slang
/ˈsleɪ̯ŋ/
Word Rarity
Rare
Frequency: Zipf frequency 3.55 in modern English
6
Scrabble Score
5
Letters
1
Syllables
5
Unique Chars
Meaning
noun
The specialized language of a social group, sometimes used to conceal one's meaning from outsiders; cant.
Countable; Uncountable
Example Sentences
- "She was amused by his talk, which was simple, straightforward, rather humorous and keen, and interspersed with homely expressions of a style which is sometimes called slang."
- "English-speaking Australians have always had a love affair with slang."
- "After years when I met a friend inside the aircraft and could sense stiffness in the conversation, a whiff of mild slang was the ice breaker, followed by loads of campus nostalgia."
- ""Oh, there are so many superior teas and sugars now. Superior is getting to be shopkeepers' slang. / "Are you beginning to dislike slang, then?" said Rosamond, with mild gravity. / "Only the wrong sort. All choice of words is slang. It marks a class." / "There is correct English: that is not slang." / "I beg your pardon: correct English is the slang of prigs who write history and essays. And the strongest slang of all is the slang of poets.""
- "[F]or a detailed analysis see Liberman (2008 157ff) who sees it as one of a number of terms found in pan-European slangs meaning concealment and/or cheating."
- "Anyway, I have learned many slangs while I am in New York, and one of them, a remarkable slang, is sheister."
Etymology
First use appears c. 1756, meaning "special vocabulary of tramps or thieves", origin unknown. Not believed to be connected with language or lingo. Possibly derived from a North Germanic source, then possibly related to Nordic language: Danish slænge, Icelandic and Norwegian Nynorsk slengja, Norwegian slenge, Swedish slänga (“to (carelessly) sling, throw, hurl; throw away, to dispose of; to flail”), with derivational nouns such as slæng, sleng, släng etc. Compare the compound: Danish slængenavn, Norwegian slengenavn, Norwegian Nynorsk slengenamn, Swedish slängnamn (“nickname, byname, informal name”, literally “sling-name”), and the phrases: Norwegian Nynorsk slengja kjeften, Swedish slänga käften (“to abuse verbally”, literally “to sling one's jowl”), Swedish slänga ur sig (“to say something hastily, carelessly, thoughtlessly”, literally “to throw out of oneself”), also Swedish (regional) slänga (“careless, nonchalant girl”, literally “sling + feminine suffix -a”).
Word Breakdown
- Root: -
Regional Pronunciation
- American English: /ˈsleɪ̯ŋ/