Dictionary Definition
slang
Noun
1 informal language consisting of words and
expressions that are not considered appropriate for formal
occasions; often vituperative or vulgar; "their speech was full of
slang expressions"
2 a characteristic language of a particular group
(as among thieves); "they don't speak our lingo" [syn: cant, jargon, lingo, argot, patois, vernacular]
Verb
1 use slang or vulgar language
2 fool or hoax; "The immigrant was duped because
he trusted everyone"; "You can't fool me!" [syn: gull, dupe, befool, cod, fool, put on, take in, put one
over, put one
across]
3 abuse with coarse language
User Contributed Dictionary
English
Pronunciation
- , /slæŋ/, /sl
Extensive Definition
Slang is the use of highly
informal words and
expressions that are not considered standard in the speaker's
dialect or language.
Slang is sometimes regional in
that it is used only in a particular territory, but slang terms are
frequently particular to a certain subculture, such as musicians, and members of
minority
groups. 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. When
slang spreads beyond the group or subculture that originally uses
it, its original users often replace it with other, less-recognized
terms to maintain group identity.
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 and sex. 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; 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"), was originally 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. 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.
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.
- Slang.ie - A dictionary of Irish slang by county.
- English Slang Dictionary - Slangs and other informal expressions used by native speakers.
- The London Slang Dictionary Project - A dictionary written by east and west London teenagers. Includes many terms that cannot be substantiated.
slang in Bulgarian: Групов
говор
slang in Czech:
Slang
slang in Danish:
Slang
slang in German:
Umgangssprache
slang in Spanish:
Slang
slang in Esperanto:
Slango
slang in Persian: زبان
عامیانه
slang in French:
Argot
slang in Korean:
속어
slang in Indonesian: Bahasa
gaul
slang in Italian:
Gergo
slang in Hebrew:
סלנג
slang in Hungarian:
Szleng
slang in Dutch:
Straattaal
slang in Japanese:
俗語
slang in Norwegian:
Slang
slang in Polish:
Gwara
slang in Portuguese:
Gíria
slang in Russian:
Сленг
slang in Albanian: Gjuha e
folur
slang in Simple English:
Slang
slang in Slovak:
Slang
slang in Serbian:
Сленг
slang in Finnish:
Slangi
slang in Swedish:
Slanguttryck
slang in Tagalog:
Balbal
slang in Thai:
ศัพท์สแลง
slang in Vietnamese: Tiếng
lóng
slang in Turkish: Argo
(dilbilim)
slang in Contenese:
俗語
slang in Chinese:
俚語
Synonyms, Antonyms and Related Words
Aesopian language, Babel, Greek, argot, babble, barbarism, bluff, bluster, bluster and bluff,
bounce, brag, bully, cant, cipher, code, colloquialism, common
speech, corruption,
cryptogram, double
Dutch, garble, gasconade, gibberish, gift of tongues,
glossolalia,
gobbledygook,
hector, illiterate
speech, impropriety,
intimidate, jargon, jargonal, jargonish, jumble, lingo, localism, mumbo jumbo, noise, out-herod Herod, patois, patter, phraseology, rage, rant, rave, roister, rollick, scatological, scatology, scramble, secret language,
slangy, splutter, sputter, storm, substandard language,
swagger, swashbuckle, taboo, taboo language, taboo word,
vapor, vernacular, vocabulary, vulgar language,
vulgar tongue, vulgarism, vulgate