2013

Marco Hist rico !ultural de la Lengua inglesa

*Egea Mussi, Mara jos *Llaves, Mario Alejandro 04/11/2013

DEFINITION
A living language such as English is a dynamic flow of spoken and written terms, eternally evolving. Whenever people use the language they cause it to flow in and around itself, creating new meanings, ways to express. Term slang reflects the dynamics of the language and therefore is very o scure and am iguous. Although it is spread so much that now can easily e found practically in all kinds of contemporary literary works, yet there is no easy mechanism for identifying it. The a solute truth a out slang was revealed y !ighter and "umas that anyone can recogni#e slang, ut no one can define it. There is hardly any other term that is as am iguous and o scure as the term slang. $lang is a controversial topic nowadays, and the de ate on its definitions, classification and linguistic relevance is still heated. Slang consists of a lexicon of non%standard words and phrases in a given language. &se of these words and phrases is typically associated with the su version of a standard variety 'such as $tandard English( and is likely to e interpreted y listeners as implying particular attitudes on the part of the speaker. )n some contexts a speaker*s selection of slang words or phrases may convey prestige, indicating group mem ership or distinguishing group mem ers from +outsiders+. +The most significant characteristic of slang overlaps with a defining characteristic of,argon- slang is a marker of in%group solidarity, and so it is a correlate of human groups with shared experiences, such as eing children at a certain school or of a certain age, or eing a mem er of a certain socially defina le group, such as hookers, ,unkies, ,a## musicians, or professional criminals.+ '.eith Allan and .ate /urridge, Forbidden Words. 0am ridge &niv. 1ress, 2334( Defining slang 5ew linguists have endeavoured to clearly define what constitutes slang. Attempting to remedy this, /ethany .. "umas and 6onathan !ighter argue that an expression should e considered +true slang+ if it meets at least two of the following criteria7 )t lowers, if temporarily, +the dignity of formal or serious speech or writing+8 in other words, it is likely to e considered in those contexts a +glaring misuse of register.+ 7 )ts use implies that the user is familiar with whatever is referred to, or with a group of people who are familiar with it and use the term. 7 +)t*s a ta oo term in ordinary discourse with people of a higher social status or greater responsi ility. + 7 )t replaces +a well%known conventional synonym+. This is done primarily to avoid discomfort caused y the conventional synonym or discomfort or annoyance caused y having to ela orate further. Distinction from colloquialisms and jargon While many forms of language may e considered +su %standard+, slang remains distinct from collo9uial and ,argon terms ecause of its specific social contexts. While considered inappropriate in formal writing, collo9uial terms are typically considered accepta le in speech across a wide range of contexts, while slang tends to e considered unaccepta le in many contexts. 6argon refers to language used y personnel in a particular field, or language used to represent specific terms within a field to those with a particular interest. )ts intention is to optimi#e conversation using terms that imply technical understanding8 y contrast, slang tends to emphasi#e social and contextual understanding. Etymology of the word slang
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)n its earliest attested use ':;<4( the word slang referred to the voca ulary of +low or disreputa le+ people. /y the early nineteenth century, it was no longer exclusively associated with disreputa le people, ut continued to e applied to language use elow the level of standard educated speech. The origin of the word is uncertain, although it appears to e connected with Thieves* cant. A $candinavian origin has een proposed '=orwegian slengenavn, which means +nickname+(, ut is discounted y the >xford English "ictionary ased on +date and early associations+.

