slang

Definition:

An informal nonstandard variety of speech characterized by newly coined and rapidly changing words and phrases. See also:

• Argot
• Back Slang
• Rhyming Slang
• What Is Family Slang?
• "Slang in America," by Walt Whitman

Etymology:

Uncertain

Examples and Observations:

• "The most significant characteristic of slang overlaps with a defining characteristic of jargon: slang is a marker of in-group solidarity, and so it is a correlate of human groups with shared experiences, such as being children at a certain school or of a certain age, or being a member of a certain socially definable group, such as hookers, junkies, jazz musicians, or professional criminals."
  (Keith Allan and Kate Burridge, Forbidden Words. Cambridge Univ. Press, 2006)



• "Slang is a language that rolls up its sleeves, spits on its hands, and goes to work."
  (Carl Sandburg)



• "The downtrodden are the great creators of slang."
  (Anthony Burgess)



• "When we refer . . . to food as 'grub,' it is perhaps hard to realize that the word goes back to Oliver Cromwell's time; from early 18th century come 'mob,' and also 'knock off,' to finish; and from early 19th century, the sarcastic use of 'clear as mud.'"
  (Paul Beale, editor of Partridge's Concise Dictionary of Slang and Unconventional English)



• "The latest slang term for defecation, however, is dropping the kids off at the pool, which offers hope for a new generation of euphemistic suburbanites."
  (William Safire, "Kiduage." The New York Times, 2004)



• "With the exception of cool, which retains its effectiveness after well over half a century, slang words--groovy, phat, radical, smokin'--have a very brief life span in which they can be used to express sincere enthusiasm. Then they revert to irony or, at best, expressions of a sort of mild sardonic approval."
  (Ben Yagoda, When You Catch an Adjective, Kill It. Broadway Books, 2007)

Pronunciation: slang

Also Known As: antilanguage