Since the first episode was aired in 2004 the American TV series Desperate Housewives has triumphed in over 150 countries. The leading idea, invented by producer Marc Cherry, initially was that modern-day women face surprising difficulties. Those hardships can be depicted cleverly by using drama, comedy, satire and even crime. Linguistically the series operates on many levels, from higher to lower register, using vocabulary and speech as a stylistic device.

The objective of this paper is to investigate more closely some of the linguistic details in the series, and identify terminology that locates the series to the United States. There are also some notes as to what kind of effect the language used has on the viewers.

The Storyline

The setting for Desperate Housewives is Wisteria Lane, the suburban residential street on which the four main characters live. The series’ location is in the fictional town of Fairview. The women are all good natured, but are not above scheming, plotting and gossiping their ways through their every-day chores. The series combines serious and emotional scenes with nearly slapstick comedy.

There is a certain pattern in which all of the seasons of Desperate Housewives thus far have worked. In each season’s first episode a new neighbor moves on to the mentioned street. With their moving van they always bring a secret that is kept from the viewers until the season finale. The newcomers are depicted in a sinister way to evoke the viewers’ imagination. It is the carrying idea of the show that the women with their families are often superficially blissfully happy, but have awful and embarrassing secrets behind the façade. Each of the housewives has her own way of keeping the secrets.

Lynette Scavo is sharp and resourceful woman, whether it comes to her flock of children or maintaining her marketing career. She knows exactly what to do in crisis and has a strong sense of justice. She is the only one of the four desperate housewives who manages to stay together with her husband all through the seasons.

Bree Hodge is a woman of etiquette and elegance. She is famous for her haute cuisine, cleaning frenzy and her inability to show emotions. Her strong religious views create constant friction between Bree and her children. Bree’s character can turn from being as fragile as the china she owns to as explosive as the gun she carries in her clutch bag.

Gabrielle Solis is an ex-fashion model, who doesn’t let anyone forget it. She is the least domestic type and enjoys her luxury, from beauty products to cars. She does however have a family of two daughters whom she is very devoted to. She has Latin-American roots and temper. Gabrielle is known for her ability to get what she wants when she wants it.

Susan Mayer is artistic and easily follows her emotions rather than her sense. She throws herself into one relationship after another looking for Mr. Right. She lets her first instinct judge and gets in all sorts of troubles due to that. She has two children, who seem to take care of her more than vice versa.

The underlying feature of all the women in the series is that they can be as ruthless as the world is on them. Nothing is too sacred to the women. They are not mad or ill-willing; they just feel the need to protect what is theirs. A husband may kill his mother and the wife backs him. A daughter can be pregnant and her mother pretends to be the one expecting. The wife can work in the adult entertainment business to earn the money her husband owes. Desperate Housewives tells a story that in all its unreality depicts the ordinary lives of ordinary women. Part of the series’ popularity is due to the fact that it handles everyday matters; it is easy to relate to the characters and to their problems.

Americanisms in Desperate Housewives

The language used in the series is vivid and variable. Every character has a unique way of speaking; the use of language is clearly designed to characterize the person in question. Of the four main characters three are Caucasian white females who use generic American English. One character has Latin-American roots, but uses very few Spanish words. Vernacular language is seldom spoken by any of main characters. However, the nationality of Desperate Housewives can be noticed through language attached to American culture and comparisons with Standard British English.

Colloquial Language and Slang

The series uses colloquial language to give each of the characters something which differentiates them from the others. These colloquialisms are intended to be entertaining and give the spoken language more color. With some of the characters slang is more common and can show aspects of their nature and attitude. For example Bree Hodge uses very few slang words throughout the series, because she is very conservative.

• jeez (What): short for interjection “Jesus!” and/or “Jesus Christ!”
• chummy (What): friendly
• scuzzball (What): a disgusting person
• pie-hole (What): mouth
• to scarf down (Me): to eat hastily
• pee-wee (Vision’s): a small child
• antsy (What): agitated, irritated
• uggo (Marry): a very unattractive, ugly person
• slam dunk (Me): something that is certain to be successful (OALD))
• tickle the ivories (You’ll): play the piano, which used to have keyboards veneered with ivory
• s’mores (Everybody): traditional camp and nighttime treat popular in America, combination of chocolate, marshmallow, and graham cracker, “some more”
• dope (You Can’t): slang word for narcotics
• want ads (Home): short form of classified advertisements

Culturally Loaded Terminology

The series also utilizes cultural references and language that has its roots in American culture, history, brand names and popular culture. These references may be difficult to recognize without the cultural insight. From this paper’s point of view, however, they locate the series in the United States. Viewers in the U.S. and those who are familiar with the references get satisfaction from recognizing the terms and the connotations and concepts behind them.

Following are some examples of terms with cultural reference with their definitions.

