Language and Creativity: Slang

Abstract

Any linguistic term identified as slang signals to listeners (and embeds speakers in) the negotiation of stance, style, and stigma. A speaker may intend to align with friends or with a trend in society, but a listener or overhearer may tap into more negative associations that frequently surround slang speaking. A thorough investigation of slang must include attention to larger social contexts in which lexical or discourse features come to be associated with non‐standard speech and a particular persona or trend. Attention to real‐world instances of language use contextualizes not only which words, phrases, or discourse patterns are considered slang, but also what the consequences and social outcomes are for different users of this marked speech style. Linguistically speaking, slang may feel like a moving target in part because it relies on social contexts that are themselves constantly changing. But slang remains incredibly stable as a linguistic label for speech that is placed in sharp contrast to the “standard language” and to any register that conveys formality and respect. As such, the study of slang offers deep insight into the identities, cultural and linguistic ideologies, and power relations within and between social groups.

Cite this work

No public copy is stored for this record, so only the metadata is cited.

Stored only when both papers are in the corpus — 6 citations exist upstream.

Papers that cite the same references — the relational fallback while embeddings are still backfilling.