The Phenomenon of Slang

Introduction

As is known any verbal language is a live phenomenon. The majority of new words arises and evolves by a quite natural way from concrete situations. So, the beginning of new subjects, things, objects, ideas or events is accompanied by occurrence of new words for their explanation and spelling.

The title of our work is “The Phenomenon of Slang in English”. We have chosen this theme as its urgency is obvious. There is hardly any other term that is as ambiguous and obscure as the term of slang. Slang is the special form of language. Slang seems to mean everything that is below the standard of usage of present-day English . Not only English, but all languages, countries, and periods of history have slang. This is true because they all have had words with varying degrees of social acceptance and popularity.

All segments of society use some slang, including the most educated, cultivated speakers and writers. In fact, this is part of the definition of slang. For example, George Washington used redcoat (British soldier); Winston Churchill used booze (liquor); and Lyndon B. Johnson used cool it (calm down, shut up).

Urgency of this problem also consists in the fact that slang is one of the phenomena which take part the development of language, its updating and variety. Language develop, it incorporates other languages at the expense of the communications in our more and more technical century.

The main purpose of our work is to reveal the reasons of slang’s occurrence and to understand its essence as social and language phenomenon. Also we want to disassemble a problem of defining and to understand why people use slang. We shall trace linguistic process of slang formation and attitude of various social groups toward slang. Also we try to retrace the origin and development of slang, its position in language.

For performance of purpose we used such methods as:

1. analysis of the literature and terminological system for formation a true position in given problem;

2. collection of information for research, its analysis and synthesis;

3. comparison of various opinions on this question.

Our work consists of two chapters. The first chapter is devoted to the problem of defining slang and its historical development. Here we explain why people use slang too. In the second chapter of our work we describe slang from the linguistic point of view. Also here is given attention to definition of slang, shown the attitude to it and its arrangement in language. At the and of this chapter we represent the examples of slang and some interesting things, which speak about slang of different people.

Our work comes to several conclusions, where we describe the results of our research. After that the bibliography is presented, where we point out all sources of the information, which were used in our work.

Chapter 1. The Concept of Slang

1.1 The Problem of Defining Slang

SLANG, in what is now the usual sense, a general name for the class of words and senses of words, more or less artificial or effected in origin or use, which are not recognized as belonging to the standard vocabulary of the language into which they have been introduced, but have an extensive currency in some section of society either as a means of concealing secrets or as intentionally undignified substitutes for those modes of expression that, are employed by persons who value themselves on propriety of speech.

As thus defined, slang includes many varieties of speech, which are current respectively among different section of the population. The one, however, which most perfectly answers to the definition, and may by regarded as the primary type, is the artificial jargon, partly cryptic and partly facetious, used by vagrants and professional thieves. It is true that the name of slang is now seldom applied to this jargon; it is more commonly designated by its older name of cant. Nevertheless in the 18th century it was chiefly used in this particular application- The earliest example of the world hitherto discovered occurs in Toldervys History of Two Orphans, published 1796. One of the characters in this story is a man who, in return for the numerous lies which he told, was called: the cannon-traveller; and it is said of him that he had been upon the town, and knew the slang well. It is not clear whether slang here has its modern sense, or whether it means the way of fast life in London. A more unequivocal instance, two years later in date, is quoted in J. C. Hotter-Slang Dictionary (1864) from a book entitled Jonathan Wilds Advice to his Successor , apparently of the many catchpenny publications that ware called forth by the popularity of Feelings burlesque romances. No copy of this book is in the British Museum or the Bodleian Library, and inquiries have failed to discover any trace of its existence; but there is no reason to titbit that Hotter had seen it. The passage, as quoted by him, is as follows: Let proper Nurses be assigned to take care of these Babes of Grace (i.e. young thieves).