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'''Slang''' is the non-standard use of words in a [[language]] of a particular [[social group]], and sometimes the creation of new [[word|words]] or importation of words from another language. Slang is a type of [[sociolect]] aimed at excluding certain people from the conversation. But that's not all. It develps with ordinary interaction in a subset of ordinary language development. Slang initially functions as [[encryption]], so that the non-initiate cannot understand the conversation, or as a further way to communicate with those who understand it. Slang functions as a way to recognize members of the same group, and to differentiate that group from the society at large. Slang terms are often particular to a certain [[subculture]], such as [[drug]] users, [[skateboard]]ers and [[music]]ians. Slang generally implies playful, [[Colloquialism|informal speech]]. Slang is distinguished from [[jargon]], the technical vocabulary of a particular profession, as jargon is (in theory) not used to exclude non-group members from the conversation, but rather deals with technical peculiarities of a given field which require a specialized vocabulary.

==Functions and origins of slang==
The use of slang is simply a way of circumventing social [[taboos]]. The mainstream language tends to shy away from explicitly evoking certain realities. Slang, and also the informal forms of language, permit one to talk about these realities in a special language stripped of the usual connotations in the normal register. Slang vocabularies are particularly rich in certain domains, such as [[sexuality]], [[violence]], [[crime]] and [[drug]]s. 

There is not just one slang, but many varieties – or dialects – of slang. Different social groups in different times have developed their own slang. The importance of [[encryption]] and identity vary among the various slangs. 

Slang must constantly renew its process of expression, and specifically its vocabulary, so that those not part of the group will remain unable to understand the slang. The existence of slang dictionaries, of course, cancels the effectiveness of certain words. Numerous slang terms pass into informal mainstream speech, and thence sometimes into mainstream formal speech.

Originally, certain slang designated the speech of people involved in the criminal underworld, hooligans, bandits, criminals, etc. Therefore, their vocabulary carried very vulgar connotations, and was strictly rejected by speakers of "proper" language. Other groups developed their own slangs, in general, groups on the margins of mainstream society who were excluded or rejected by it.

==Use and purpose of slang==
Slang is often particular to a brief period of time, with common usage ranging from decades to only a few months.  Slang widely used and understood at one time, may not have the same connotations later.  The elderly are a group of people who have the most problems with this colloquial form of language.

For example, a good thing may have been ''swell'' in the [[1930s]], [[1940s]] and [[1950s]], ''groovy'' in the [[1960s]], and ''cool'' in the [[1970s]].  And although the term ''cool'' may still be accepted today, ''swell'' and ''groovy'' have fallen out of favor.  This fluid quality is typical of slang, since it changes more rapidly than other parts of language.

Another mean by which slang is quickly extinguished is a word's passage into standard speech, at which point it ceases to be slang even though the word itself may still be used in the same context.  For instance, the English language has long used phrases like "hot-tempered" or "heated debate", and in contrast the word ''cool'' came to mean something akin to "calm".  This usage became popular in the 1950's, and by the 1970's had evolved into a slang term along the lines of ''groovy''.  The modern use of the word is something in between, often meaning "alright" or "inoffensive" (non-heated).  Such non-standard uses have caught on so heavily that even prestigious sources like Roget's Thesaurus reaffirm them, and will likely soon become standard definitions.  An historical example is the English word ''swart'' (derived from the [[Old English]] ''sweart'', also see [[Norse]]: svartr, [[German]]: schwarz), which originally meant "black".  It soon evolved into a slang term (among poets) for any "dark" shade.  Today, the English word ''swarthy'' means "very dark brown"; this is considered the standard use of the word, and the older definitions have passed almost entirely into disuse.

Slang is often used to with regard to semi-taboo subjects, such as
* [[Drunkenness]]
* Sexual organs and [[Human sexuality|activities]]
* [[Recreational drugs]]
* Elimination and bodily waste, as in [[baby talk]]

Slang terms sometimes use nonstandard spellings to give an existing word a new meaning. For example, what a youth of the 1960s might have described as ''groovy'', a youth of [[2002]] might call ''phat''.

==Examples of slang==

Historical examples of slang are the ''thieves' [[cant]]'' used by beggars and the underworld generally in previous centuries: a number of ''canting'' dictionaries were published.

A famous current example is '''[[Cockney rhyming slang]]''' in which, in the simplest case, a given word or phrase is replaced by another word or phrase that rhymes with it.  Often the rhyming replacement is abbreviated further, making the expressions even more obscure.  A new rhyme may then be introduced for the abbreviation and the process continues. Examples of rhyming slang are ''apples and pears'' for ''stairs'' and ''trouble (and strife)'' for ''wife''.  An example of truncation and replacement of rhyming slang is ''bottle and glass'' for ''arse'' (''ass''). This was reduced to ''bottle'', for which the new rhyme ''Aristotle'' was found; ''Aristotle'' was then reduced to ''Aris'' for which ''plaster of Paris'' became the rhyme. This was then reduced to ''plaster''.

