User:Warrenmcbieber/sandbox

Slang is represented as a lexicon of non-standard words and phrases within a language, typically associated with the subversion of a standard variety. A speaker's variation of the standard and sub-standard forms is interpreted by a listener as a pragmatic speech act, delivering context and attitudes within the scope of a cooperative conversation. Additionally, a speaker's agency in selecting slang variants can convey covert prestige, indicating group membership or delineation from "outsiders".

Defining slang

Few linguists have endeavoured to clearly define what constitutes slang. Attempting to remedy this, Bethany K. Dumas and Jonathan Lighter argue that 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 considered in those contexts a "glaring misuse of register."
• Its use implies that the user is familiar with whatever is referred to, or with a group of people who are familiar with it and use the term.
• "It's 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 discomfort caused by conventional phrases or by further elaboration.

Distinction from colloquialisms and jargon

While many forms of language may be considered "sub-standard", slang remains distinct from colloquial and jargon terms because of its specific social contexts.

• While representing a variation from the "standard form", colloquial terms have become the "standard" terms within a region and are thus no longer admissible as slang.
• Jargon refers to language used by personnel in a particular field, or the language used to represent specific terms within a field to those with a particular interest. Its intention is to optimize conversation using terms to assert technical understanding, unlike slang terms, which emphasize social and contextual understanding.

History

The meaning of the word slang has itself evolved over time.

• According to the OED, the first sense of slang was from a mid-eighteenth century dictionary which defined slang as "the special set of vocabulary used by any set of persons of a low or disreputable character."

• Webster and McKechnie in 1963 defined slang as originally meaning "the specialized vocabulary and idioms of criminals, tramps, etc. the purpose of which was to disguise from outsiders the meaning of what was said."

Yet after the mid-eighteenth century, the meaning of the word has been thought to have changed, so it instead took on the meaning of "colloquial or informal vocabulary which is outside of conventional or standard usage and which belongs to familiar conversation rather than to written language."

Formation of slang

It is often difficult to collect etymologies for slang terms, largely because slang is a phenomenon of speech, rather than written language and etymologies which are typically traced via corpus.

Eric Partridge, cited by Coleman as the first to report on the phenomenon of slang in a systematic and linguistic way, postulated that a term would likely be in circulation for a decade before it would be written down. Nevertheless, it seems that slang generally forms via deviation from a standard form. This "spawning" of slang occurs in much the same way that any general semantic change might occur. The difference here is that the slang term's new meaning takes on a specific social significance having to do with the group the term indexes.

Coleman also suggests that slang is differentiated within more general semantic change in that it typically has to do with a certain degree of “playfulness.” The development of slang is considered to be a largely “spontaneous, lively, and creative” speech process.

Social Implications

Indexicality

Slang is usually associated with a particular group. Therefore, using the slang of a particular group will associate an individual with that group. Using Silverstein's notion of different orders of indexicality, it can be said that a slang term can be a second-order index to this particular group. Employing a slang term, however, can also give an individual the qualities associated with the term's group of origin, whether or not the individual is actually trying to identify as a member of the group. This allocation of qualities based on abstract group association is known as third-order indexicality.

As outlined by Elisa Mattiello in her book, An Introduction to English Slang: A Description of Its Morphology, Semantics, and Sociology, a slang term can take on various levels of identification. Giving the examples of the terms “foxy” and “shagadelic,” Mattiello explains that neither term makes sense given a standard interpretation of English:

• foxy, although clearly a “denominal adjective” from its -y suffix, does not make sense semantically, as it is a synonym with sexy and has nothing to do with foxes;
• shagadelic is a combination of a slang term with a slang suffix and therefore is considered an “extra-grammatical” creation.

Nevertheless, Matiello concludes that those agents who identify as “young men” have “genuinely coined” these terms and choose to use them over “canonical” terms -- like beautiful or sexy -- because of the indexicalized social identifications.

The social implications of these variations can be classified as speaker- or hearer-oriented.

Speaker-oriented implications

In terms of first and second order indexicality, the usage of speaker-oriented terms by "male adolescents" indicates the “membership to their virility or their age, to reinforce connection to their peer group and to exclude outsiders, to show off, etc.” Intention is made clear by the speaker.

Hearer-oriented implications

More concerned with third-order indexicality, in this case, Mattiello claims that the user of hearer-oriented terms appears "fresher... undoubtedly [more] playful, faddish, colourful" than someone who employs the standard English term "beautiful." This appearance relies heavily on the hearer's third-order understanding of the term's associated social nuances and presupposed use-cases.

Subculture associations

Often, distinct subcultures will create slang that members will use in order to associate themselves with the group, or to delineate outsiders.

Slang terms are often known only within a clique or ingroup. For example, Leet ("Leetspeak" or "1337") was originally popular only among certain Internet subcultures, such as software crackers and online video gamers. During the 1990s, and into the early 21st century, however, Leet became increasingly more commonplace on the Internet, and it has spread outside Internet-based communication and into spoken languages. Other types of slang include SMS language used on mobile phones, and "chatspeak," (e.g., "LOL", an acronym meaning "laughing out loud" or "laugh out loud" or ROFL, "rolling on the floor laughing"), which are widely used in instant messaging on the Internet.

As subcultures are also often forms of counterculture and counterculture itself can be defined as going against a standard, it follows that slang has come to be associated with counterculture.

See also

• 1337 speak
• Bargoens
• Boontling
• Caló (Chicano)
• Cant
• Code switching
• Fala dos arxinas
• Fenya
• Gayle language
• IsiNgqumo
• Jargon
• Klezmer-loshn
• Language game
• Lunfardo
• Microculture
• Nadsat
• Rotwelsch
• Rövarspråket
• Lazăr Şăineanu
• Shelta
• Slang
• Thieves' cant
• Vernacular