slang

Slang involves the deviation from standard language, and tends to be very popular among adolescents. Slang frequently involves the creation of new linguistic forms, or the creative adaptation of old ones. It can even involve the creation of a secret language understood only by those within a particular group and it can be used and created purely for humorous or expressive effect. Slang terms are often particular to a certain subculture and members of a minority. All the same, slang expressions can spread outside their original arena and become commonly understood; recent examples include "wicked" and "cool".

A very famous version of slang is that of the cockney rhyming slang, in which a given word or phrase is replaced by another word or phrase that rhymes with it. Often the rhyming replacement is abbreviated further, making the expressions even more obscure. A new rhyme may then be introduced for the abbreviation and the process continues. Good examples are ‘apples and pears’ for ‘stairs’ and ‘boat race’ for ‘face‘.

Many slang words are often taboo and unlikely to be used by people of high status. Mainstream language tends to shy away from explicitly evoking certain realities, and slang can permit one to talk about these realities, whether euphemistically or not. For this reason, slang vocabularies are particularly rich in certain domains, such as sexuality, violence, drugs and crime. They can be quite regional, and often short-lived.

There is not just one slang, but very many varieties - or dialects - of it. Different social groups in different times have developed their own slang. Many slang words are replaced, as speakers get bored of them, or they are co-opted by those outside the group. For this reason, the existence of slang dictionaries reduces the perceived usefulness of certain slang words to those who use them. Numerous slang terms pass into informal mainstream speech, and thence sometimes into mainstream formal speech, perhaps changing somewhat in meaning to become more acceptable.