Slang and culture

The book Slang and culture provides a comprehensive description of Russian slang as a cultural
phenomenon. The opposition of normative ("literary") language and non-normative ("nonstandard") one is traditional for Russian linguistics, the former being normally associated with
high culture and the latter with various subcultures. All these phenomena are described
separately although their relation is obvious.
Introduction. The analysis of slang is based on naturally occurring language data presented by
the author in his Dictionary of Moscow slang (published in Moscow in 1994, and containing
approximately 8000 words and 3000 idioms). This material dates from the 1980s and early
1990s. The introduction offers a brief overview of works on Russian slang (by Larine, Polivanov,
Likhatchev, Zirmunskij, Straten, Baudouin de Courtenay, and Bondaletov etc.). These authors
used different terms, 'argot', 'jargon', 'slang', and 'social dialect', to refer to slang. Finding the
optimal term is still problematic: the term 'slang' is used in this book as a working solution. The
terminological problem is connected to the question of the essence and philosophy of slang. The
majority of linguistic works about this phenomenon touches only upon some of its aspects like
word formation, lexical metaphors, and the borrowing of slang words from other languages etc.
Instead, a complex analysis of slang is necessary which presents it as a part of language and of
culture at the same time.
I. Slang as a cultural phenomenon. Slang as a part of culture. This chapter treats the
dynamics of the development of slang. Slang is a universal fact of culture. We can find the
equivalents of modern slang in the Antiquity, in the Middle Ages, and in the modern era. All
slang passes through the same developmental cycles.
Phase one is when slang is a closed formation, that is, it constitutes a closed, secret language of a
social group. The range of social groups and of their languages (stylistic systems) is very wide,
ranging from priests, theosophists through revolutionaries to thieves and businessmen. The
characteristics of their slang are different, just like the social functions of the groups are
different. But the inner structures of their languages are similar: they are naturally enclosed, or
hermetic. This stage of ontological genesis of slang exists in compliance with the laws of
hermetic nature where the "we-they" opposition dominates. One can distinguish three types of
hermetic slang: (i) "logosic" (from the Greek logos "word, thought"), (ii) professional, and (iii)
playful.
In the first type of slang, the hermetic nature is especially strong. The members of a hermetical
community typically believe that they are "chosen by God" and they know the Supreme Truth
(The Secret). Their ontological aim is to keep this secret from others who are not initiated.
Hermetic slang is intimately related to prehistoric, magical culture. But we see the reflexes of
these old hermetical structures in many modern phenomena as well, e.g. in franc-macon
semiotics, in aristocratic, elitist poetry, the criminal world, and even the rites of Soviet young
communist movement, the pioneers.

Hermetical pathos is noticeably weaker in professional slang. Professionals keep their secrets
from others, but their motivations are more pragmatic than spiritual. The main structural
difference between logosic and professional slang consists in the following: logosic hermetics
does not reflect the real world through its symbolic, conventional language (cf. for example,
alchemists' language), while professional languages reflect some details of everyday life.
Through the latter we can study the age and its everyday life, and in this sense they are
"historical". A professional argot is almost always an expression of its time. The chapter offers
detailed information about professional languages: a description of ofenias', i.e. Russian vagrant
merchants' language, that of early 20th century barbers, of modern merchants, and of the
military, among other things. In modern Russia we can see a flourishing of professional slang.
The third type of hermetics is a playful hermetics. It is often cultivated in families or in youth
groups. There is always a play element in any hermetical slang, but here we have playing for
playing's sake, where the secret becomes playful. Playful slang has a very important function in
cultural history. A playful stage often creates the particularities of entire generations or of
remarkable persons. A case in point is, for example, Bulgakov.
The hermetical stage of slang has a tendency to gradually open, to weaken. A closed system
becomes claustrophobic, and sooner or later the hermetical argot goes out into the streets, where
it is parodied and ridiculed. This stage of an ontological cycle is figuratively called cynical.
Cynics represent a very typical phenomenon as far as slang is concerned. The stylistic (poetic or
rhetoric) system of their slang is based upon a displacement between the "high" (hermetical,
sacral) and the "low" ("plebeian"). Cynics are "wise fools", they ridicule themselves and others.
The cynical stage of slang is very dynamic. The cynical stage becomes especially strong during
unstable periods. For example, in 20th century Russia cynicism becomes one of leading
directions of verbal art. The cynical type constitutes many texts of Russian prose and poetry (cf.
Mayakovsky, Brodsky, Erofeev, and others). A cynical orientation presupposes a cynical system
of behaviour, too (cf. hippies etc.).
The third stage of opening of the slang system can be conventionally characterised as the
"Rabelais" stage. The "Rabelais stage" as a cultural and philosophical phenomenon has been
described by Bakhtin with the medieval European carnival as an application. The carnival (or
"Rabelais stage") is clearly reflected in modern Russian slang and in the argot in general. The
wealth of modern Russian swearing (the famous mat) is typologically close to the verbal carnival
culture of medieval European peoples, although structurally "the Russian carnival" is very
different from its European counterpart. The "Rabelais stage" slang is the most open and
democratic slang.
The connection between the hermetic, cynical and "Rabelais" stages is dialectical. The elements
of practically any slang pass through typologically similar stages from hermetism (with maximal
closure) to cynicism (the opening of the system) and finally to the "Rabelais" stage (the maximal
opening). Then in the depth of "Rabelais" stage the seeds of a new hermetical system appears.

II. The composition of slang; Its reflection of cultural phenomena. The first part of the
chapter deals with slang loan-words and cultural and national subject matter in slang. The second
treats social and cultural referents in slang.
1. Russian slang incorporates borrowings from dozens of different peoples. They are loan-words
from other languages in Russian slang, and reflections of "cultural" subjects of different peoples
in idioms, funny stories etc.
Finno-Ugric loan-words and reference to these peoples are the oldest. There is a rich material of
loan-words from Finnish, Mordvinian, and Hungarian etc. The "laughing", "parody" subject of
these peoples is not well represented: this fact is a consequence of a rich history of relations, of
the adaptation of the peoples to each other, and of relatively few cultural conflicts between these
peoples.
Hebraisms and Jewish subjects have a special place in Russian slang. Their origins (in late 19th
and early 20th century) are in a thieves' language from which many Hebraisms passed into the
common city language. Furthermore, a Jewish accent in pronunciation and some Hebrew
grammatical features became compulsory elements of modern Russian slang. Hebraisms are an
important part of the modern Russian culture of laughter.
The majority of Gypsyisms in Russian slang also originate in the thieves' language. A particular
feature of Gypsy loans and of the Gypsy subject matter is their wide range of realisations, from
purely pragmatical thieves' terms to the romantic idealisation of Gypsy people (reflected, for
instance, in Blok's poetry etc.).
Turkic elements, like Finno-Ugric loans, belong to the oldest layers of Russian culture and slang.
Besides an enormous quantity of loans from Turkic languages in various forms of Russian slang
(especially artisans' slang), Turkic elements can be considered an ontological base of the Asian
subject matter in Russian culture, which is in a complete opposition with the European subject
matter.
Anglicisms, Germanisms and Gallicisms are widely presented in Russian culture and slang. If
German and French loans were especially intensive in the 18th and 19th centuries, in the modern
language Anglicisms and Americanisms are the most widespread. Each of these has its own place
in Russian culture (for instance, the German subject matter in Gogol's works, the French in
Miatlev's, and the Anglo-American in Russian hippies' language etc.).
2. The criminal subject matter has played a special role in Russia. It has greatly influenced all
others (e.g. student and professional slang). The archetype of "the good robber" is very popular
in Russian verbal culture (see the poems of Visotskii).
The army as a subject matter is present in a large quantity of army argot due to universal military
service in the former Soviet Union and in modern Russia. It also often occurs in the poetically
absurd language, which is still very widely used in the mass media.

