This is true of the four siang n the above list a pot s a cooking utensil in nonslang speech: if something as words labeled as in colloquial larguage The dual nature of certain words provides of the meaning of ordinary lexical items.
a regular process of word formation some insight into the onigin of slang words The examples given here were created by an extension discussed in Chapter 5.
Other slang words have also come about through the usual processes of shorteniag (as in coed, formerly consi dered slang, from coeducation denvation (uppers and downers. slang terms for stimulant and depressant drugs.
derived from the nonslang morphemes up, down. and er). and, most rarely. coining (jazz was originally a slang word). a should be noted at this point that it is no more difficult to define a slang word than it is to define any other word in a language. It is occasionally said that slang is somehow more vague and imprecise in meaning than nonslang This is completely falsc. The meaning of most words is vague to some extent. If a person says He is a Republican, yor will understand part of what is meant, bun. unless you know not only the general mesniny of the word Republicun but also the speaker's poltical views. you arill nc fully under stand the sentence. ls it a compliment or an insult? The answer d Rsnublican for the speaker, as well as the politics of the person being talked about.
Thus epends on the meaning of is a Democrat, the remark may well be meant as an insult Many other of vagueness in nonslang vocabulary could be cited: consider the words warna ctamples and cold Whether to turn the heat up or down is often a continual point of disagreemernt between roommates. one says It s too warm in the room, the other maintains It's too cold Vagueness differ in their beliefs, presuppositions, physical conditions, and prior experiences in meaning results from the fact that the human beings who use a language Lack of familiarity with a word also leads to charges that its meaning is vague or Bur, in such cases, it is not really the word that is vague, but rather the knowledge of the individual who makes the charge Regarding slang, only people who do not use particular slang words feel that they are vague.
Those who use the words know what they mean.
People sometimes claim that slang is mere vivid. more colorful, than other types of aords.
Certainly this is true to somc extent, but the "cor of a slang word, like that of any other word or expression, is present only so long as the word is new.
Aftet you have heard it several dozen times, a slang word is no more colorful than its nonslang equival ent Perhaps this is one reason why so miany slang words become outdated One of the 3 psychological factors at work wien people use slang may be a desire to speak efiechively-to catch and hold the atteniion of the listener. With widespread use, a slang word will no longer have this effect, and one reason for its use will have disappeared.
The situation is similar to ihat of cliches, such as gentle as a lumb, fresh as a daisy, or strong as an ur These expressions were probably striking the first few times they were used, Sut ovenuse has made them trite and now they are avoided by many speakers Few people object to stylistically uninteresting language, as long as the speaker or writer does not atend the language to be interesting.
But people do object when they feel a word is used o add interest and yet it fails to do so.
This reaction is especially strong regardicg slang. but it is not limited to slang. It occurs with colloquial and formal language as well