An ethnographic study examined slang as spoken on campuses of two universities in the United States, one on the West Coast and one in the Midwest. Subjects were students from Intercultural Communication classes, who served as participant/observers and data gatherers. Subjects were instructed to collect slang terms that they heard on campus and, along with each term, they were to provide a definition for the term and a sample discourse. The terms for each sample were then independently examined for themes through the process of analytic induction, and differences in emergent themes were resolved through discussion. Results indicated a total of 64 themes and, of these themes: 56 (88%) were present in the data for both universities; 3 (5%) were found only at the Midwestern university; and 5 (8%) themes were found only at the university in the West. Results revealed that across the miles college students use slang to talk about very similar themes. However, local culture generates unique meanings for common terms and unique terms for common meanings. Findings suggest that the individual is an active agent in making selections about how to talk. This study provides evidence for a theory of communication grounded in the intersection of the global, local, and individual--it reconceptualizes the roles and relationships of both culture and the individual. (Includes 5 tables of data and 4 endnotes; contains 12 references.) (CR)