Professional argot and corporative argot have different tendencies. Some of it is expressly
aesthetical (visual artists' language etc.); other branches are more primitive (drivers' or
sportsmen's languages).
Youth and children slang and the corresponding subcultures have attracted most attention from
linguists and culturologists in the second half of the 20th century. This type of slang is the most
mobile. It has a tendency to loan from very different fields of language and culture. Observations
show that the cynical stage is very strong in youth language.
III. The poetics of slang. Slang follows the rules of the rest of the language. It does not have its
specific grammar (except for some purely parodying grammatical means). The specificity of
slang is expressed in pronunciation and in intonation, the lexicon, word formation, and in some
specially employed rhetorical devices used to construct discourse.
1. Slang word formation and its poetic and aesthetic function. Slang word formation has been
studied comprehensively in Russian linguistics (see Zemskaia, Bondaletov etc.). The most
productive elements in slang are suffixes. The present work discusses several dozen of the most
productive suffixes.
Word formation creates a typical rhythmical design of a word, especially in compliance with the
iambic, trochaic and amphibrach models. The aesthetics of word formation in slang has a
tendency for simplification (cases of truncation are good examples) and for a supercomplicated
organisation (for instance, in cases of exotic word formation). The range of word formation
means is very wide, including parodical abbreviation, pseudo cryptoformations, adverbs formed
from names etc.
2. A verbal image in slang. It is necessary to stress that images are created in the slang culture
only on a verbal level. An important role is also played by gestures and graphics. The verbal
image itself is very specific in slang. One can distinguish expressive images with an
"onomaciological" tendency (from an onomatopoeic word to an image), and images with a
"semaciological" tendency (from an image meaning to a word). These tendencies are intimately
interconnected. In slang, images are built in the sphere of some semantic fields. Associations and
analogies serving as a base for different metaphors or metonyms are usually peripheral. The
deciphering of a verbal image requires a deep cultural background knowledge. Slang shows a
clear tendency to the creation of oxymorons and euphemisms. The dominant tone of modern
Russian slang humour is characterised by both "superprimitivism" and "superaesthetism" of the
parody type, bordering on the absurd.
3. Slang in speech. Slang rhetorics. Modern speech as a whole keeps a traditional ramified
system of city folklore genres, especially of youth and scholarly speech. It includes parody mini
dialogues, proverbs, comical riddles, invectives (i.e. teasing phrases), parody slogans, comical
threats, and ritual dialogues. Many elements of speech are borrowed from literature (texts by
Bulgakov, Ilf and Petrov, Kharms, Erofeev), films, and cartoons ("White sun of the desert",
"Diamond arm", "Just you wait" etc.). Traditional idioms are also actively parodied. It also
contains important changes (in youth speech) of the structure of Russian phonetics with its
reduction system (e.g. the widening of an "a-accent").

Aesthetical slang characteristics are superaesthetism, the absurd, and simplification. These
characteristics are distinguished as a result of a detailed analysis of modern slang data (Chapters
2 and 3), and are found to correspond to the ontological slang status described in Chapter 1.
Generally, slang as a cultural and linguistic system moves in its development from a closed
superaesthetism (hermetism) to an open, parodying absurd system (cynicism), and finally to a
completely open and primitive "Rabelais" stage where a formation of a new hermetical system
begins.
The conclusion underlines once more the importance of a cultural and philosophical analysis of
slang with both universal and specifically national features of this culture.
The bibliography lists 300 works on Russian slang as well as theoretical works on slang genres
in different cultures.

Sacramento Daily Union, Volume 85, Number 151, 16 August

1893
THE FUNCTIONS OF SLANG.
Many Expressions That Will l>o
In a very sensible and entertaining ! paper in Harper's Maga me for July, ' Brander Matthews
discusses at some I length the true "function ol slang," and manage! to mako out a very good
case for a number of words and expressions which the mere grammarian and pedagogue are
Inclined to exclude from polite ; literary so'iety. Mr. Matthews claims that an analysis of modern
slang "reveals the fact tliat it is possible to divide the words and phrases of which it is 1:0111- --!
posed into four broad classes," two of ! which are bad, while tiie two others "are ' performing an
inestimable service to the i language." In the classes deserving contempt he places "the survival
of the . 'thieves' Latin,' " referred to by Scott in "Kedgaontlet," or, in the words of Mr. Matthews,
"the vulgar terms used by vulgar men to describe vulgar things." This, he says, "is the slang
which the Police Court reporter knows andisfondof using profusely. This is the slang which
Dickens introduced to literature. This class of slang it is winch is mainly responsible lor the illrepute of the word." The classes of disreputable slang also in- j dude, in his opinion, "iho
ephemeral i phrases, fortuitously popular for asea-j son, and then finally forgotten." Among ;
those he puls such phrases as " There you , go with your eye out," which was thought funny in
London, and "Where did you get that bat?" \\ hicli had considerable currency for a while in this
country. < >f the classes of slang which he thinks have a right to existence and which serve an
important purpose, "0110 consists of old and forgotten phrases or words. which have long lain
dormant and are now struggling again to the surface, and the other of new words and phrases,
often vigorous and expressive, but not yet down in the literary lexicon and still on probation." In
these two classes, coa- \ tinues Mr. Matthews, "we find a justiii- : cation for the existence of
slang, for it is j the function of siang to be a feeder of the vocabulary. Words get threadbare and

