February 24, 2003

Slang

Slang is like jargon:

• marks identity / group membership
• serves both an inclusive and an exclusive function
• different for different groups: geeks, goths, surfers; ethnicities; geographical regions

However, slang has some special features:

• associated with low registers rather than high registers
• (mostly) spoken rather than written
• non-standard rather than standard
• innovative rather than conservative (typically, very rapid turnover).

Slang is associated mostly with lexicon (words), but may also be applied to grammar and other linguistic levels, including even spelling.

Note that while slang is mostly innovative, some terms persist for tens or even hundreds of years.

Which terms from a slang dictionary published in 1960 do you recognize? Which would you still consider "slang"?