HISTORY
The phenomenon of slang appeared efore it got the name slang. According to $wift slang is as old as speech, and traces of this may e found as far as we can refer ack. >ld English $lang was coarser, and depended more upon downright vulgarity than our modern slang. $lang of those days was generally termed flash language which represented oth cant and slang. )t is important to underline that the term

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slang was firstly recogni#ed y ?rose in :;@<. Ae defined it as cant or vulgar language. )talian researcher Winona /ullard writes that different dialects and pronunciations in the Biddle Ages represented the first meaning of the term slang. )t was represented y certain writers such as 0hauser, William 0axton and William of Balmes ury. The present%day meaning for slang egan to form only in :4th or :;th century. English 0riminal 0ant is considered to e the starting point of slang. )t was a new kind of speech used y criminals in saloons and gam ling houses. )t was at first elieved that English criminal cant originated in Comania or had occurred in 5rance. $he also argues that some popular plays of Cichard /rome ':4D<(, poems and songs y 0opland ':E2<( already contained some slang words. /y the :;33Fs the cultural differences in America had egun to influence the English%speaking population, and slang started to expand. "uring the :@th century slang was thought as incorrect usage of English and was considered for idden. Eric 1artridge in $lang Today and Gesterday notes that from a out :@<3Fs, slang has een the accepted term for illegitimate collo9uial speech. 6ohn Ayto in the )ntroduction to the >xford "ictionary of Bodern $lang writes that the first to which the term slang was applied, in the mid%eighteen century, was the special voca ulary used y any set of persons of a low and disreputa le character. )n the earlier centuries it was referred to as thievesF cant or patter of earlier centuries. =owadays slang is not associated with criminals. )t ac9uires its form and is influenced y different cultures and the innovations of technology, which has left the society a variety of slang extremes from $treet slang to Afro%American slang. Boreover, slang tends to originate in su cultures within a society. $lang expressions often em ody attitudes and values of group mem ers. They thus contri ute to a sense of group identity and may convey information to the listener concerning the speakerFs ackground. /efore an apt expression ecomes a slang, it must e widely adopted y the mem ers of the group. The voca ulary of slang changes rapidly- what is new and exciting for one generation is old%fashioned for the next. >ld slang often either drifts to o solescence or ecomes accepted into the standard language, losing its eccentric colour. 5lapper, for instance, started life in the late :Eth century as a slang term for a young or lively woman, ut su se9uently moved into general language as a specific term for such a young woman of the :E23s. $imilarly, the use of gay in the sense homosexual has its roots firmly in slang, ut is now widely accepted as standard terminology. $lang has always een difficult to locate, to explain and to grasp as a unitary phenomenon. This has discouraged overall formal accounts. Therefore, the concept of slang has een inaccurately defined y many lexicographers who tend to restrict it to collo9uial or ad language, and the term has een imprecisely used y many sociolinguists who conflate it with such language varieties as cant, ,argon, dialect, vernacular, or accent. ?alperin in $tylistics stresses that no other European language has singled out a special layer of voca ulary and named it slang, though all of them distinguish such groups of words as ,argon, cant, and the like. Bany attempts have een made to define slang, ut many have een una le to come up with a distinct meaning. )n addition to the complexity involved in finding a more accurate definition to the term, is the attitude that the pu lic and scholars alike have a out slang. The word slang evokes different reactions among the general pu lic, scholars and linguists in particular. These reactions are often antagonistic and discordant, ranging from a perception of slang as simply ad English to slang as creative language variety worthy of academic investigation.

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CLASSES AND EXAMPLES

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1) Family Slang 5amily slang refers to words and phrases 'neologisms( created, used, and generally understood only y the mem ers of a family. As a rule, these coinages do not appear in any conventional dictionary. Bore than a century ago, /ritish social reformer Aelen /osan9uet o served that in many families +the very language used takes on a shape of its own which may e hardly intelligi le+ to those outside the clanTo the outsider these expressions and turns of thought seem meaningless or silly8 and it is for this reason that the family slang or patois, which ) elieve nearly every family possesses, is so sedulously concealed from the world at large. Bore recently, author 1aul "ickson uncovered hundreds of such silly expressions in his ook 5amily Words 'Barion $treet 1ress, 233;(. Aow sillyH 0onsider these various family phrases for the tu e of card oard inside a roll of toilet paper- daw%daw, taw taw, doot%do, der der, hoo%hoo, and to%do to%do. Then there are the family names for those dust alls that gather under furniturepummies, mung alls, goofa feathers, koodla, slut*s fluff, fi##iewiggle, smirf, leap ,eeps, woo#ies, andfoochacha. )n one household, dust alls have een du ed ghost poop%%a phrase reserved y another family for foam packing peanuts. =ot all the words and phrases in "ickson*s ook are silly. $ome of the neologisms serve a valua le social function and deserve to move eyond the family. 5or example7Applaudience An audience that has come to applaud8 specifically, those composed of parents and grandparents at children*s piano and dance recitals. 7/arris!and The place one goes when em arrassed, such as under a pillow or ehind one*s hands. 7"ofer $omething that isn*t perfect ut will +do for+ now. 'And fanow, y the way, refers to +anything put away temporarily.+( 7?ame 4 A synonym for +disaster+%%a reference to the sixth game of the :E@4 World $eries, lost y the /oston Ced $ox after eing ,ust one pitch away from victory.