dried up; tiny come to be like evaporated i fruit, juiceless and tasteless. It is the duty of slang to
provide substitutes for the good words and true which arc worn out by hard service." .Many of
these recruits, such as "mossback," "hindsight" and "stranded," as applied to a theatrical or other
venture which iias gotten around j and come to griof, are. in his view, "worthy of enrollment
among the regulars." "Mob," he recalls, was "once thought to be a low word, cab a vulgar one
and i humbug no word at all." "logo back' on," '-to give one's self away," are ' phrases he regards
with favor "a~ characteristic of the iourth and most interesting class of slang at its best." Even
such wild Western, but picturesque ex- i pressionsas "tanglefoot" whisky, "don't monkey with ihe
buzz saw," "to wrestle one's hash," "sand." employed in the sense of pluck, and "cinch," he re- i
gards with approbation, while in "to i ' freeze to," "to get solid with" and! .lumped on" be sees
candidates which "may yet answer to their names whenever a new dictionary calls tiie roll of
Kngiish words." The word ".jag" is a I provincialism meaning a light load, and tho man who has
a jag on is in the earlier stages of intoxication."' Whether it als.i will answer to its name depends,
the writer thinks, upon the decision of time, which lias made legitimate many words which were
formerly marked with "the bend sinister."
Adopted in Our Language.
As to some of the political phrases of the day it would bo impossible for an historian to explain
the ins and outs of! American politics "wlio could not say j frankly thai the machine made a slat'o
i and that the mugwumps broke it. Such an historian must needs master the meaning of laying
pipe for :t nomination, of ' pulling wires to securo it, of taking the stump belore election and of
logrolling I after it; he must apprehend tho exact relation of tho boss to his hei'climen and j his
heelers, and he must understand who | the halt-breeds were and tho stalwarts, and how the
swallow-taus v.ero different i from the short-hairs." Of tin-..id words j | which have come to life
again, "what j j would seem more modern, more Western, even," asks Mr. .Matthews, "than deck
for pack of cards, than to lay out or i to lay out cold for knockdown, than to tiro out for to expel
forcibly." V e t these are all good old expressions. Dock is Klizabelhan.and we find
inSihakespearo's j "King Henry VI." "that the king was slyly lingered from tho deck." To lay out
in its most modern sense is very early English. And lire out i.s m Shakespeare's Huh sonnet
"Till mygoodangi i lire my oad one out." There are doubtless other examples of English
words, now regarded as slang, which could trace their origin to creditable sources. The I word
"hustle." for instance, seems to lie used by Scott in something of its American sense, and the
Century Dictionary gives "hustler" a place in its pages, al- j though it marks it "colloquial, Unit, j
.suites." In summing up Mr. Mattbi admits that "a man should chooso his words at least as
carefully at he does his clothes," but he makes thu point that I "when a man gives his whole mind
to bis j dross it is generally because lie has little mind to give."Baltimore Sun.

Characteristics of Slang Language

Diposkan oleh Nay di 09.03

Some of slang expressions are acceptable and the others are a rude and impolite. Words or
phrases may be considered as slang if they fulfill one or more these characteristics (Slang of
Duke.http://www.epinions.com):
1.
Creative
Slang is created from a new term, so it needs the creativity of the creator. The creator is
encouraged to produce new terms, which are imaginative, innovative, productive, even
shocking, and amusing. The example of teenagers creativity is creating slang terms from the
existing words. In this case, teenagers still use the original words, but acquire a new
meaning, which is different from its original meaning. Some of them is constructed from the
kind
of
colors,
animals,
and
numbers,
2.
Flippant
It means, slang produced has irrelevant meaning with the context. That makes this term
considered as a rude, for instance, fucking chicken, bitch, motherfucker, and shit.
3.
Fresh
It refers to slang expressions that are produced by new words, which are different from the
existing word. For example, homie means close friend, walkie-talkie means a portable twoway
radio,
and
moola
means
money
4.
Onomatopoeic
Slang produced by imitating certain sounds. For example, boo hoo, buzz, icky, yucky, dweeb,
etc. boo hoo uses to express sadness. It is adapted from a sound of crying.
5.
Short
lived
Burke (2002) wrote years ago, criminal classes produced the word lets scram when the
police came. For the first time, the police did not know if it meant lets leave. That language
was never used anymore by criminal classes when the police had already known the meaning.
They change the word into lets amscray for lets leave. After having already been known by
the police, they changed it again (p. 77). That indicates that slang they used is short live. It
is only used when everybody do not know the meaning. After having already been known, that
language is not used anymore. Whereas according to Dumass and Lighter (2006), there are
four characteristics of slang. Firstly, it is lower in prestige than standard English. Secondly, it
appears in a certain community with low status, little power and responsibility. Thirdly, it is
often taboo and unlikely to be used by people of high status. Fourthly, it tends to displace
conventional terms (p.1)

Linguistic Features of Slang

This research examines linguistic features of slang and ways in which it affects the language
experience of English language learners (ELLs). The research will set forth the context in which
slang becomes relevant to and reaches meaning with nonnative speakers of English and then
discuss issue fronts that can have an impact on such speakers' experience of comprehension.
At a time when unprecedented numbers of immigrants are entering the United States, the need
for effective communication is difficult to overstate. That entails learning English, the operative
language in the United States. And learning English entails learning not only formal language but
also slang, which is bound up with both social and linguistic conventions that may be unfamiliar
to the ELL but essential for comprehension. It is both necessary and challenging to make
connections between words, symbols, and expressions and those who use them, and to reach
linguistic clarity based on shared understandings between speakers and auditors about the social
context in which certain words are used and certain meanings are structured. It is the thesis of
this research that context--physical, social, psychological, emotional--is the decisive
sociolinguistic factor of communication effectiveness, and that mastering context may prove
more important for mastering the language than mere attention to linguistic phonemes.
All language, of course, is symbolic. Slang, however, is a special case. It signals formal
meanings in an informal way, and it may also symbolize a whole range of beliefs and/or attitudes
of a subculture. Fowler (1950, p. 307) characterizes slang as a jargon variation, or a whole range
of words "that are in different senses interchangeable, and under it [jargon] the distinctions
between them [types of jargon] may be pointed out." That is its linguistic attribute. But it is also
social. Fowler cites young people's practice of "playing with words and renaming

Main Features in Functioning of American

College Slang
Posted on 31.07.2016 by
Moscow Region State University
MAIN FEATURES OF MODERN AMERICAN SLANG
(by the example of College Slang)
Moscow 2009
Content:
1) Introduction: Main Characteristics of Slang
2) The Main Part:
History of College Slang Studying in American Linguistics
Main Features in Functioning of American College Slang
3) Conclusion
4) References
Main Characteristics of Slang
The main function of language communication could be realized not only by codified
literature language, but also with help of colloquial forms of speech, one of which is slang.

Etymology of word slang hasnt an exact definition, but theres a supposition that it came from
spoken language. The first time it was published in XVIII and meant offence.
Still definition of notion slang is a subject of much controversy, but from linguistics point of
view slang is nonstandard vocabulary composed of words or senses characterized primarily by
connotations of extreme informality and usually by a currency not limited to a particular region.
It is composed typically of coinages or arbitrarily changed words, clipped or shortened forms,
extravagant, forced, or facetious figures of speech, or verbal novelties. Slang consists of the
words and expressions that escape from the cant, jargon, and argot (and to the lesser extent from
dialectal, nonstandard, and taboo speech) of specific subgroups of society so that they are known
and used by an appreciable percentage of the general population, even though the words and
expressions often retain some associations with the subgroups that originally used and
popularized them. Thus, slang is a middle ground for words and expressions that have become
too popular to be any longer considered as part of the more restricted categories, but that are not
yet (and may never become) acceptable or popular enough to be considered informal or standard.
History of College Slang Studying in American Linguistics
It is paid a lot of attention to studying of slang in American linguistics. More important works in
XX are monograph Slang today and yesterday by partridge and chapter American Slang in
American Language by Mencken.
Introductory articles in slang dictionaries set standards for slang analyzing. Famous slang
dictionaries are Dictionary of American Slang by Flexner and random House Historical
Dictionary of American Slang.
First printed evidence of using slang by American students appeared only in the middle of XIX.
American literature shows two sources of studying College Slang: College Words and Customs
by Hall 1856 and Four Years of Yale by Lim Bag 1871.
At the end of 19th century, after extensive slang studying in 90 Universities U. Babbit publishes
the list of 100 words and phrases, named College Slang and Phrases. His work is foundational
for historical learning of students slang, which is used in universities of the USA.
Babbitts list includes exactly third part of words and phrases, connected with people, places,
rituals, difficulties, with which students have to face in their routine life.
For example, the metaphor horse ( ) from the list transferred into
animal (), beast (), wheel ( ). Students gathering for
making cribs named race course ( ), and word racetrack ( ) they
used to define word .