Backwards slang, or '''Back slang''', is a form of slang where words are reversed.  English backwards slang tends to reverse words letter by letter while French backwards slang tends to reverse words by [[syllable]]s. [[Verlan]] is a French slang, that uses backwards words, similar in its methods to the cockney back slang.  [[Louchebem]] is French butcher's slang, similar to [[Pig Latin]].

[[Nadsat]] is a form of slang used in the book [[A Clockwork Orange]], which borrows words from Russian and from various types of English slang. 

[[Polari]] is an interesting mixture of Italian and Cockney back slang (i.e. common words pronounced as if spelled backwards e.g. ''ecaf'' for face, which became ''eek'' in Polari). Polari was used in London fish markets and the [[gay subculture]] in Britain in the 1950s and 1960s, becoming more widely known from its use by two camp characters, [[Julian and Sandy]], in [[Round the Horne]], a popular radio show.

==Procedures for developing slang==
A social group may use several different methods to develop its own slang. The most important is [[lexicon|lexical]]: the slang is associated with a particular unique vocabulary. There can also be a modification of [[syntax]], but this is of less importance.

Slang is always known for its vocabulary, but that doesn't mean that it follows the regular syntax, [[grammar]], [[phonetics]], [[pragmatics]], etc. of the standard language. The formation of sentences, pronunciation, intonation, gestures, etc. can be very different from the normal official language, and therefore assist with the differentiation of the slang group. Nevertheless, these elements of slang other than vocabulary are in general not limited to the slang: they are typically elements of more widespread informal or vernacular speech.

The lexical development may be of two types: [[semantic]]al (modification and play with the sense of words), or formal (creation or modification of words). When the lexical development is formal, it often is a [[deconstruction]] of mainstream language: the slang deforms, mixes, destructures, cuts, etc. the words, and breaks the rules. This deconstruction leaves transparent the will of the social group to reject the mainstream society and demarcate itself from it.

* [[Syntax|Syntactic]] procedures
** Changing the [[lexical class]] of words, such as using an [[adjective]] in place of an [[adverb]]
* [[Lexicon|Lexical]] procedures
** [[Semantics]]
*** [[Metaphor]] : using imagery to designate a thing
*** [[Metonymy]] (including [[synecdoche]]) : designation of a thing by one of its components.
*** [[Polysemy]] and [[synonym]]y : Play on the multiple senses of words.
** Formal
*** Lexical composition.
*** Derivation or resuffixation of existing words with popular suffixes (-ist, -ism, -ic, etc.)
*** [[Apocope]] : truncation of one or several ending syllables of a word.
*** [[Apheresis]] : truncation of one or several initial syllables of a word.
*** [[Doubling]] of a syllable, possibly before truncation
*** Reversal : simply reversing the letters in a word. This is particularly popular in [[French language|French]] [[verlan]] slang.
*** [[Abbreviation]] : denoting a word by only several of its component letters.
*** Assimilation : absorbing words from other languages and incorporating them into the slang vocabulary. Popular in multilingual areas.

''This list is inspired by the classification of [[Marc Sourdot]].''

== See also ==
<!-- note the intro makes a point of distinguishing slang from jargon -->
* [[African American Vernacular English]]
* [[Australian English]]
* [[Bypassing]]
* [[Canadian slang]]
* [[Cockney rhyming slang]]
* [[Ebonics]]
* [[Euphemism]]
* [[Gay slang]]
* [[Germanía]]
* [[Grunge speak]]
* [[Hip hop slang]]
* [[Internet slang]]
* [[Lunfardo]]
* [[Medical slang]]
* [[Polari]]
* [[Sexual slang]]
** [[Body parts slang]]

Various jargons are also loosely considered to be slang:
* [[Baseball slang]]
* [[Gangster]] slang
* [[Computer hacker slang]] (see the [[Jargon File]])
* [[Leet]]&mdash;computer [[cracker]] (or malicious `hacker') slang
* [[List of lumberjack jargon|Lumberjack jargon]]
* [[Military slang]]
* [[List of slang names for poker hands|Poker slang]]
* [[Professional wrestling slang]]

==External links==
* For British slang, see http://www.peevish.co.uk/slang/
* For Australian slang, see http://www.geocities.com/Heartland/Plains/9740/slang.html ''(This page appears to be missing from its server)''
* For Singaporean slang, try http://www.talkingcock.com/html/lexec.php?op=LexView&lexicon=lexicon
* For some Cockney rhyming slang, see http://www.bio.nrc.ca/cockney/process.html
* For an example of a canting dictionary, which incidentally illustrates the tendency for English to adopt and make respectable words that were originally coined by the criminal classes http://www.holoweb.net/~liam/dict/ .
* For more about Polari, see this page: http://members.aol.com/frij/ 
* For more American slang, see http://www.urbandictionary.com/
* For Irish Slang, see http://www.at.artslink.co.za/~gerry/irish.htm

[[Category:Slang| ]]
[[Category:Sociolinguistics]]
[[Category:Figures of speech]]

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