Lunfardo and political (dis)agreements in the public space

Linguistic landscapes are useful tools to decipher language ideologies that regulate public spaces in society, helping us to decode the semiotic messages that those landscapes transmit. Urban spaces also reveal social practices that organize people’s lives and unveil social discourses that legitimize, approve, erode, or eliminate different linguistic varieties that struggle to survive. This article examines the use of (mock) Lunfardo, a Spanish urban variety spoken in the Rio de la Plata area, Argentina, in a sign posted by the Buenos Aires’ city authorities and the impact this sign had on social media. The results of the analysis show that appealing to Lunfardo as a symbol of identity failed to establish a conversation between parties within a separated, fractured society.