This list practically doesnt consist of vulgar and rude words, which is up to cultural traditions of
19th
century.
At 60th
70th
of the 20th
century interest to slang research is growing. The most appreciable studying of slang at that
period was Gary Anderwoods research, which he made at the Arkansas University. In Menkens
famous work just a little part devoted to American College Slang.
American journalists played an important part in the recording of College Slang: since 1925 year
American Speech magazine has been publishing short lists of words, collected from different
Universities. Current slang journal published the results of slang research, which were carried
out at the faculty of English languages at the University of South Dakota (1966-1971). This
research drew attention to unexpectable rising of words and phrases of Afro-American dialect in
the lexis of American students.
Changes in social relationship in American culture caused the apparition of new taboo words in
College Slang. For example, the word had different ways of translation: to mug
(), to muzzle (), to smooch ().The biggest part of Slang
research at the end of the 20th
century the beginning of the 21st
century is carried out as small projects at the linguistics courses at the format participant
observer.
Development of the Internet considers as promotion for intensive learning of modern College
Slang.
Main Features in Functioning of American College Slang
American College Slang causes difficulties in understanding. This fact can be explained by the
following:
wish of communicants to have an easy informal sympathetic understanding; orientation on
spoken communication (familiarity, intimacy etc.); spontaneity, absence of preparation.
inappropriate way of studying languages, because standard textbooks and exercises, as a rule,
are based on idealized, artificially made language. It causes difficulties when students are not
able to understand native-speakers, in our case, with Americans.
decreasing of influence of American Standard English and increasing of using dialects,
including slang.
Students slang is a group jargon. In English lexicographic literature this linguistic unit is
included in special slang, set against common slang.

Orientation on spoken communication, easiness encourage to get into youth speech those words,
which do not disturb informal atmosphere.
They are not suitable for formal communication. It is words such as roaddog, dude, boogerhead
= chap, pal, fellow, bud(dy), guy, chum, mate, friend, associate , , ,
etc and they are that slang words.
Most attention should be drawn to that part of College Slang which represents emotionally
coloured lexis, mostly used with ironical, mocking connotation.
For example, argotic bacon police ; beef problem , ;
buffalo chick fat female , mule with a broom a very ugly girl
; business class fat, too large to fit in a normalsized seat
, ; dark side the student neighborhood
, seed offspring, child , ; dome ones head, skull
; fruit a looser, stupid person .
Students take their innovations in lexis of popular social groups, which are their models of
behaviour. This way a lot of argotic expressions were taken from lexicon of drug takers: hooch,
tree, buddak, cripps, doobie, hronik, smokey treat marijuana; ones johny, blaze(on), burn, pull
tubes, play monopoly to smoke marijuana; hyper tweaked cocaine addict.
Large part of students slang contents of lexis, connected with drinking alcohol and parties: chill
relax; have arms, chizzil give a party; raize da roof have a good time.
How you can see from abovementioned examples, that negative connotations are common for
College Slang, as for any other kind of slang.
It makes sense to examine different kinds of shortening abbreviation, cut forms, which are
widely used in students slang.
Some of them are used in conspiration function (when taboo words are used): .D.S.< Big Dick
Syndrome self-confident. Sometimes they are used with intention of language economy: ID
Independence Day.
A lot of slang words are formed by cutting, for example: fam < family, fundas < fundamentals,
basics < basic subjets, rony < pepperoni.
Special place in linguistic units rather large group of argotic words takes. It is represented by
exclamations, which gives emotional colour and helps to express feelings. More often they
represent short outcries and express various degrees of surprise: bonk!, chyaa!, eesh!, flip mode!,
oh my goshness!, shnikies, agreement bet! dude! shoots for real!, ah ja!, disagreement bet!
dude!, negotary! ta huh!, approval dig that! cool! score! damm right!, embarrassment sqeebs!,
erf!, joy woopty-woo!

Students slang confirms that languages structure shows heterogeneity of society. Also students
slang is a source of enriching lexis of American literature language and an element of American
culture.
Conclusion
One of the most important origins of slang is students cultural self-identification, thus the
grounds of the subdivision of slang words and expressions were personal characteristics
confirming this specificity and related to it.
Changes in slang during the last century reveal it as a cultural phenomenon, limited by a
temporary social position of a person (being a student), and connected with the general cultural
situation, contemporary morals and social censorship.
Nevertheless, the culturological role of slang consists not only in filling in lexical lacunae, but
also in determining and self-confirmation of the cultural and social identity.
Perhaps slang is the most mobile part of the language reflecting the constantly produced cultural
changes in society in a most subjective way (i.e. the attitude of students to cultural phenomena in
most cases contains evaluation which is often ironically negative).
Another important culturological role of slang not only American is in adapting the speaker
to some new cultural phenomena. It is visibly demonstrated by a wide use of computers in the
learning process, acquiring and exchanging knowledge; and the taming of computer terms
most often takes place in college slang. Slang words of other thematic groups work in the same
way.
Of course, from the point of view of culturological studies a natural, playful character of slang is
also important. Slang is often a sphere of humorous creative activity, which follows the laws of
language consciousness and at the same time can indicate the ways for its further development.
For example, a rich synonym row for one of the slang words shows on the one hand a humorous
or ironical and contemptuous appreciation of a negative fact, which is refuted by the American
youth from the point of view of their values; on the other hand it reveals the richness of language
possibilities and rapid word creation in American college slang.
Upon the whole, slang reveals a dynamic character of expression, ironic features of
contemporary youth culture. In addition it exhibits a tendency to escape from the power of false
values, social insincerity, to pose itself as a positive social group, connected with the future of
the cultural community, by means of language comic/satiric metaphoric figurativeness, ironic
parodying of traditional phrases and clich s, mockery at obsolete or contrary to the students
tastes cultural phenomena.
Thus, materials about American college slang undertaken here permits to confirm the regularities
of functioning of slang words and expressions and to discover new ones. Which are only
becoming a part of the language cultural and request further examination.