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7Benuitis Aaving so many choices that you take forever to make up your mind. 7Ientrilofart The act of passing gas and laming it on some ody else. 7Bissmas 0ards 0ards that you send after receiving 0hristmas cards from people to whom you had no intention of sending cards%%and which will surely arrive at their destination after 0hristmas. 7.a oof The area under the stairs 'the crawlspace(. 75oofie or Too 5oofie )t can e a dress that has too much lace or too many frills, ut it can also e a flower with a lot of small petals. )t can e used to descri e someone*s hair when theyFre having a ad hair day. )tFs usually used to say that something is not 9uite to your taste. 2) rhyming slang )t is a form of slang commonly associated with !ondon 0ockneys%%even though it has never een a ma,or feature of 0ockney usage and can e found in other parts of /ritain as well as in parts of Australia and the &.$. )t is a type of slang in which words are replaced y a words or phrases they rhyme with. Chyming slang has the effect of o scuring the meaning of what is said from outsiders. )t isn*t clear whether this is intentional, to hide one*s meaning from the law, or to exclude outsiders, or whether it is ,ust a form of group onding. The way rhyming slang works does tend to exclude those not *in the know*, as the su stitution of one word for another often relies on reference to a key phrase, which, for the slang to e understood, must e known ,ointly y those communicating8 for example, to get from *Aamsteads* to *teeth*, one must e aware of Aampstead Aeath. There*s no reason to suppose that there was any great conspiracy in the formation of rhyming slang. English speakers, in common with speakers of other languages, en,oy rhyming. Evidence of this are the numerous dou le%word forms 'reduplications(, created from nonsense words and coined for no etter reason than for the hell of it8 for example, *hoity%toity*, higgledy%piggledy*, *nam y%pam y*, *nitty%gritty*, *itsy% itsy*, etc, etc. Chyming slang is an exu erant linguistic form and tends to flourish in confident, outgoing communities. That*s certainly true of Iictorian England, which is where it originated. The earliest example of rhyming slang that we can find is in the English writer Edward 6erringham Wakefield*s, Adventures in =ew Jealand, :@K<, in which he includes an account of the ,ourney from the &. to the $outhern Aemisphere"The profound contempt which the whaler expresses for the 'lubber of a jimmy-grant', as he calls the emigrant " Who 6immy ?rant was isn*t clear. 0ockney is a nick name given to the citi#ens of !ondon, or persons orn within the sound of /ow ell, derived from the following story- A citi#en of !ondon, eing in the country, and hearing a horse neigh, exclaimed, !ordL how that horse laughsL A y% stander telling him that noise was called =E)?A)=?, the next morning, when the cock crowed, the citi#en to shew he had not forgot what was told him, cried out, "o you hear how the 0>0. =E)?A$H

