English slang

      Slang terms are frequently particular to a certain subculture, such as musicians, and members of a minority. All the same, slang expressions can outside their original arena and become commonly understood; recent examples include "cool". While some such words eventually lose their status as slang, others conti to be considered as such by most speakers. In e of this, the process tends to lead to their replacement by other, less well-recognised, expressions by their original users.

      Slang is to be distinguished from jargon, the technical vocabulary of a particular profession, as the association of informality is not present. Moreover, jargon may not be intended to exclude non-group members from the conversation, but rather deals with technical peculiarities of a given field which require a specialized vocabulary.

      According to Bethany K. Dumas and Jonathan Lighter[1], 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 term in ordinary discourse with people of a higher social status or greater responsibility."  It replaces "a well known conventional synonym". This is especially to avoid "the discomfort caused by the conventional item [or by] further elaboration."

      Functions and origins of slang One use of slang is simply to circumvent social s. Mainstream language tends to away from everything explicitly evoking certain realities, and slang can permit one to talk about these realities, whether euphemistically or not. For this reason, slang vocabularies are particularly rich in certain ns, such as uality, violence, crime, and s. They can be quite regional, and in the case of easily parodied examples, short-lived, such as 'valspeak'.

      Alternatively, slang can grow out of mere familiarity with the things described. Among Californian connoisseurs, Cabernet Sauvignon might be known as "Cab", Chardonnay as "Chard" and so on[2]; this means that naming the different s expends less superfluous effort. It also serves as a shared code among connoisseurs.

      There is not just one slang, but very many varieties — or dialects — of it. Different social groups in different times have developed their own slang. The importance of encryption and identity, of having a secret code or language, varies between these instances. For slang to maintain its power as a means of encryption, it must constantly renew its process of expression, so that those not part of the group will remain unable to understand it. Many slang words are replaced, as speakers get bored of them, or they are co-opted by those outside the group. For this reason, the existence of slang dictionaries reduces the perceived usefulness of certain slang words to those who use them. 
 

      Used Literature:

1. A Historical Dictionary of American Slang (2006) – Harvard University Press.

2. The Bloomsbury Dictionary of Contemporary Slang. (New York) 1998.

3. Beard, Robert (2006) What is Slang?

4. Stuart Berg Flexner, preface, Dictionary of American Slang, by Robert L. Chapman. New York. (1960)

5. Tony Thorne “Slang and the Dictionary” (Oxford UP) 2001.

6.http://www.slangsite.com/