References:
1) .. :
, , 2008
2) The Online Slang Dictionary
Internet:
http://www.yspu.yar.ru

How Slang Affects the English Language

7th grade8th grade9th gradeMiddle SchoolHigh SchoolCollege

When people speak in the vernacular using slang, it broadens the English language by adding
more words. Language isnt static, and a language such as English is a collection and reinvention
of the words of many other languages such as Latin and Greek, as well as the romance languages
of Europe.
As civilizations grow, change, and expand, so do the words in the language. Slang phrases such
as 23 skidoo mightve been what the hep cat of 1925 was saying to his flapper girlfriend; but,
as time passes, many slang phrases tend to fall by the wayside.
23 Skidoo

For example, try and see how many people you know who have a clue as to what 23 skidoo
ever meant?
As it turns out, the expression probably came from the sight men saw around the Flat Iron
Building in New York City, which is located on 23rd Street. Before the Roaring 20s, women in
long skirts would pass by the building, which is a very angular triangle shape. The strong winds
would roar around the corner as the women passed, causing their long skirts to fly up and expose
their legs.
This was such a popular attraction that the police were forced to disperse the male crowds that
hung around, waiting for the next show as women passed by. Hence, leaving anywhere very
quickly, or being forced to leave fast, became known as the 23 skidoo.

The slang expression "23 skidoo" became a very useful part of the English language in New York
City prior to the 1920s. As skirt lengths changed, the need for the slang expression went away
and it is now just a fun phrase from history.

Change Is Constant
Not all slang expressions disappear out of the language after theyve served their purpose, or as
the generation who used them assumes adulthood.
In fact, the expression can become so absorbed into the English language that its no longer mere
slang, but a mainstream expression. For example, the phrase hung out, or hang out.
Hung Out or Hang Out

The phrase is commonly used today, and not just in casual settings. Its become so inculcated
into our culture that one can use it, even in an executive board room, and no eyebrows will be
raised in response.
So whats the source of hang out? Although theres evidence that the term was used as early as
the 1830s to mean loiter or idle about, the current use of the phrase probably has a more recent
incarnation.
In this context, the phrase comes probably is a derivative of speech peculiar to the 1960s hippie
generation. These were teenagers and young adults who rejected the establishment, and
developed their own particular ways of dressing, in music, and in language.
The point of much of their success was apparently how annoyed or upset adults would become
by the behavior. They were easily upset by how slang affects the English language they used, and
they wanted their kids to conform to societal norms.
So hippies or pseudo hippies (kids who still lived at home, but who admired the dress and
lifestyle of the hippie generation) went to great lengths to avoid formality in any aspect of life.
Being yourself, playing your own kind of music, or doing much of what the parents would
consider inappropriate was termed letting it all hang out.
The current phrase, hang out, is probably derived from the hippies of several generations ago.

Slang Keeps English Fresh

Slang is street, as in ordinary, common and yet vivid expression to describe current life and
events. It keeps the language from getting stale. It changes frequently, so it is difficult to find an
up-to-date slang dictionary.
Some words that once were cool have faded from use, only to be revived by the current
generation. One such word, in fact, is cool.

Cool

"Cool" is another expression that had its modern day beginnings with the 1960s hippies
generation; but, it probably goes back at least to the 1920s with the arrival of the jazz age. In the
Flapper Era, jazz music was considered to be extremely cutting edge, and jazz musicians had
their own modes and means of living.
Some of that rubbed off on the Charleston dancers and the patrons of the speakeasy (another
slang word for a bar with alcoholic beverages back when Prohibition made serving liquor
illegal.)
Jazz was cool, as in sophisticated. The latter day hippies use of it meant that the object of
coolness was singular and unique, a twist on the Jazz Age use of the word.

Slang Helps People Belong

Slang is often used as a way to appear friendly to someone or to show that you belong with a
certain group of people or that you understand popular culture. It shows that you are part of the
"in crowd" and that the slang you share is part of your secret language.

Learning History from Slang Words

Some slang words have been part of the English language for many years. For example, if you
review the history of American slang words you will find that "dude" was first used as a slang
term for a man in the 1870s.
Slang words can be a good indicator of what was going on during a specific period of time. For
example:

The free love, hippie movement of the 1960s can be seen in "vibes" (feelings)
and "far out" (amazing).

The fast-paced times of the 1980s can be seen in "go postal" (go crazy) and
"melt down" (total collapse).

Slang freshens and enhances the English language by adding words that describe what people of
the era are doing and feeling.
Want to learn more about today's slang? Talking to high school and college students and visiting
their campuses are great ways to hear and learn about the popular new slang words.

How Slang Affects Students in the Classroom

Are social media and text messaging negatively impacting high school
students?

By Ryan Lytle | Staff Writer June 13, 2011, at 9:00 a.m.

MORE
How Slang Affects Students in the Classroom
MORE

The way students communicate with one another through social media and text messaging is
creeping into high school classrooms across the country.
Slang terms and text-speak such as IDK (I don't know), SMH (shaking my head), and BTW (by
the way) have become a common sight on student assignments, befuddling some high school
teachers who are unsure how to fix this growing problem.
Terry Wood, a foreign language teacher at St. Mary's Ryken High School in Leonardtown, Md.,
has seen a "dramatic decline" in the writing abilities of her students "due to Tweeting, Facebook,
and texting."
"They do not capitalize words or use punctuation anymore," Wood, a teacher with 10 years of inclass experience, says. "Even in E-mails to teachers or [on] writing assignments, any word longer
than one syllable is now abbreviated to one."
[Discover five unique uses of Twitter in the classroom.]
According to a survey of 700 students ages 12 to 17 by the Pew Internet & American Life
Project, 85 percent of the respondents reported using a form of electronic communication,

whether through instant messaging, text messaging, or social media. Growing up in a

technological era, high school students may be unaware they are using language shortcuts in the
classroom, says Allie Sakowicz, a rising senior at Maine South High School in Park Ridge, Ill.
"I think that students don't even realize that they're doing it," Sakowicz notes. "When we're using
all this social media we're not thinking about spelling words right, so naturally that's going to
translate into the classroom."
In fact, 64 percent of students in the study reported inadvertently using a form of shorthand
native to texting or social networking. But, the problem does not end there, as Sakowicz
acknowledges that younger teachers see the slang but "let it go."
"Not that they like it, but they kind of expect it," she says. "Teachers that are older and aren't
familiar with all the social media devices are really upset that this is what's becoming of our
language."
[Read about the effort to develop better teacher evaluation systems.]
While advocates of slang words may say this trend is simply an evolution of language, Chad
Dion Lassiter, professor of race relations at the University of Pennsylvania, considers it "a
dumbing down of culture." Lassiter leads an academic mentorship program for high school
students in the Philadelphia area and has observed "this broken level of communication."
"We're looking at some of these writing skills and what I'm noticing is [that] there is
miscommunication due to the fact that their communication is so limited," he says. "The problem
is the adults. We have to train adults to work with young people and hold them accountable."
While slang terms may be most prevalent in the high school classroom, Lassiter notes that
colleges are "getting [admissions] essays like they've never seen before."
"Admissions officers have shared with me that a lot of the essays they're encountering now are
deeply rooted in this technological culture of cut-off sentences where you're writing like you
speak," he notes. "After the first few sentences, college admissions professionals toss them to the
side."
[Learn 10 tips for writing college application essays.]
Where some admissions officers have observed a shift in language used in admissions materials,
Martha Allman, dean of admissions at Wake Forest University, says she has not "seen the
shortcuts that you typically see in social communication."

