Free Resources for Students and Teachers of English as a Foreign Language in China - by Paul Sparks


Read and write messages for me!

 
 Homepage
 About Me
 Teachers
 Students
 Lessons
 Photographs
 Links
 World News
 ICQ Chat
 Contact Me
 Articles
 

 

 

 

Now Watch TV Online for free with my new site - TV4WEB.net


Click Here to return to the previous page

 

Paul Sparks - Online English Lesson Plans, Lesson Material and Ideas for Oral English Lessons, Hunan University of Science and Technology...

 

 

ORAL ENGLISH: Slang Words and Phrases

 



Characteristics of Slang

 

 

  • Slang is constantly changing: slang words change more quickly than "regular" vocabulary but they change in the same ways.

 

  • New slang replaces old slang.

 

  • When we have a new area of meaning people come up with new slang. New computer slang like blog, or the term crack used for cocaine, are a couple of examples.

 

  • There are lots of slang words for taboo subjects. There are a great number of terms for race, gender, drugs, sex, going to the bathroom, and alcohol consumption.

 

  • Some slang is associated with a particular time period.

 

  • People who spend a lot of time together often wear similar clothes, have similar hair styles, and using similar language. Knowing and using slang words that come from your community mark you a member, but using slang words for a group you are not a part of might bring ridicule.

 

  • While much of slang is local, there are many regional and national slang terms.

 

  • Slang is not jargon! Jargon is the language of a profession or a hobby.

 

  • Slang is not "bad grammar." When we talk about slang, we are talking about words and phrases, not sentence structure. This means that non-Standard varieties of English, Appalachian English or African American Vernacular English (AAVE) are not slang - but like all other varieties of English, speakers of these dialects use slang when socially appropriate.



 

 

 

Click Here to Return to Top of Page