Slang is simply using informal words of a certain group (small or big) that at first only themselves knew that it means.

 

Here's a more detailed information:

 

Slang

Slang is the use of highly informal words and expressions that are not considered standard in the speaker's dialect or language. Slang is very often colloquial; the language and dialect tend to be specific to a particular territory.

Slang terms are frequently particular to a certain subculture, such as musicians, and members of a minority. All the same, slang expressions can spread outside their original arena and become commonly understood; recent examples include "cool". While some such words eventually lose their status as slang, others continue to be considered as such by most speakers. In spite of this, the process tends to lead to their replacement by other, less well-recognised, expressions by their original users.

Slang is to be distinguished from jargon, the technical vocabulary of a particular profession, as the association of informality is not present. Moreover, jargon may not be intended to exclude non-group members from the conversation, but rather deals with technical peculiarities of a given field which require a specialized vocabulary.

According to Bethany K. Dumas and Jonathan Lighter, an expression should be considered "true slang" if it meets at least two of the following criteria:

• It lowers, if temporarily, "the dignity of formal or serious speech or writing"; in other words, it is likely to be seen in such contexts as a "glaring misuse of register."

• Its use implies that the user is familiar with whatever is referred to, or with a group of people that are familiar with it and use the term.

• "It is a taboo term in ordinary discourse with people of a higher social status or greater responsibility."

• It replaces "a well known conventional synonym". This is especially to avoid "the discomfort caused by the conventional item [or by] further elaboration."

 

Origins of Slang

One use of slang is simply to circumvent social taboos, as mainstream language tends to shy away from evoking certain realities. For this reason, slang vocabularies are particularly rich in certain domains, such as sexuality, violence, crime, and drugs.

Alternatively, slang can grow out of mere familiarity with the things described. Among Californian wine connoisseurs, Cabernet Sauvignon might be known as "Cab Sav", Chardonnay as "Chard" and so on; this means that naming the different wines expends less superfluous effort. It also serves as a shared code among connoisseurs.

There is not just one slang, but very many varieties - or dialects - of it. Different social groups in different times have developed their own slang. The importance of encryption and identity, of having a secret code or language, varies between these instances. For slang to maintain its power as a means of encryption, it must constantly be renewed. Many slang words are replaced, as speakers get bored of them or they are co-opted by those outside the group. For this reason, the existence of slang dictionaries reduces the perceived usefulness of certain slang words to those who use them.

Numerous slang terms pass into informal mainstream speech, and thence sometimes into formal mainstream formal speech, though this may involve a change in meaning or usage.

Slang very often involves the creation of novel meanings for existing words. It is very common for such novel meanings to diverge significantly from the standard meaning. Thus, "cool" and "hot" can both mean "very good or impressive." In fact, one common process is for a slang word to take on exactly the opposite meaning of the standard definition. This process has given rise to the positive meaning of the word "bad," as in the Michael Jackson song of that title, for example.

Polari is an interesting example of slang that drew on various sources, including Cockney and Italian. Polari was used in London fish markets and the gay subculture in Britain in the 1950s and 1960s, becoming more widely known from its use by two camp characters, Julian and Sandy, in Round the Horne, a popular radio show.

Slang terms are often only known within the community of users. For example, Leet Speak (Leet or "1337") is popular among online video gamers (although it is slowly being picked up by gaming in general.) Another example of slang being derived from a specific element in popular culture is Nadsat, a form of slang used in the book A Clockwork Orange, which borrows words from the Russian language and from various forms of English languages.

 

Internet slang

It has been suggested that LOL (Internet slang) be merged into this article or section. (Discuss)

 

Internet slang/language is slang that Internet users have coined and promulgated. Such terms typically originated with the purpose of saving keystrokes, and many people use the same abbreviations in text messages. They are also very commonly used in instant messaging. The terms often appear in lower case, with capitals reserved for emphasis; for example, the pronoun "I" often appears simply as "i." People also use "u" to mean "you," and "r" to mean "are."

Like most jargon, internet slang aggrandizes authors and readers, causing them to appear to have specialized knowledge of a complex medium. However, there are cases where using Internet slang is considered ridiculous, due to association with the stereotype of the internet n00b.

Many of the slang words can seem confusing, obscure, whimsical, or even nonsensical. For example, LMAO stands for Laughing My Ass Off, or for others they can also use the uncommon LMBO Laughing my butt off. Another feature common to Internet communication involves the truncation and morphing of words to forms that users can type more readily, and quickly. When new terms of internet slang are created, it takes time for them to become widely accepted. The small ring of friends using an instant messaging client most of the time is not enough. Web forums are a way to get new terminology out on the net, and accepted and used by a wide range of members of the internet community.