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Cay says, the interpretation of the word 0ockney, is, a young person coaxed or con9uered, made wanton8 or a nestle cock, delicately red and rought up, so as, when arrived a man*s estate, to e una le to ear the least hardship. Whatever may e the origin of this appellation, we learn from the following verses, attri uted to Augh /igot, Earl of =orfolk, that it was in use. in the time of king Aenry )). Was ! in my castle at "ungay, Fast by the river Waveney, ! would not care for the #ing of $oc#ney% that is, the #ing of &ondon Chyming slang has spread to many English%speaking countries, especially those that had strong maritime links with the &. in the :Eth century, nota ly Australia, )reland and 0anadaM&$A. There*s even less ,ustification for the name these days than there was when it was coined. Bany examples of 0C$ clearly originate in other countries, although England, and specifically !ondon, is still the ma,or source. Examples and > servations7+Chyming slang . . . serves oth the poetic function and the solidarity%with%the%in% group function. 0ockney Chyming $lang 'also known as 0ockney Ca it( is pro a ly the est%known example. The underlying principle is that the speaker decides what he or she wants to say using the words of standard English and replaces the key lexical items with words that rhyme with it. +Chyming slang evolved as a secret language used y shady street traders in !ondon*s East End in the :Eth century to conceal their usiness dealings from the authorities. $ome rhyming slang words such as pork pies meaning *lies,* pigs or pork chops meaning *police* and read 'short for read and honey( meaning *money* have passed into the general lexicon of English. /ut many others are restricted to 0ockney in the main, though they may e more widely understood thanks to the considera le media exposure that 0ockney gets.+
'5rancis .atam a, English Words, 2nd ed. Coutledge, 233K(

7+Chyming slang such as *,am tart* for Aearts foot all clu , and *ca age and ri s* for Ai s, has also een included in the N"ictionary of the $cots !anguageO, which has een compiled y the Edin urgh% ased $cottish !anguage "ictionaries organisation.+
'+$cotland*s Chyming $lang 5inds )ts Ioice.+ The Times N&...O, $ep. :4, 233<(

7+$ome its of rhyming slang have ecome so well%esta lished that they have spread out into more general English, and people are not necessarily aware of where the expressions come from. 5or instance, let*s have a utcher*s is short for let*s have a utcher*s hook, which rhymes with look. &se your loaf is short for use your loaf of read, which rhymes with head. To e on your Tod is short for to e on your Tod $loan, which rhymes with own. That*s a load of old co ler*s is short for that*s a load of old co ler*s awls, which rhymes with alls.+
'!aurie /auer, Ioca ulary. Coutledge, :EE@(

7+Bany rhyming slang forms are found with reference to close friends or relations- for *wife* 'carving knife, fork and knife, ,oy of my life and trou leMworryMwar and strife *wife*8 cheese and kisses, plates and dishes '*Brs*( and *hus and* 'pot and pan *old man*(, for *girlfriend* ',am'%tart( *sweetheart*8 Cichard 'the third( * ird*( or close friends 'china, tin plate *mate*8 finger and thum *chum*(.+ '6ulie 0oleman, +1honaesthesia and >ther 5orms of Word 1lay.+!anguage Aistory and !inguistic Bodelling. Bouton de ?ruyter,
:EE;(

3) back slang )t is a form of slang in which words are spoken or spelled ackwards.

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+/ack slang is a language constructed on lines' illogical lines(of its own. The initial idea is that all words are to e pronounced ackwards8 for instance, instead of saying *no* you say *on,* for * ad man* you say *da nam.* /ut you have not proceeded far efore you find that the initial idea reaks down. *1enny,* reversed, would e *ynnep,* the ack slangster says *yennup.* *Evigem a yennup,* is his version of *?ive me a penny.* . . . )t would e impossi le for an English tongue to pronounce many of our words ackwards. Aow would you pronounce *night* or *drink* ackwards, leaving the spelling as it isH not to speak of more difficult examples. The result is that the * ack slangster* adopts not only an ar itrary spelling, ut also an ar itrary pronunciation of his own.+. '+$lang.+All the Gear Cound- A Weekly 6ournal 0onducted y 0harles "ickens, =ov. 2<, :@ED( +/ack%slang proper, sometimes employed y arrow% oys and hawkers, and indigenous to certain trades such as the greengrocer*s and the utcher*s, where it is spoken to ensure that the customer shall not understand what is eing said '*Evigrehemosdelogarcs dene*%%?ive her some old scrag end( consists simply of saying each word ackwards, and when this is impossi le saying the name of the letter instead of its sound, usually the first or the last letter, thus*&oynaceesrehscreckinginwosh* 'Gou can see her knickers showing(. An Enfield master reports that he found *at least half a do#en oys who could talk it 9uickly.*+
')ona and 1eter >pie, The !ore and !anguage of $choolchildren. >xford &niv. 1ress, :E<E(