"Students are primed in high school to know this is the way they show [their ability] to
communicate in college," Allman says. "My sense is that students certainly see a difference
between their social communication and writing for the college essay."
There is a measure of uncertainty as to whether college admissions officials will adapt to this
social change in language, or if future prospective college students will need to be mindful and
observant of the words they use. Ananda Mitra, professor and chair of the department of
communication at Wake Forest, believes colleges will continue to place the responsibility on
students to conform during the admissions process.
"Education is about adaptation to some degree," Mitra notes. "An intelligent, educated student
coming out of high school should be adaptive. Those who do not adapt would [not be admitted]."
While college officials' stance on slang remains the status quo, the future is unclear as more
generations of students grow up with technology that embraces slang.
"There are fourth and fifth graders that are texting, that have Facebook and Twitter," rising high
school senior Sakowicz says. "For future students of high school and college, this is the language
they're growing up with."
The Power of Slang
The Common Denominator
Slang is generally a bit wittier and cleverer than Standard American English according to Tom
Dalzell. Slang is everywhere he says and youth slang, in particular, exerts enormous power.
Read Summary.
In 1892, Walt Whitman described slang as the start of fancy, imagination and humor, breathing
into its nostrils the breath of life. [1] In the century-plus since Whitmans lyrical characterization,
the America that Whitman knew has been radically transformed by immigration,
industrialization, urbanization and mass communication. Because of these changes and for the
reasons suggested by Whitman, slang with its breath of life has permeated everyday
speech. Slang is to a large extent ephemeral, and so to survive it must constantly regenerate; both
the ephemeral and regenerative traits are nowhere more apparent than in the slang of American
youth.
Slang pervades American speech to a startling degree. Its popularity can be gauged by the rush of
journalists, politicians and purveyors of popular culture to embrace the latest word or phrase to
spice up a newspaper headline, stump speech, advertisement or television script.
On the other side of the fence, prescriptive guardians of standard English and morality bemoan
slangs degrading effect on public discourse and culture; their outcry further attests to slangs
persistent and powerful presence in everyday American English.

Slangs popularity and power with speakers of American English should not come as a surprise.
By design, slang is wittier and more clever than standard English. As a species that seems to
have a genetic inclination to linguistic creativity, we humans (to borrow again from Whitman)
seem to find endearing slangs rich flashes of humor and genius and poetry. With slang, each
generation or subculture/counterculture group has the chance to shape and propagate its own
lexicon, and in so doing to exercise originality and imagination. The end result is a lively, playful
body of language that is at times used for no other reasons than that it is fun to use and identifies
the speaker as clever and witty.
Slang establishes a sense of commonality
Slangs primary reason for being, to establish a sense of commonality among its speakers, further
ensures its widespread use. When slang is used, there is a subtext to the primary message. That
subtext speaks to the speakers and listeners membership in the same tribe. Because tribe
identity is so important, slang as a powerful and graphic manifestation of that identitys benefits.
At times the primary message is not in the meaning of what is said, but in the very use of slang
a compelling example of how the medium can be the message.
Similarly, in a society preoccupied with status, slangs varied and explicit vocabulary addressing
the nuances of status guarantees its widespread use. Slang plays a critical role whether it
delineates winner (top dog) from loser (toast), in-crowd (BMOC) from outcast (dweeb), or
oppressor (the Man) from oppressed (doormat), providing catchy and memorable labels for us
versus them. In a similar vein, slang is also much more effective than standard or conventional
English when it comes to describing sports, sex and intoxication. Conversation often turns to
these important aspects of American culture, and when it does we draw upon slang far more than
we would if discussing, for example, the economy, religion or foreign policy.
American slang is also known for its fertility; it reproduces itself in abundance with each new
generation. At any given moment, there are many, many slang words and expressions in use
across the country. By a semantic process akin to natural selection, only the strong terms or
phrases survive, spreading from the regional, cultural, age or ethnic group in which they are
coined. The rest are quickly discarded and forgotten, footnoted testaments to a generation or
subculture. With a few notable exceptions most especially cool we tire of even the
strongest words and they fade away, usually after being co-opted by advertisers and headline
writers. Just like a living organism, to counteract its short-lived nature and survive, slang must
constantly regenerate as a body of speech and subset of the language.
The four factors that are the most likely to produce slang are youth, oppression, sports and vice,
which provide an impetus to coin and use slang for different sociolinguistic reasons. Of these
four factors, youth is the most powerful stimulus for the creation and distribution of slang. For,
although we are not all members of a group that is oppressed by a dominant culture, or sports
fanatics immersed in the language and lore of the game, and we do not all dip our toes into the
pool of vice with its attendant argot, we are all young once. When we are young, we are subject
to the generational imperative to invent a slang vocabulary that we perceive as our own, rejecting
the slang of our older brothers and sisters (let alone our parents) in favor of a new lexicon.

There are slow periods, to be sure. In the late 1970s, for example, the United States paused to
gather its collective breath after a decade of presidential scandal, war and social/racial upheaval.
During this pause, the coining and use of slang slowed but not for long. Nature abhors a
vacuum, and this is true with linguistic urges. Before long, new slang was on the scene.
Youth slang derives some of its power from its willingness to borrow from other bodies of slang.
Despite its seeming mandate of creativity and originality, slang is blatantly predatory, borrowing
without shame from possible sources. Foremost among them is the African-American vernacular,
whose influence on American youth slang of the 20th century cannot be over-stated. Beginning in
the late 1930s with the wild popularity of swing jazz and the jitterbug, continuing into the jive
generation that fought World War II, through the beats and hipsters of the 1950s, the Sixties
mainstream youth and hippies alike, into the pervasive patois of hip-hop, American youth slang
has borrowed consistently and generously from the slang of the black American urban
experience.
In the 1930s, mainstream youth eager to embrace the language of their jazz-musician idols pored
over Cab Calloways hiptionaries, jive glossaries for the uninitiated. In the 1950s and 1960s,
the slang of American teenagers was shaped in large part by fast-talking AM radio disk jockeys,
who drew upon the black urban vernacular for their vocabulary, syntax, pacing and soul
Come on South Philly. Come on, come on, West Philly, come on South Jersey, come on, yon
teenagers everywhere. Hit that thing now. Hey, hey, ho, ho. Let me say greetings and
salutations the disc jockeys would shout. In the 1980s, hip-sounding video-jockeys on MTV
joined the ranks of slang instructors; their language was also heavily influenced by the AfricanAmerican street. For the last two years, the black slang of hip-hop culture and rap music has
dominated American youth slang among all classes, whether or not they embrace the actual rap
music and the hip-hop ethic. Another source for youth slang is, surprisingly, the slang graveyard
of generations past. When teenagers in the mid-1960s jumped onto groovy and boss as
primary adjectives of strong approval, they were simply recycling rejects from the 1940s in
the case of groovy and the 1870s in the case of boss. When the youth of the seventies
embraced sweet as their adjective of praise, they unknowingly harkened back to teenage slang
of the 1930s. Similarly, the appropriation of fly as a prime piece of the vocabulary of hip-hop
and rap in the 1980s was no more than a salvage operation from the slang of jazz musicians of
the 1930s, which in turn drew from the 1870s.
Slang is a core element of youth culture
Whatever its source, youth slang is a core element of youth culture, as a defiant gesture of
resistance and an emblem of tribe identity. Fashion and hair styles are other key manifestations
of a generations identity, but they can be easily regulated by adult authorities. With music and
language, regulation and restriction are much more difficult. Even the most vigilant and
repressive attempts by adult authority cannot completely eradicate slang and music with its slang
lyrics. Language can be scrutinized and controlled in some places at some times, but it defies
universal regulation, which allows its subversive nature to prevail.
As we move into our twenties, we gradually stop acquiring new slang and then ultimately just
stop; we also slowly stop using our existing slang vocabulary. For most of our adult lives, we use

