Introductory

A living language such as English is a dynamic flow of spoken and written terms, eternally evolving. Whenever people use the language they cause it to flow in and around itself, creating new meanings, ways to express. Term “slang” reflects the dynamics of the language and therefore is very obscure and ambiguous. Although it is spread so much that now can easily be found practically in all kinds of contemporary literary works, yet there is no easy mechanism for identifying it. The absolute truth about slang was revealed by Lighter and Dumas that anyone can recognize slang, but no one can define it. There is hardly any other term that is as ambiguous and obscure as the term slang. Slang is a controversial topic nowadays, and the debate on its definitions, classification and linguistic relevance is still heated.

With the possible exception of technology-related jargon, young people’s coinages are now probably the richest source of new language in the English-speaking world. The slang of pre-teens, teenagers, students and young adults uses all the techniques of the world’s most influential language in a riot of creative exuberance. Their codes are used to create in-groups and to keep out the too-old and the terminally uncool, but also just to celebrate being young, gifted - and slack. Slang is an informal kind of language in which words and phrases are used in new or unusual ways. Many slang terms are expressive, humorous and vivid. Some are rude and offensive.

People use slang more often in speaking than in writing and more often with friends than with strangers. Slang thus resembles colloquialisms, which are expressions used in everyday conversation but considered appropriate for formal speech or writing. Unlike colloquialisms, however, most slang lasts only a few years. Also, nearly all colloquialisms are used- or at least understood- by the general population. But many slang expressions are limited to a certain segment of society or to a specific occupational group. For example, some slang is used only by criminals and other members of the underworld. Such slang is called argot and cant. The special slang and technical vocabulary of a profession or trade is known as jargon.

Slang expressions change and spread so quickly that many people have difficulty determining what slang is and what is not. Dictionaries and language experts often disagree about whether a particular expression is slang, a colloquialism, or even standard language.

Not all slang terms are created equal. Though slang is commonly described as serving a variety of social and psychological functions, it is not generally noted that these different functions imply the existence of different categories of slang. This paper outlines one particular kind of slang, what I call basic slang, and identifies the functions that shape its use and longevity. To illustrate the significance of basic slang and the semantic structure that underlies it, I present here an extensive social and historical discussion of the basic slang with attention to their uses in youths’ speech from the 1910s to the present.

A basic slang lexeme is a slang expression that emerges when a young generation or cohort takes on a set of values starkly opposed to the values of its elders and begins to use a positive slang expression that is semantically linked to its new value orientation. It differs from most slang in that it typically endures for one or more generations, is used pervasively, and is applied to a wide array of referents as a general term of approval.

Slang is a language of a highly colloquial type considered as below the level of educated standard speech and consisting either of new words or current word employed in some special sense.