• Beantown (What): nickname for Boston, apparently derived from the local tradition of eating beans
• pep rally (What): a meeting of school students before a sports event to encourage support for the team (OALD)
• Thanksgiving (Home): Thanksgiving Day, public holiday in the US on the fourth Thursday of November (OALD)
• Oscars (Bargaining): Academy awards, given every year by US Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences for achievement in the making of films (OALD)
• Super Bowl (Bargaining): an American football game played every year to decide the winner of the National Football League (OALD)
• Betty Crocker (Smiles): a cultural icon, brand name for half-ready baking mixes
• PG movie (Smiles): a motion picture that has an age limit acquired through motion picture rating system, parental guidance
• the IRS (Smiles): internal revenue service, government-run tax agency in America
• Xeroxing (My): to copy, the trademark of an American document managing company has evolved into a verb
• bucks (Everybody): nickname for the American currency, dollars
• green card (Everybody): a document that legally allows somebody from another country to live and work in the US (OALD)
• Raggedy Ann (You Can’t): a rag doll, fictional children books’ character by an American writer Johnny Gruelle
• PD (Everybody): police department, in the US the police organization of a country, district or town (OALD)

Terminology from American Minorities

Terminology from minorities is used to bring more variety and color to the language. It also shows how the minority languages are not confined to their minority speaker groups, but that the languages have been adopted around the United States. These terms that are adapted to American English could also be listed under cultural references based on the fact that some of the terms have become concepts and are even some sort of jokes or puns.

• schlep out (You Could): to move oneself or something, originated from Yiddish
• klutz (Miracle): a clumsy person, originated from Yiddish
• bris (You Can’t): Yiddish pronunciation for brit milah, the Jewish religious circumcision
• goy (You Can’t): a derogatory name for non-Jewish person used by Jewish
• savvy (What): knowledge, have knowledge, from Spanish word saber (to know)
• Moo Goo Gai Pan (Everybody): Americanized version of Cantonese dish Mah Gu Gai Pin
• hibachi (Now): in North America refers to small stove heated with charcoal, originally called shichirin in Japanese

Differences Between American and British English

There are many words used in American English that have different equals in Standard British English. Terms are usually synonymous, but may sometimes have different connotations. Desperate Housewives can be recognized as being American rather than British by comparing these examples.

• realtor (Home): estate agent in SBE
• aluminum (Bargaining): aluminium in SBE
• fishing pole (Marry): fishing rod in SBE
• intersection (Everybody): crossroads in SBE
• garbage can (Bargaining): dustbin in SBE
• ATM (You Can’t): cash machine/dispenser in SBE
• candy (Everybody): sweets in SBE

Comic Relief

Desperate Housewives is considered to be an entertainment series, but there are also serious subjects and discussions. The episodes are a subtle combination of drama and comedy, which is how life generally tends to be. The characters and language have found their way to viewers’ hearts, although some of the international popularity can be accredited to translators worldwide. The series’ use of language, despite of being typical of the United States, has also gained international attention and interest. The witty black comedy and heart-wrenching stories of these women encourage people all over the world to step up and be themselves.

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Works Cited

• Bargaining. Desperate Housewives. Season 5, Episode 21. Written by David Schladweiler. Directed by David Grossman. Walt Disney Studios Home Entertainment, 2009.
• Everybody Says Don’t. Desperate Housewives. Season 5, Episode 23. Written by John Pardee & Joey Murphy. Directed by Bethany Rooney. Walt Disney Studios Home Entertainment, 2009.
• Home is the Place. Desperate Housewives. Season 5, Episode 11. Written by Jamie Gorenberg. Directed by David Grossman. Walt Disney Studios Home Entertainment, 2009.
• Marry Me a Little. Desperate Housewives. Season 5, Episode 22. Written by Jason Ganzel. Directed by Larry Shaw. Walt Disney Studios Home Entertainment, 2009.
• Me and My Town. Desperate Housewives. Season 5, Episode 9. Written by Lori Kirkland Baker. Directed by David Warren. Walt Disney Studios Home Entertainment, 2009.
• A Miracle Song. Desperate Housewives. Season 3, Episode 10. Written by Bob Daily. Directed by Larry Shaw. Buena Vista Home Entertainment, 2007.
• My Heart Belongs to Daddy. Desperate Housewives. Season 2, Episode 4. Written by John Pardee and Joey Murphy. Directed by Robert Duncan McNeill. Buena Vista Home Entertainment, 2006.
• Now You Know. Desperate Housewives. Season 4, Episode 1. Written by Marc Cherry. Directed by Larry Shaw. Walt Disney Studios Home Entertainment, 2007.
• Oxford Advanced Learner’s Dictionary (OALD). Seventh edition. Oxford. Oxford University Press. 2005.
• Smiles of a Summer Night. Desperate Housewives. Season 4, Episode 2. Written by Bob Daily and Matt Berry. Directed by David Grossman. Walt Disney Studios Home Entertainment, 2007.
• A Vision’s Just a Vision. Desperate Housewives. Season 5, Episode 10. Written by David Flebotte. Directed by Larry Shaw. Walt Disney Studios Home Entertainment, 2009.
• What More Do I Need? Desperate Housewives. Season 5, Episode 7. Written by Matt Berry. Directed by Larry Shaw. Walt Disney Studios Home Entertainment, 2009.
• You Can’t Judge a Book By Its Cover. Desperate Housewives. Season 4, Episode 7. Written by Chuck Ranberg and Anne Flett-Giordano. Dir. David Warren. Walt Disney Studios Home Entertainment, 2007.
• You Could Drive a Person Crazy. Desperate Housewives. Season 2, Episode 2. Written by Chris Black and Alexandra Cunningham. Directed by David Grossman. DVD. Buena Vista Home Entertainment, 2006.
• You’ll Never Get Away from Me. Desperate Housewives. Season 2, Episode 3. Written by Tom Spezialy and Ellie Herman. Directed by Arlene Sanford. Buena Vista Home Entertainment, 2006.