the core slang vocabulary acquired in our youth either as a lingering symbol of our generational
identity or simply on a vestigial basis. When we think of slang, then, we either think of our
childrens slang or the slang of our own youth. For this reason, if no other, the slang of youth
exerts enormous power over American English. Of all the vernacular, slang is the most
spectacular. Slang swings. Slang moves and grooves. Slang rocks, slang rules.

Questions on Slang
Is it true that the slang that kids speak nowadays is just another sign that their values are
deteriorating?
Of course not. It's an example of false reasoning. Parents assume that kid's values are
deteriorating (whether or not it's true isn't important), and we can hear kids using words parents
don't know (which, parents assume, shows language deterioration). Therefore, their values and
their language must be connected in this supposed "deterioration."
I read somewhere that parents and teachers are trying to find a cure for slang--evidently to keep
their kids from talking in a language other than what they can under- stand. Is there really a
"cure" for it?
No -- language changes, and people have been bemoaning the fact probably since people evolved
to use language. Certainly the Sumerians complained about it in the first written documents five
thousand years ago. It's like the weather -- people complain bitterly about language change, but
no one has ever been able to do anything about it.
I find it incredibly ironic that parents in the 90's (who grew up in the 60's) would be complaining
about "the slang that kids speak nowadays," and that it is "just another sign that their values are
deteriorating." Ironic, since the parents of teenagers in the 60's said exactly the same thing.
John O'Neil

Slang research

A pump and a quiver, ace, aggro, airhead, airtight, all (as in be all, be all like etc.) and all-nighter.
Are you down with that? Because these are the first seven words found in "U.C.L.A. Slang 2 ," a
dictionary written by 25 students from UCLA. But it's OK if you don't understand, the book was
published in 1993, and, like, for sure, the slang has changed since then.
UCLA Professor of Linguistics Pamela Munro is familiar with the ephemeral-nature of today's
college slang - she teaches Linguistics 88A, a lower division seminar dedicated to the study of
slang. She has taught the course twice before, once in 1988 and also in 1992, which resulted in
dictionaries with full entries of slang words, including parts of speech, and many even with an
example of its use in a sentence.
"It could be as much as one week that a slang word is used, up to a hundred years," said Munro,
a graduate of Stanford University and UCSD. "Some say they change really fast, and some
words people were using before your parents were your age."
Using the slang word "cool" as an example, Munro says it is still used today, despite it's
fluctuating popularity. It began as a common slang term in the 1950s.
Munro isn't all slang however. She spends much of her time concentrating on American Indian
languages. Her mentor is Edward Sapir, who she says is one of the greatest American linguists of
the 20th century.
An enlarged black-and-white photo of Sapir hangs in Munro's office. Her faculty advisor in
college was one of Sapir's students.
"Linguistics is a weird, in-groupy field," Munro said. "We like to trace our ancestry, he's like my
great-grandfather."
Munro began her interest in studying slang when she met Connie Eble, a professor at the
University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill at a linguistics conference. Eble publishes a new
paper almost every year, discussing slang used by students at U.N.C.
Eble's work interested Munro, and from there, she began a project in which she asks students in
Linguistics 110A to submit slang expressions. The first time she intensively looked at the words
was in 1988.
"We pushed at finding a good, exact definition," she said. "You get a clearer definition of the
word if you talk about it," she said. Her Linguistics 88A seminar has only met twice so far this
quarter, and yesterday, students submitted four or five slang expressions to discuss later in class.
"Most of the definitions of the words will change (when they talk about it)," she said. "Other
people have different things to contribute."
Munro makes note of the backgrounds of the students in her class, since each student has a
different angle to offer.

"Slang is so neat because people use slang expressions to define who they are ... how they feel
about themselves."
One of the obstacles Munro has faced in approaching a subject like slang is that often the words
used in class discussions are offensive. She makes the first move in helping students to open up.
Today, she brought up the slang term "bitch," a word that many people are offended by and
disagree upon its meaning.
"I brought it up, and I knew it would get people talking ... It happens naturally, eventually people
will want to talk about (controversial words)," she said.
The actual definition of slang, according to the Encyclopedia Britannica is, "consisting basically
of unconventional words and phrases that express either something new or something old in a
new way." However, Munro says that everyone has an idea of what slang is, but still it is difficult
to define. She didn't want to reveal her definition, since that will be a future assignment for her
students to discover on their own. New words come about in various ways, says Case Western
Reserve University's Associate Professor Emeritus of English Prosanta Saha. There are a "dozen
ways" slang words originate, he said. In the dictionary "Slang and Euphemism," by Northwestern
University Associate Professor of Linguistics Richard A. Spears, he describes the increase of
slang use as a product of the 60s free speech movement. But Munro is emphatic that slang use is
not increasing. "Everybody always feels there is more slang," she said. "If that were the case,
nobody would be using the standard English language now." In the first study done by her and
her students in 1988, the terms that generated the most slang terms were the actions of throwing
up, being drunk, and having sex. "Barfing, boozing and boffing," respectively, was what the
media then referred to as the lifestyle of UCLA students after the first publication of UCLA
Slang , which was then turned into a commercial publication called "Slang U." The publication
received media attention from Rolling Stone, Newsweek and USA Today. Despite some
individual's sensitivity to slang, Munro thinks slang is only rude when hoarded to oneself. "It
may be rude if it excludes the other person," she said. "If you were using terms that they couldn't
understand, then it might be inappropriate."
Influence of Slang Language on English
Apr 27, 2015

