Definition:
(1) An informal term for the special vocabulary of a particular group or field: jargon.
(2) Language or speech that is perceived as strange or unintelligible. Plural: lingoes.
See also:
- Argot
- Anti-Language
- Dialect
- Regionalism
- Restaurantese
- Slang
- The Triumph of Slang
- Vernacular
- What Is Family Slang?
Etymology:
From the Latin, "tongue"Examples and Observations:
- "The various buildings on the ranch had their various slang names. The main house, or house of the owner, was known as the 'white house' (its usual color, if painted), the 'Big House,' 'Bull's Mansh,' or 'headquarters.' The 'bunkhouse' was equally well known as the 'dog-house,' 'dice-house,' 'dump,' 'shack,' or 'dive,' while the 'cook-shack,' if it was a separate building, was spoken of as the 'mess-house,' 'grub-house,' 'feed-trough,' 'feed-bag,' 'nose-bag,' or 'swallow-an'-git-out trough.'"
(Ramon Frederick Adams, Cowboy Lingo, Houghton, 2000) - "To speak the lingo is to become a member of a group that shares a sense of itself and expresses that sense in its own language. In the sense of the Great Australian Lingo that group consists of all its speakers--most Australians, in fact. But there are also many other lingoes, past and present, that are and have been spoken in Australia by different groups, or speech communities as they are called. . . .
"What does the term TALK RIVER mean, for example? You almost certainly will not know unless you worked in or were close to the Murray River boat trade. In that speech community it means to talk about matters relating to the river, its people and its business. Unless you are involved with the welding trade you would be unlikely to know that STICK and TIC refer to different forms of welding--STICK is with flame heat and TIC with an electric arc. Nor would you know what a KROMER CAP is."
(Graham Seal, The Lingo: Listening to Australian English, UNSW Press, 1999)
Pronunciation: LIN-go
