Editing Slang (section)

== Defining slang ==
[[Linguist]]s have no simple and clear definition of slang but agree that it is a constantly changing linguistic phenomenon present in every subculture worldwide. Some argue that slang exists because we must come up with ways to define new experiences that have surfaced with time and modernity.<ref name="Dumas&Lighter">{{Cite journal | last1 = Dumas | first1 = Bethany K. | last2 = Lighter | first2 = Jonathan | year = 1978 | title = Is Slang a Word for Linguists? | journal = American Speech | volume = 53 | issue = 5| pages = 14–15 | doi = 10.2307/455336 | jstor = 455336 }}</ref>  Attempting to remedy the lack of a clear definition, however, Bethany K. Dumas and Jonathan Lighter argue that an expression should be considered "true slang" if it meets at least two of the following criteria:<ref name="Dumas&Lighter"/>

{{bulleted list 
 | It lowers, if temporarily, "the dignity of formal or serious speech or writing"; in other words, it is likely to be considered in those contexts a "glaring misuse of [[Register (sociolinguistics)|register]]".
 | Its use implies that the user is familiar with whatever is referred to, or with a group of people who ''are'' familiar with it and use the term.
 | "It's 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 discomfort caused by the conventional synonym or discomfort or annoyance caused by having to elaborate further.
}}

Michael Adams remarks that "[Slang] is {{Linktext|liminal}} language... it is often impossible to tell, even in context, which interests and motives it serves... slang is on the edge."<ref name="People's Poetry">{{Cite book | last1 = Adams | first1 = Michael | year = 2009 | title = Slang: The People's Poetry }}</ref> Slang dictionaries, collecting thousands of slang entries, offer a broad, empirical window into the motivating forces behind slang.<ref name="new partridge dictionary">{{cite book|last=Partridge|first=Eric|title=A dictionary of slang and unconventional English (Slang itself being slang for Short Language) : colloquialisms and catch phrases, fossilized jokes and puns, general nicknames, vulgarisms and such Americanisms as have been naturalized|year=2002|publisher=Routledge|location=London|isbn=978-0-415-29189-7|edition=8th}}</ref>

While many forms of lexicon may be considered [[low-register]] or "sub-standard", slang remains distinct from [[colloquialism|colloquial]] and [[jargon]] terms because of its specific social [[Context (language use)|contexts]]. While viewed as inappropriate in formal usage, colloquial terms are typically considered acceptable in speech across a wide range of contexts, whereas slang tends to be perceived as inappropriate in many common communication situations. [[Jargon]] refers to language used by personnel in a particular field or{{clarify|date=January 2024}} to language used to represent specific terms within a field to those with a particular interest. Although jargon and slang can both be used to exclude non-group members from the conversation, slang tends to emphasize social and contextual understanding whereas the main purpose of jargon is to optimize communication using terms that imply technical understanding.<ref>{{cite book|last=Piekot|first=Tomasz|title=Język w grupie społecznej: wprowadzenie do analizy socjolektu|year=2008|isbn=9788388425387|location=Wałbrzych|publisher=Wydawnictwo Państwowej Wyższej Szkoły Zawodowej im. Angelusa Silesiusa|oclc=297524942|page=24|language=pl}}</ref>

While colloquialisms and jargon may seem like slang because they reference a particular group, they do not necessarily fit the same definition because they do not represent a particular effort to replace the general lexicon of a [[standard language]]. Colloquialisms are considered more acceptable and more expected in standard usage than slang is, and jargon is often created to talk about aspects of a particular field that are not accounted for in the general lexicon.<ref name="topical dictionary">{{cite book|last=Dickson|first=Paul|title=Slang: The Topical Dictionary of Americanisms|year=2010|publisher=Bloomsbury Publishing USA |isbn=978-0802718495}}</ref> However, this differentiation is not consistently applied by linguists; the terms "slang" and "jargon" are sometimes treated as synonymous,<ref>{{cite web|first=Jan|last=Grzenia|url=https://sjp.pwn.pl/poradnia/haslo/gwara-a-zargon;6208.html|title=gwara a żargon|date=2005-04-25|access-date=2019-04-26|work=Poradnia językowa PWN|publisher=sjp.pwn.pl|language=pl|archive-date=April 7, 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220407211437/https://sjp.pwn.pl/poradnia/haslo/gwara-a-zargon;6208.html|url-status=live}}</ref> and the scope of "jargon" is at times extended to mean all forms of socially-restricted language.<ref>{{cite book|last=Grabias|first=Stanisław|year=1997|title=Język w zachowaniach społecznych|location=Lublin|publisher=Wydawnictwo Uniwersytetu Marii Curie-Skłodowskiej|pages=140–141|language=pl}}</ref>

It is often difficult to differentiate slang from colloquialisms and even high-register lexicon, because slang terms that do not fall out of usage generally become accepted into common vocabulary over time. Words such as "spurious" and "strenuous" were once perceived as slang, but they are now considered general, even high-register words. Some literature on slang even says that mainstream acceptance of a slang term removes its status as true slang because it is then accepted by the media and is thus no longer the special insider speech of a particular group. For example, Black American music frequently uses [[AAVE]] slang, and many of its frequently used terms have subsequently been taken up by vernacular English in a broader context. Some{{who|date=December 2024}} say that slang is whatever would not be acceptable in academic or legal writing, but this fails to distinguish slang from language which is simply informal. Others{{who|date=December 2024}} say that a word is slang only until it has been entered in the Oxford English Dictionary, at which point its status changes.<ref name="topical dictionary" />
===Examples of slang (cross-linguistic)===
{{div col|colwidth=20em}}
* [[1337 speak]]
* [[American slang (disambiguation)|American slang]] (disambiguation page)
* [[Indonesian slang]]
* [[Argot]]
* [[British slang]]
* ''[[Bargoens]]''
* ''[[Caló (Chicano)|Caló]]''
* [[Cant (language)|Cant]]
* [[Cantonese internet slang]]
* [[Cockney rhyming slang]]
* ''[[Fala dos arxinas]]''
* ''[[Fenya]]''
* [[Gayle language]]
* [[List of Generation Z slang|Generation Z slang]]
* [[Jive talk]]
* ''[[IsiNgqumo]]''
* [[Language game]]
* [[LGBTQ slang]]
* [[Lunfardo]]
* [[Internet meme|Meme]]
* [[Nadsat]]
* [[Polari]]
* [[Thieves' cant]]
* ''[[Verlan]]''
{{div col end}}