Slang

For other uses, see Slang (disambiguation).

Slang is the use of informal words and expressions to describe an object or condition. Slang is vocabulary that is meant to be interpreted quickly but not necessarily literally, as slang words or terms are often a metaphor or an allegory.

Slang is sometimes regional in that it is used only in a particular territory. Slang terms are frequently particular to a certain subculture, such as musicians, and members of minority groups. A slang term could be like calling someone from China and Canada a Chinadian. Nevertheless, usage of slang expressions can spread outside their original arenas to become commonly used, such as "cool" and "jive". While some words eventually lose their status as slang, others continue to be considered as such by most speakers. In spite of this, the process tends to lead the original users to replace the words with other, less-recognized terms to maintain group identity.

Slang and jargon

Being informal speech, slang is the complete opposite of jargon, which is "complicated speech, that is very difficult to understand" according to younger citizens. Moreover, jargon may not be intended to exclude non-group members from the conversation, but rather deals with technical peculiarities of a given field requiring a specialized vocabulary.

According to Bethany K. Dumas and Jonathan Lighter,Dumas, Bethany K. and Lighter, Jonathan (1978) "Is Slang a Word for Linguists?" American Speech 53 (5): 14-15. an expression should be considered "true slang" if it meets at least two of the following criteria:

• It lowers, if temporarily, "the dignity of formal or serious speech or writing"; in other words, it is likely to be seen in such contexts as a "glaring misuse of register."
• Its use implies that the user is familiar with whatever is referred to, or with a group of people that are familiar with it and use the term.
• "It is a taboo term in ordinary discourse with people of a higher social status or greater responsibility."
• It replaces "a well known conventional synonym." This is done primarily to avoid "the discomfort caused by the conventional item [or by] further elaboration."

Origins of slang

One use of slang is to circumvent social taboos, as mainstream language tends to shy away from evoking certain realities. For this reason, slang vocabularies are particularly rich in certain domains, such as , violence, crime and drugs. An interesting fact about the word slang is that it was originally a slang term for the old French phrase "sale langue", which translated into English means "dirty language". Alternatively, slang can grow out of mere familiarity with the things described. Among wine connoisseurs, Cabernet Sauvignon might be known as "Cab Sav", Chardonnay as "Chard" and so on;Croft, William (2000) Explaining Language Change: An Evolutionary Approach. Harlow: Longman: 75-6. this means that naming the different wines expends less superfluous effort. It also serves as a shared code among connoisseurs.

Even within a single language community, slang tends to vary widely across social, ethnic, economic, and geographic strata. Slang sometimes grows more and more common until it becomes the dominant way of saying something, at which time it is regarded as mainstream, acceptable language (e.g. the Spanish word caballo), while at other times it may fall into disuse. Numerous slang terms pass into informal mainstream speech, and sometimes into formal speech, though this may involve a change in meaning or usage.

Slang very often involves the creation of novel meanings for existing words. It is very common for such novel meanings to diverge significantly from the standard meaning. Thus, "cool" and "hot" can both mean "very good", "impressive" or "good looking".

Slang terms are often known only within a clique or ingroup. For example, Leet ("Leetspeak" or "1337"), originally was popular only among certain Internet sub-cultures, such as crackers (malicious "hackers") and online video gamers. During the 1990s and 2000s, however, Leet became increasingly more commonplace on the Internet, and has even spread outside of Internet-based communication and into spoken languages.Mitchell, Anthony (December 6 2005). A Leet Primer. Retrieved on []. Another type of slang, with roots in Internet culture, is texting language (txt or chatspeak), which is widely used in instant messaging on the Internet (AOL speak) and mobile phones (SMS language).

Certain dialects may be viewed by some people as slang, such as Hawaiian Creole English and African American Vernacular English.

See also

• Cockney rhyming slang
• A language of Murree Hills and Circle Bakote
• Internet slang
• John Camden Hotten
• Leet
• Eric Partridge
• Polari

References

External links

• Urban Dictionary - A dictionary of contemporary slang with user-contributed definitions. Largely unreliable and amateurish, but often the only reference to include very recent slang.
• Double-Tongued Dictionary - A collection of citations of slang captured from actual usage. Far from comprehensive, but trustworthy where it does have coverage.
• Historical Dictionary of American Slang - A dictionary by Dr. Robert Beard providing approximate dates slang words entered the language.
• Irish Slang - A list of words and expressions used in Ireland
• Slang Dictionary: Etymological, Historical, and Anecdotal By John Camden Hotten. Now largely out of date and superseded by subsequent works. 1874 ed. at Google books
• The Alternative Dictionaries - Slang, profanities, insults and vulgarisms from all the world. Poorly documented. Includes many terms that cannot be substantiated.

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