slang
pronunciation
How to pronounce slang in British English:
UK [slæŋ]
How to pronounce slang in American English:
US [slæŋ]
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- Noun:
- informal language consisting of words and expressions that are not considered appropriate for formal occasions; often vituperative or vulgar
- a characteristic language of a particular group (as among thieves)
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- Verb:
- use slang or vulgar language
- fool or hoax
- abuse with coarse language
Word Origin
- slang
- slang: [18] Slang is a mystery word. It first appeared in underworld argot of the mid-18th century. It had a range of meanings – ‘cant’, ‘nonsense’, ‘line of business’, and, as a verb, ‘defraud’. Most of these have died out, but ‘cant’ is the lineal ancestor of the word’s modern meaning. It is not clear where it came from, although the use of the verb slang for ‘abuse’, and the expression slanging match ‘abusive argument’, suggest some connection with Norwegian dialect sleng- ‘offensive language’ (found only in compounds).
- slang (n.)
- 1756, "special vocabulary of tramps or thieves," later "jargon of a particular profession" (1801), of uncertain origin, the usual guess being that it is from a Scandinavian source, such as Norwegian slengenamn "nickname," slengja kjeften "to abuse with words," literally "to sling the jaw," related to Old Norse slyngva "to sling." But OED, while admitting "some approximation in sense," discounts this connection based on "date and early associations." Liberman also denies it, as well as any connection with French langue (or language or lingo). Rather, he derives it elaborately from an old slang word meaning "narrow piece of land," itself of obscure origin. Century Dictionary says "there is no evidence to establish a Gipsy origin." Sense of "very informal language characterized by vividness and novelty" first recorded 1818. [S]lang is a conscious offence against some conventional standard of propriety. A mere vulgarism is not slang, except when it is purposely adopted, and acquires an artificial currency, among some class of persons to whom it is not native. The other distinctive feature of slang is that it is neither part of the ordinary language, nor an attempt to supply its deficiencies. The slang word is a deliberate substitute for a word of the vernacular, just as the characters of a cipher are substitutes for the letters of the alphabet, or as a nickname is a substitute for a personal name. [Henry Bradley, from "Slang," in "Encyclopedia Britannica," 11th ed.] A word that ought to have survived is slangwhanger (1807, American English) "noisy or abusive talker or writer."
Example
- 1. Other slang or stories you 'd like to share related to magical singles day ?
- 2. Slang lives on the language .
- 3. His basic academic interest was criminal slang .
- 4. Using street slang would be an easy option in school , says a teenage boy .
- 5. The old and new puns , slang and jargon that we lived with this year .