Influence of Slang Language on English

Abstract
The use of slang language is increasing day-by-day. Therefore while
discussing with our Sir we came up with a thought that don't we
research on something related to slang. And while surfing on the net
one webpage catches our attention, with the title OMG: IM slang is
invading everyday English on Digital cultures site, written by Neda
Ulaby, which says that
The phenomenon of written IM slang crossing over into
speech is manna for linguists. Professor David Crystal, who

has written extensively on language and the Internet,

observes: "I see a brand new variety of language evolving,
invented really by young people... within five years! It's
extraordinary."
Some acronyms meant to stand as shorthand for one phrase
morph into separate words: ROTFL (Rolling on the Floor
Laughing) has become ROFL, which has become "rawfl," an
often droll spoken response to an attempt to be funny.
Teens admit that some purists might read the advent of IM
slang into speech as a negative development. But linguistics
professor Crystal thinks it is an enhancement. Instant
message expressions have done more than just added to
constructions of the English language and the roughly
200,000 words in common use today. "They extend the range
of the language, the expressiveness... the richness of the
language," he says.
After reading this we were shocked that how much IM slang have
influenced the English of English speakers. Then we came up with the
query that how much this slang has affected our society?
Introduction
Slang is sometimes creating problems for many people to
understand the complete meaning of the speaker. On the other
hand slang is helping people to communicate with others easily. A
new slang word is being used on the eve of next day. Teachers are
complaining about the use of slang words like u instead of you,
bcoz instead of because, ur instead of your etc. in the papers, and
this thing is deducting the marks of the students. Children are
using slang words as coded message as it is not very
understandable to the parents.
In English, mostly the speaking language is more casual than the
writing language which is more formal and also keeps eyes upon
the tenses and grammar, whereas in speaking we do not bother
about the grammar and tenses until speaker and listener are able to
communicate. But we observed that this slang language is not only
informal but also even more contracted that the speaking English.
Pakistan is multi-linguistic country where many types of languages
are spoken, and in Baluchistan this effect is very prominent.
Therefore we want to see that how much this type of environment
is affecting the bases of English. These observations invoke us to
find the reasons of spreading of slang language? How many people
use slang words? Large no. of people are using slang their must be
a reason behind it? How many people understand these type of
words? How much it is affecting our professional documents?
Research Question
After discussing with our teacher we came up with the following
research questions:

 How many people are using slang words?

Why do people use slang words? What is the reason behind it?
How much slang words are affecting the English of people using it?
Through R.Q.1 we tried to find that how many people are using
slang words, and also that the slang words are not confined to one
gender, or to one profession. In R.Q.2 we tried to find that why this
slang language is getting common in our everyday life. What are
the causes behind using this slang language instead of
conventional English or any other language. With the help of R.Q.3
we make an effort to analyze the impact of slang on the English of
users, that how slang language have helped or hindered them.
Literature Reviews
Definition of slang
There are many definitions of the word slang but we are concerned
these ones. Tong, McIntyre and Silmon (1997) in the journal named
Journal of Correctional Education describes the word slang as
shorthand, coded terminology that develops within social groups or when
individuals regularly interact in a certain setting or context over a long
period of time.
According to the Wikipedia:
Slang is the use of highly informal words and expressions that are not
considered standard in the speaker's dialect or language. Slang is the
formulation of words on IM through internet or phones to contract it to the
word which is which has the same sound to that of the original one, or
sometimes slang is formulated as an acronym (e.g. LOL=Laughing Out
Loud, BRB=Be Right back etc.) to shorten some lengthy expression. It also
include the emoticon, which are used by sender to express his/her feelings
or emotions pertaining to any action or thing.
Slang on SMS
SMS language or Textese, is English language slang used in mobile
phone SMS, social networks and instant messaging. It is is an
abbreviated form of English similar to rebus. With the predictive
input increasingly being used, it is becoming less common. This
type of language does not always obey or follow standard English
grammar; furthermore, the words used in the writing system can't
be found in standard dictionaries. (Wikipedia)
Slang on Internet
Internet slang is slang that Internet users have popularized and, in
many cases, coined. Such terms often originate with the purpose of
saving keystrokes, and many people use the same abbreviations in
text message and instant messaging. Acronyms, keyboard symbols,
and shortened words are often methods of abbreviation in Internet
slang. (Wikipedia)
Different views on slang
Some people consider the intermingling of slang in Standard English
as hazardous to the identity of English whereas some peoples say

that the incursion of slang in English is very beneficial for English as

it has extended the range of words in English to describe one thing.
Laccetti (professor of humanities at Stevens Institute of Technology)
and Molsk, in their essay entitled The Lost Art of Writing, are critical
of the acronyms, predicting reduced chances of employment for
students who use such acronyms, stating that, "Unfortunately for
these students, their bosses will not be 'lol' when they read a report
that lacks proper punctuation and grammar, has numerous
misspellings, various made-up words, and silly acronyms." Fondiller
and Neron, in their style manual assert that "professional or business
communication should never be careless or poorly constructed"
whether one is writing an electronic mail message or an article for
publication, and warn against the use of smileys and these
abbreviations, stating that they are "no more than e-mail slang and
have no place in business communication".
A famous English researcher David Crystal is of the view that the
slang words are very useful for English as they are extend the
vocabulary greatly. According to his research about 200,000 new
slang words are now in use in everyday English. In his opinion only
those languages persists for longer period of time which have
capability to dissolve words from different languages. But many
people disagree this thought that inclusion of slang words will
dismantle the basis of English, and it will lost it's identity.
According to one poll on internet about 80% 90% people on
internet uses slang words in their messaging and about 45% - 55% of
the people use slang language in their cell phone messaging, these
both percentages shows that the impact of slang language is great.
Methodology
We thought that questionnaire would be the right choice to collect
the data about the research questions. Therefore we assembled a
questionnaire, and participants mostly students and teachers filled it.
The total number of participants who filled the questionnaire were
53.
We issued the questionnaire to the students and teachers of
Baluchistan University of Information Technology, Engineering and
Management Sciences BUITEMS.
We ask different type of questions in the questionnaire, from
different ways to get the right and true opinions of the participants.
The questionnaire was only issued to those peoples who have
showed their interest in filling this questionnaire. The questionnaire
has 15 questions, 14 of those have options which out of which one
option have to be selected and one question has a blanks which
participant have to fill with his most commonly used slang words.
Analysis
We analyzed the data collected from the questionnaire on different
bases depending on the type of question. We analyze some

observations on the bases of gender some on the profession and

some on the bases of the age groups of the participants. We are
showing most of our findings in the form of different types of
graphs for easy understanding.
Findings
We have found that most of the people use slang words if we the
percentage of people constantly using slang words and the people
using it sometimes add up to 91% of the total participants which
shows that slang language is very common
Conclusion

The slang language is influencing our English whether we admit it or

not. We are forgetting the difference between a formal and informal
piece of writing and we are using the slang language not only in our
IM or sms but also in our professional fields. More and more peoples
are start using and understanding the slang language.
Slang language is not confined to one language it is deepening its
roots in every language. The use of slang language is promoted by the
use of cell phones and internet. As the use of cell phone and chatting
on internet is rapidly increasing, the use slang language is also
increasing proportionally.
We cannot say for sure but a day may come when everybody talks,
writes and reads in slang language instead of any other conventional
language.