 

Usage

Internet slang words develop from common phrases that users simplify to be able to type faster. However, in games, new game players may try to emulate this, and unintentionally emphasize their own lack of knowledge through misuse of the terms and poor spelling. As a result, several internet slang abbreviations and spellings are most often used ironically. Players may use intentionally poor grammar and an excessive amount of leet (also written as 1337) speak to ridicule or satirize new players. An example would be "PWND" (owned). "PWND" means "beaten thoroughly"/"destroyed quickly and with ease" or "il ttyl, but that was funny 2 were i had 2 lmfao". Lmfao stands for "laughing my fucking ass off". The word "Pwned" has been accepted as neolinguistic, and has been carried over into conversations mainly by Hatim Abassi. The most common context of "pwned" is "pwned like a noob", meaning "destroyed with the quickness and ease with which one would destroy a new player". The use of this phrase, however, is looked upon as "nerdy," "arrogant," or "vulgar" (in the sense of the word meaning "unlearned and common") by some people.

 

Classes of slang

Acronyms and abbreviations

Abbreviations are probably the most used kind of internet slang. A simple three- or four-letter abbreviation can be used instead of a string of words. For example, "TTYL" means "Talk To You Later,", "LOL" generally stands for "Laughing Out Loud" (although it can signify "Lots Of Laughs" or "Lots of Love".

Abbreviations vary within internet groups, particularly for online games where each game's subculture develops its own terms. For example, in the online Massive multiplayer online role playing game World of Warcraft, "AP" generally means "Attack Power" while in the MMORPG Maple Story it means "Ability Points." This can lead to considerable confusion for the new user.

In many cases these abbreviations may also be used as acronyms. Outside internet use, the abbreviation "LOL," signifying the pronunciation rather than the abbreviation, is finding its way into normal conversation, pronounced either ("ell oh ell") as an abbreviation or as an acronym ("lohl" or /lʌl/).

The word "w00t" (pronounced woot) may be an acronym for "We Owned (beat severely) the Other Team," though other etymologies are also considered plausible. This is common in after-match chatrooms in team-based gaming servers where players can discuss the round after playing it. In conversational context, however, it means "hooray," "yay," or "huzzah."

 

Emoticons (smileys)

Emoticons - also known as smileys - are a form of ASCII art where a short sequence of printable characters is used to resemble a facial expression and convey an emotion.

The basic "western style" smiley is :), where the colon or number 8 represents the eyes and the parenthesis the mouth, forming a rough approximation of a "happy face." However, using a bracket for the smile in the face so it looks like :] is gaining widespread popularity. Many people also use this form of smiley because it is seen as a "cooler" alternative to the normal smiley. Many emotions may be more easily recognized by tilting one's head to the left, and a great many variants exist, such as 8D, =), =D, =>), >=D,:p, |=[, >8), >XD, XP,|8[,8-0. There is another form of "smileys" that resemble a wink by combining a semicolon and your choice of mouths. ;]

The other major style of emotion, which does not require the viewer to tilt their head, evolved in East Asia. In the basic smiling manga emotion, ^_^, the carets representing the eyes, and the underscore a mouth. Another popular east Asian emoticon is (^ﾑ^), using a Japanese character to represent the nose.

'Emoticons' most probably found their origins in the early days of e-mail as a method of avoiding a potentially embarrassing or emotionally damaging misunderstanding by clarifying intent, similar to the slang jk, meaning just kidding.

Common emoticons or "smileys" are those showing if one is happy :), if one is sad :(, if one is shocked 8-O. Each smiley has a character, and when used represents how the person is feeling or how another person is feeling. Emoticons are used all over the United States and are a good way to show emotion without spelling it out explicitly.

 

'n00b' and 'newbie'

The word "n00b" is used in internet slang coming from the word "newbie." Generally, the term "noob" is used as an insult to a person who is a new, inexperienced player, although it can also mean arrogant, overconfident, or unskillful in a game or other subject matter. There are also many variations of the word "noob", such as "newb", "nub", "fr00b", or "n00b". In some places, such as popular MMORPGs, this can be attributed to someone who has been in a certain place for a long time and retains their ignorance.

The term "newbie" is usually regarded as less of an insult than "noob." Newb is generally reserved for a person who is simply new to a game/topic and has not yet full understanding of its working. Noob is used to classify someone as a new member who acts poorly.

 

Format tagging

A variation of tagging meant to resemble XML or HTML code is used to give emphasis on posts on blogs, forums, or message boards. For example, in HTML, when "<b>" and "</b>" are placed around text, a web browser will display it in boldface. Because emotions and inflection do not apply to text, Internet users will feign XML tags for such emphasis, such as "<sarcasm>...</sarcasm>" "<rant>...</rant>" or "<white lie>...</white lie>". These "tags" are often meant to be generally humorous or informative. The opening tag may also sometimes be omitted when a block of text's designation as such is not meant to be known at first, such as when a sarcastic comment is made and only after the reader finishes it do they see the closing </sarcasm> tag and realize the intent of the message. Fake BB-codes are similarly used.\ From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia