SLANG WORDS AND THEIR CLASSIFICATION

СЛЕНГ И ЕГО КЛАССИФИКАЦИЯ

Лалаева Анастасия Витальевна

студент, кафедра английского языкознания, Московский государственный университет имени М. В. Ломоносова,

РФ, г. Москва

ABSTRACT

This article characterizes slang as a group of colloquial vocabulary. It also describes the classical division of slang into General and Special slang proposed by linguist V. A. Khomyakov.

АННОТАЦИЯ

В данной статье даётся характеристика сленга как группы, входящей в состав разговорной лексики. Также описывается предложенное лингвистом В. А. Хомяковым классическое деление сленга на Общий и Специальный.

Keywords: slang, colloquial vocabulary, General slang, Special slang.

Ключевые слова: сленг, разговорная лексика, общий сленг, специальный сленг.

We shall point out from the very outset that the notion of slang is highly complicated – ‘no one has yet given a more or less satisfactory definition of the term, nor has it been specified by any linguist who deals with the problem of the English vocabulary’ [Galperin 2018: 72]. That is why there are a great number of definitions given to slang by various linguists. Similar thoughts and concepts are quite often repeated in them. However, sometimes we can come across contradictory approaches. Still, all of them single out such distinguishing features of slang, as 1) informal nature and 2) usage in specific situations.

For the present investigation, we decided to choose the following laconic definition of slang given by D. W. Maurer in the Encyclopedia Britannica: ‘Unconventional words or phrases that express either something new or something old in a new way’ [Maurer 2021]. To make things clear, slang always stands for the innovation in language and brings new and fresh terms into it. This feature of slang was specially highlighted by I. R. Galperin in his books “English stylistics”. He wrote that slang units are ‘frequently appearing in lively everyday speech and just as quickly disappearing from the language’ [Galperin 2018: 107]. This statement just proves the fact that language is a dynamic system and needs an endless search for new words that will enrich our speech and renew outdated notions.

Although at the end of the past century slang was strictly fixed within colloquial vocabulary, these days slang words play a significant role even in literature. The use of slang becomes an integral part of the speech of younger characters. However, Russian and foreign contemporary linguists suggest that slang itself cannot be placed within the niche of literary language. We can explain this statement bearing in mind that in English lexicography, slang words are indissolubly connected with phraseologisms, the author’s metaphors and, certainly, colloquial vocabulary.

This broad coverage of slang and its diversity allow us to logically divide slang into two groups: ‘General slang’ and ‘Special slang’. В. А. Хомяков in his lections on slang, provided definitions for each group. He defines General slang as ‘relatively stable for a certain period, a widespread and generally understandable layer of non-literary vocabulary and phraseology in the field of colloquial speech, having an emotional and expressive-evaluative character’ [Хомяков 1970: 8]. In other words, General slang is not specified within a certain social or professional group. We found the following examples of General slang:

1. wuss (used to describe a person who is not brave, also this word may be used as an adjective, as in ‘wussy’ to describe someone who is acting like a wuss): ‘What a wuss. He talks big but can’t even do it himself’.
2. deets (short for details): ‘I want to hear all the deets about your date afterwards’.
3. cuffing season (the autumn and winter time period when people begin a relationship): ‘You better make your move soon before she gets snatched up during cuffing season’.
4. slaps (adj. we use this word when we want to say that something or somebody is really impressive): ‘What do you think of my new ride?’ – ‘It whip slaps!’
5. hot take (a hot take is a term that refers to controversial opinion; it is referred to as ‘hot’ because it goes against the majority of opinions and can rile people up into a frenzy): ‘Here’s a hot take, I think bacon tastes disgusting’.

Special slang, for its part, has the following definition in interpretation: ‘specific vocabulary and phraseology of social jargons and argos of the criminal world’ V. A. Khomyakov [Хомяков 1970: 8]. However, nowadays, this definition may sound slightly incorrect. There are two important points that should be highlighted with reference to Special slang. First, this kind of slang has a strong connection with jargon, because jargon is absolutely incomprehensible to those outside the social group which has invented it. The same rule works for Special slang, whereas General slang is supposed to be more or less clear for everybody who uses slang actively in their speech. Secondly, the last part of the definition also needs to be revised. These days the influence of argos of the criminal world on people’s speech has significantly decreased and is limited to representatives of older generation. Taking into account these modifications, let us turn to a more contemporary definition of Special slang. We formed this definition on the basis of our philological knowledge – ‘a layer of non-literary vocabulary and phraseology in the field of colloquial speech, including words that are specific for some social or professional group, e.g. teenagers, students, doctors, lawyers, fans of different sport or music, etc’. Here are the accompanying examples of Special slang:

1. station cat (from the police slang - the officer who wanders around, finding any excuse possible to avoids work): ‘Police station cat Constable Snickers missing for two weeks’.
2. cremated (from the restaurant slang – the way chefs refer to burgers that they consider overcooked): ‘Jeffrey’s eatery is infamous for its cremated burgers’.
3. in the weeds (from the restaurant slang – the state of affairs when there are too many demanding customers, too many orders and too little time to serve everyone in): ‘Ned, you are in the weeds. I think I will get Julie to wait on the other six tables’.
4. uncle Bob (from the photographer’s slang – a guest who comes with his\her own fancy camera and gets in the way and gives a lecture to the photographer how things should be done): ‘That Uncle Bob has superior equipment, but cannot possibly have any talent in photography, because no one else on this planet can use a camera besides me’.
5. baby catcher (from the doctors’ slang – it means ‘obstetrician’; similarly, the ‘Freud squad’ refers to psychiatrists, ‘slashers’ to surgeons and ‘gassers’ to anaesthetists): ‘So you are pregnant?’ – ‘Yeah, hoping to get a good baby catcher to deliver my baby’.

V. A. Khomyakov also singles out such groups within slang, as ‘monoslangisms’ and ‘synoslangisms’ (‘моносленгизмы’ и ‘синосленгизмы’). Synoslangisms are stylistic emotionally colored synonyms for words and word-combinations. In other terms, synoslangisms duplicate the lexis of literary language. That is why they are easily transformed into language surpluses and as a result are no longer used. For example, the word face besides its literary synonyms (countenance, visage and physiognomy) has such a synonym, as a mug that is a slang word.

Monoslangisms, in their turn, are used as the only variants of non-existent words and word-combinations of literary language and as a result, they are firmly installed in speech. This type of slang provides emotionally charged information, which in literary language could be expressed only by a long and complicated definition. For instance, the word-combination paragraph texter is used when we want to describe a person who has a ‘bad’ habit to type long texts (‘What’s taking Mary so long?’ – ‘She’s paragraph texter’). This example clearly shows that some slang words can be replaced only with a long phrase, which completely reduces the beauty of a slang expression.

References:

1. Хомяков В. А. Три лекции о сленге. Вологда. 1970.
2. Galperin I. R. English stylistics. Moscow. 2018. 334.