Questions tagged [slang]
The slang tag has no usage guidance.
26 questions
0
votes
1
answer
122
views
Third-person singular used for emphasis in online communication -- Why?
I signed up simply to ask this question, although it's awfully niche.
In textual situations, such as for roleplay or for humor, on the internet, one will use the third-person singular form of a verb ...
- 21
3
votes
1
answer
193
views
Does the concept of slang exist in cultures without established written or formal education traditions?
In English and, presumably, many of the world's other commonly spoken languages, there exists a rough category of words considered slang. This concept is not quite the same as taboo (many slang words ...
- 724
5
votes
2
answers
247
views
How to make a reference grammar of colloquial forms of a language?
Recently, I became interested in trying to document the grammar and phonologies of colloquial or "street" forms of English. Is there an easy way to figure out how people in my neighborhood ...
- 395
0
votes
0
answers
175
views
Unusual categorization of slang terms in parts of speech ("cap")
I am not educated in syntax (or any formal linguistics really), so my hypotheses and observations in this question may not be super high-level.
I am a young American English speaker from the Midwest. ...
- 724
3
votes
0
answers
56
views
Best resources for swedish slang
My question is just that -- I've been a student of russian language and literature, thee resources for slang and profanity are hugely entertaining and vast on the internet, I've used them to mix in ...
- 91
1
vote
0
answers
36
views
Can someone suggest resources to slang and particularly queer/ LGBTQ slang?
I am working on a paper on queer communication and I need resources for sociolinguistic studies on slang and queer/ LGBTQ slang. Thanks!
- 11
1
vote
0
answers
96
views
Connection between “wiseguy” and the Cantonese slang 古惑仔
"Wiseguy" can mean a made man in the mafia or a smart ass who acts like they are smarter than others. What I find interesting is that the Cantonese/Chinese slang term 古惑仔(Gu Wac Zai) has ...
- 21
5
votes
2
answers
2k
views
Is it a coincidence that words ending in -ooch in English tend to be colloquial? If not, why?
There are several words in common English usage that end in -ooch:
brooch
cooch
gooch (these two refer to body parts)
hooch (alternatively written "hootch")
klooch
looch
mooch
pooch
scooch
scrooch
...
- 467
1
vote
1
answer
107
views
Slang, colloquial use, informal speech, etc [closed]
Background
The question is motivated by this post in the Russian forum, where the answers repeatedly refer to verb пересечёмся as "young people's slang" or "teenage slang". (пересечёмся = "we'll cross ...
- 978
-1
votes
1
answer
631
views
Sociolinguistics and slang [closed]
if slang is part of sociolinguistics, can you give me some explanations about why slang is part of sociolinguistics? what is the relation between slang and sociolinguistics? Thank you
2
votes
0
answers
73
views
What is the difference between "As if!" and other similar discourse markers?
According to Oxford Dictionary of English 3rd edition (2010:90), discourse marker “as if” means, in informal style, “I very much doubt it.” Oxford English Dictionary 3rd edition explains that “as if” ...
- 21
3
votes
0
answers
51
views
When were numbers first used as code/shorthand for unrelated meanings?
I was considering this xkcd, which got me wondering, were there any examples of number based shorthand like “ten-four” in the comic used in the time periods this comic considers “old-timey”?
In other ...
- 131
0
votes
2
answers
399
views
Can "da" phrase endings used in Russian and Kannada be traced back to the same origin (as in usage, not like cognates)?
Example: Can you get me a coffee da , get off the computer, da even just give me a name, da in Kannada English code switched sentence. And Cosmo in Gaurdians of the Galaxy new Comic series can give ...
- 1,272
1
vote
0
answers
27
views
References for Italian-American slang (cross-post from English Language & Usage)
This morning I have asked the following question on the English Language & Usage SE:
As an Italian, I find the interaction between my language and the English language fascinating. One big ...
- 295
1
vote
1
answer
857
views
What is the particular function of "lol" or "lmao" in the middle of sentences?
For example, look at this statement I found on an internet conversation:
"Memes are the opener now I guess lmao but that seems pretty good to me."
where the statement makes perfect sense without ...
- 113
2
votes
1
answer
381
views
Is there a linguistic difference between slang and colloquial speech?
I would have guessed that slang had a slightly obscene (or at least coarse) nature and colloquialism was more an "informal convention of speech" without the negative connotation, but I can't find ...
- 141
2
votes
0
answers
98
views
Is there a name for the process of triviliazation of a word's meaning?
What is the name for the process by which a word's meaning is trivialized or diminished in importance from its original meaning? For example, the standard English word throne means a toilet in English ...
- 203
2
votes
1
answer
747
views
Financial Slang and NLP for Sentiment Analysis
I am working on a Sentiment-Analysis/Opinion-Mining of Tweets, focused on Finance related tweets.
One of the biggest issue I am facing is the unability of my algorithm to detect equivalent entities (...
- 121
2
votes
2
answers
2k
views
Expressions derived from Italian mafia
I apologize in advance for the explicit words, the question is anyway purely linguistical. Feel free to censore the words if appropriate.
I have heard that the American slang expression "Do not break ...
- 261
1
vote
1
answer
420
views
Derivation of "glitzy" -- does it have Yiddish roots? [closed]
In Leo Rosten's book, The Joys of Yiddish, he defines the Yiddish word for people from the Hungarian/Polish region of Galicia, as "Galitzianers"(McGraw Hill, 1968), pp. 122-23. In singular masculine ...
- 119
3
votes
1
answer
134
views
How do people know the meaning of new rhyming slang?
From the Wikipedia article on Rhyming Slang:
One example is replacing the word "stairs" with the rhyming phrase "apples and pears". Following the pattern of omission, "and pears" is dropped, thus ...
- 243
3
votes
1
answer
475
views
Colloquial use of adjective that is actually acting as an adverb -- examples or formal use?
In a song by rap group NWA they say this:
"The bitch sucked one hell of a dick"
Disregarding the potentially offensive nature of the quote, it stood out to me that although "hell of a" is an ...
- 31
3
votes
4
answers
635
views
Why does google translate produce awkward sentences
Anyone who has ever used Google translate knows that the translated version is mostly grammatically correct but often extremely awkward to use in a conversation.
This is one of the factor which has ...
- 171
4
votes
2
answers
502
views
What is the sociocultural purpose of banning slang in schools?
There was an article in the Guardian recently about a headteacher in the Black Country banning the use of local dialect in school:
(http://www.theguardian.com/educa...)
He says he's seeing children ...
- 41
4
votes
1
answer
376
views
What is the best way to accurately translate slang?
It may not even be accurate to call it "slang"...
I am working on a filtering system that blocks pornography.
I have a set of key words and phrases in English. Essentially, I would like to have the ...
- 141
16
votes
7
answers
1k
views
What is LOLspeak, and does it have equivalents in languages other than English?
I can imagine a French, German, Dutch or Russian version of "teh first language born of teh internets". Does any such exist? And what is LOLspeak anyway. It clearly isn't, as it calls itself, a "...
- 754