some people think I'm being pretentious by "speaking properly".

I think you should just be yourself and speak in a way that is natural to you. The way you speak represents your personality to some extent. It would be pretty uncomfortable to speak in a way that is different from your personality. Well, that's what I think.

Just be yourself. As long as you don't curse too much, why not speak intelligently. Most NTs like it when people don't put on an act. I'm sure almost all Spectrumites think the same way.

I have the same problem occasionally, and also occasionally the opposite problem (using overly familiar / crude language in a context that calls for more formality).

Tend to agree with what others already said.

Only thing I would add is, the connection between being "rich or highly educated" and speaking in a formal way seems artificial to me. I reckon most rich or highly educated people only speak that way because it's the done thing, not because it's their natural way of speaking.

OTOH you do sound like someone who gets pleasure from using their brain (not the same as being educated - not even the same as being intelligent!) If so, you could try hanging out more with people who are similarly inclined, and less with people who are not. It often works for me. YMMV.

n0 s74ng…3y3 pr3ph3r 733+, y0.

I'm familiar with the problem. Luckily I can do vernacular without much trouble, it was the normal accepted language for a lot of the kids around me, and it was only the big people who insisted that we didn't talk like that, so it was an enjoyable part of rebellion to keep it coarse and vulgar. These days I have a tendency to mix both styles in the same sentence. Don't know if that's good or bad.

I'm kind of ambivalent towards posh talk. It's often great for expressing the detailed nuances of my thoughts, but it has an elitist feel to it, and unless the entire audience has the extended vocabulary etc., it's not the most practical way to communicate. Sometimes a few simple words cut through all the verbose pontification wonderfully, and I think that apart from technical subjects that sometimes need a bit of jargon, if it can't be expressed in everyday English, it's probably not worth saying. Using the extended vocabulary is probably less of a problem on the Web, because if a word is new to the reader, they can quickly look it up in an online dictionary. With the spoken word it can make the whole message fail.

I hate it when people try to impress by using posh language but get it wrong. They'll typically bite off more than they can chew, starting an ambitious sentence and then struggling to complete it sensibly and ending up with an ugly mess. Or they'll try to fake a "refined" accent but fail to keep the illusion going properly, and you can tell that they don't normally talk like that. I'd think a lot better of them if they just stuck to plain English instead of buying into the elite thing. Good English doesn't have to be complex at all.

Well I for one quite enjoyed the somewhat mixed style of your post (as well as the content). I say keep it up.

I don't use slang very often or at all. I find it's use to be repulsive. It makes people look stupid and uneducated. No one has told me that my language is too formal, but I have been told to "chill out" about calling people out on their excessive use of slang.

Language. KraftieKortie said it. Be yourself!

I don't know about slang but I never used foul language right thorough school/high school. I still dislike foul language and I'm a male. That helps separate me from others in my life. People don't like it if you're different.

I do some how manage to find the weirdest nicknames for people around me and that's what I call them because that's how I remember them. It's not a cutsie shmootsie thing. Their nicknames are developed and for a reason. My Mum is Moo. My ex-partner was Kato, my daughter is Sausage Head, My sister is a b***h but that's a different story and not a special name.

I seem to have special names for those whom I like.

Agreed, and +1. Um…SAUSAGE HEAD??? lol Ok, there's a story there!

My oldest is Buddy (self-explanatory), my daughter is Nugget (or Chicken Nugget, but the REAL story has nothing to do with chicken), and the little one is Booger (for now). I think names have to be earned. I renamed my wife not long after we met, and while she has a unique and pretty name to begin with, her "new" name has a special meaning only we know and can't be easily explained to anyone else. It's not that it's some big secret…I just think things like that are made up in the language of the heart. If you're not part of that relationship, you can't speak the language, and it will always be a mystery because the words for it just can't be formed.

People look at me funny when they hear me call for Chicken Nugget. Older folks ask me if I'm still going to call her that when she gets older. Why wouldn't I?

Very little use of slang. People have noted my language has a tendency to be formal and stilted.

I use slang, but I definitely have the ASD traits of having a formal vocabulary and articulate speech.

Sometimes people ask me what my parents do for a living as they're expecting to hear doctor/lawyer/engineer/accountant etc - some sort of professional job - all due to the way I speak.

It's rarely caused me any problems. It may have been a social turnoff to some people and I'm unaware of it.

I use slang, look:

lmao m8 lets put some shrimp on ye barbie

I'm NT, so it is one of my traits to be stupid at all times

I'm a 69 going on 70 male married aspie still married to my teenage sweetheart and we have a lovely daughter and two grandchildren. I wasn't diagnosed until I was 49, so I had a white-knuckle ride birth, infancy, childhood, adolescence and early-mid adulthood before any of it made any sense to me - and it made so much sense to me that I was asked to start coaching and counseling others with it - first my professional colleagues by intranet - then globally by internet and I still do the latter as I find helping others make sense of it particularly rewarding.
I've written books and blogs about it so I wont bore you here with a blow by blow account. If you need to know check out my profile for my books website and blogsite.

But - yes - like you my speech is stilted and formal - though it wasn't until I was diagnosed aspie that I noticed - at work they used to compliment me by calling me Encyclopaedia and Wordsmith - I used to write government policy and strategy papers - though back at school they used to insult me by calling me Witchcraft and trying to kill me - because the Bible says, Thou Shalt Not Suffer A Witch To Live. So a lot depends on the kind of jungle you are in - a kids jungle which is probably the cruelest in the animal kingdom - or an adults jungle where your aspie traits are admired because they are found useful.

I don't really use slang when I write but I do when I talk.

My favourite word is "sozzard".

http://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=Sozzard

I use it a lot at work when I phone someone and it's a wrong number.

I've also extended it to "tomozzard" it's one I made up for "tomorrow".

"see you tomozzard!"

This.