'Slang is subversive, conscious and ephemeral'. Discuss this definition of slang with reference to examples of slang and the different purposes of slang.

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Adam Weeks 13A        English Language: Accents and Dialects

‘Slang is subversive, conscious and ephemeral’. Discuss this definition of slang with reference to examples of slang and the different purposes of slang.

        Once, "slang" was itself slang - a specimen of the very thing that it described. The entry on the word in Eric Partridge's original 1937 edition of his one-man dictionary reaches back towards the origins as a vulgar term for "the special vocabulary (e.g. cant) of low, illiterate, or disreputable persons; low illiterate language". Slang is used by everyone all the time. The use of slang is often been regarded by linguists as ephemeral and a conscious decision by the user. This is certainly true but many people confuse this with a person’s dialect, which by definition would make their lexical choice an unconscious one.

        The use of slang by individuals in the past and increasingly more nowadays is considered as subversive, for example the use of Polari in the 1960’s. Polari was used by the homosexual community to find out whether another person was gay without drawing attention to themselves and being judged by society. The use of Polari in the 60’s was also used for private conversations, with words including “luppers” for fingers, “oglefakes” for glasses and “scotch” being slang for leg. The use of Polari has declined over recent years due to the growing acceptance of homosexuals in society.

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The subversive nature of slang can also take on the role of insulting language. In everyday society the use of insulting terms such as “faggot”, an insulting term for heterosexual males and “frigid”, an insulting term for a female who doesn’t get sexually aroused easily, appear in everyday conversation. When asked why they use derogatory terms to describe someone, many say that I did not think it just came out, but many linguists agree that slang is using language consciously.

        The ‘conscious’ nature of slang is best described by the phrase ‘it is usually spoken with intent to produce a ...

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