Slang is the use of highly informal
words and expressions that are not considered standard in the speaker's
dialect or
language. Slang is often highly regional, specific to a particular
territory.
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 understood, 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 should be distinguished from
jargon, which is the technical vocabulary of a particular profession. Moreover, jargon may not be intended to exclude nongroup 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 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
sexuality,
violence,
crime and
drugs.
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 only known within an
ingroup. For example,
Leet Speak (
Leet or "1337") is popular among online video gamers (although it is slowly being picked up by gaming in general).
Text language is also a different form of slang used among people to shorten words when typing.