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The word slang and the concept it now usually represents are familiar to most users of English, although opinions may differ as to what words and phrases constitute slang. What is perhaps less well known is how this word became our default term for vocabulary that is very colloquial or informal, used in formal contexts by linguists and lexicographers alike to label words and phrases as somehow ...
- Overview
- Development of slang
- Creators of slang
- Sources
- Linguistic processes forming slang
slang, unconventional words or phrases that express either something new or something old in a new way. It is flippant, irreverent, indecorous; it may be indecent or obscene. Its colourful metaphors are generally directed at respectability, and it is this succinct, sometimes witty, frequently impertinent social criticism that gives slang its characteristic flavour. Slang, then, includes not just words but words used in a special way in a certain social context. The origin of the word slang itself is obscure; it first appeared in print around 1800, applied to the speech of disreputable and criminal classes in London. The term, however, was probably used much earlier.
Other related types of nonstandard word usage include cant and jargon, synonyms for vague and high-sounding or technical and esoteric language not immediately intelligible to the uninitiate. In England, the term cant still indicates the specialized speech of criminals, which, in the United States, is more often called argot. The term dialect refers to language characteristic of a certain geographic area or social class.
Slang emanates from conflicts in values, sometimes superficial, often fundamental. When an individual applies language in a new way to express hostility, ridicule, or contempt, often with sharp wit, he may be creating slang, but the new expression will perish unless it is picked up by others. If the speaker is a member of a group that finds that hi...
Civilized society tends to divide into a dominant culture and various subcultures that flourish within the dominant framework. The subcultures show specialized linguistic phenomena, varying widely in form and content, that depend on the nature of the groups and their relation to each other and to the dominant culture. The shock value of slang stems largely from the verbal transfer of the values of a subculture to diametrically opposed values in the dominant culture. Names such as fuzz, pig, fink, bull, and dick for policemen were not created by officers of the law. (The humorous “dickless tracy,” however, meaning a policewoman, was coined by male policemen.)
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Slang Through the Ages Vocabulary Quiz
Occupational groups are legion, and while in most respects they identify with the dominant culture, there is just enough social and linguistic hostility to maintain group solidarity. Terms such as scab, strike-breaker, company-man, and goon were highly charged words in the era in which labour began to organize in the United States; they are not used lightly even today, though they have been taken into the standard language.
In addition to occupational and professional groups, there are many other types of subcultures that supply slang. These include sexual deviants, narcotic addicts, ghetto groups, institutional populations, agricultural subsocieties, political organizations, the armed forces, Gypsies, and sports groups of many varieties. Some of the most fruitful sources of slang are the subcultures of professional criminals who have migrated to the New World since the 16th century. Old-time thieves still humorously refer to themselves as FFV—First Families of Virginia.
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Most subcultures tend to draw words and phrases from the contiguous language (rather than creating many new words) and to give these established terms new and special meanings; some borrowings from foreign languages, including the American Indian tongues, are traditional. The more learned occupations or professions like medicine, law, psychology, s...
The processes by which words become slang are the same as those by which other words in the language change their form or meaning or both. Some of these are the employment of metaphor, simile, folk etymology, distortion of sounds in words, generalization, specialization, clipping, the use of acronyms, elevation and degeneration, metonymy, synecdoch...
Slang’s primary reason for being, to establish a sense of commonality among its speakers, further ensures its widespread use. When slang is used, there is a subtext to the primary message.
Mar 22, 2020 · Sometimes slang words fall out of use all together. Other times they morph into a different meaning. Take for example the term “hip.” When the word originated in the first half of the 20th century, it signified someone who was fashionable. By the 1950’s it referred to someone who was either in the jazz community or beatnik culture.
Aug 5, 2018 · The emergence of teenage culture and the acceptability of their slang use made it more acceptable for middle-class women to use slang. Slang “came to be considered an important part of speech” which was “a significant aspect of performing modern middle-class femininity”, and it was “promoted and reinforced by women’s magazines” (Fisher 3).
Aug 5, 2024 · Join us on a journey through the alleys of linguistic innovation as we explore how slang shapes and mirrors modern culture. The Origins of Slang. Slang, often described as the rebel cousin of formal language, emerges from the streets, the clubs, and the vibrant corners of society where innovation thrives.
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Apr 24, 2023 · Adaptability and borrowing of slang between languages and cultures. One fascinating aspect of slang is its adaptability, often crossing boundaries of language and culture. With globalization and the growing interconnectedness of people through the internet, the exchange of slang terms between cultures has become increasingly prevalent.