+$ecret languages . . . have an o vious appeal for those who have something to hide. >ne language used y African slaves, called T&T, was ased on phonetics, and used to help teach children to read. Iictorian market traders, meanwhile, are thought to have dreamed up * ack slang*%%in which a word is spoken ackwards, giving us *yo * for * oy*%%in order to single out customers on whom to palm off shoddy goods.+
'!aura /arnett, +Why We All =eed >ur >wn $ecret $lang.+ The ?uardian, 6une E, 233E(

$ome examples are7Emo % )f youFre all emo, itFs like eing a drama 9ueen 'a slightly older expression.( Emo was a type of music that seemed to rip at the souls of adolescent angst. )t fre9uently included wearing all lack clothing, dying oneFs hair pitch lack, and having a complexion so paper white that it looked as if the teen had grown up in the asement. To e emo was to e perpetually depressed, moody, and emotional, and perpetually at odds with society 'even if it was nothing more than a pose.( 7By ad % )f a teen has made a mistake, the phrase my ad is fre9uently employed as a cover. )t means what it appears to mean- ) was adL This is one of the phrases parents, especially mothers, might pick up on and use themselves, to the everlasting em arrassment of their children. $ome words have morphed from one meaning to another. Take the word usted. To the grandparents of todayFs teens, the word was simply slang for roken. The last decade or so reinvented usted to mean someone was caught, pro a ly doing something they shouldnFt. )f a store detective saw you stealing a candy ar and na ed you, you were simply usted 'and pro a ly in a lot of trou le(. 7/usted % /usted has changed yet again. This time, to say someone is usted is to mean they are ugly. )tFs definitely not a flattering figure of speechL 7Cide % The word ride is of relatively recent origin. )t was initially meant to mean a car, as in, hereFs my ride 'even if itFs not the teenFs car, any automo ile that could carry him where he wanted to go deserved the title of ride.( Apparently autos are in short supply, or teenagers have discovered the shoe leather express. The word ride has ecome more literal to this group- Aow do you like my rideH no longer means, do you like my carH =ow it refers to sneakers 'particularly of the rand name and expensive variety.(

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75renemy % This term is a com ination of the words +friend+ and +enemy.+ )t is a person who appears on one hand to e your friend ut, at the same time is antagonistic towards you. 7$upersi#e % $tarting with a way to order a igger order of fries, +supersi#e+ now is used to point anything, anyone or any idea that is excessively large. 4) Other slang words They are developed outside of the usual context of words and are ,ust com inations of thoughts that create a new word. 5or example7 ?reycation % Aaving your grandparents ,oin your vacation. 7 /ro%tox % Ben getting otox 7 )ceman % A friend with nerves of steel 7 Tarhead % $omeone who is involved in oil% ased recreation such as car racing. 7 Affluential % Aaving oth money and power or influence 7 5lamed % To have taken everything too seriously 7 Awesomity % The highest state of awesome Examples of common slang within the &nited $tates include7 Ankle iter P a derogatory term for an infant or small child 7 /ail P leaving in a hurry 7 0hillin* P $pending time with your friends 7 5or real P $peaking honestly and truthfully 7 Aooker P a female prostitute or someone who is ehaving like a prostitute 7 )n a =ew Gork minute P to do something very fast 7 6uiced P to e very excited or eager to do something 7 .nocked up P a woman coping with an unplanned pregnancy, usually someone who is either very young or unmarried 7 Queen P a homosexual man 7 Trashed P to e very drunk or to completely destroy someoneFs property 7 Jonked P completely exhausted, very tired

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