SOCIOLINGUISTICS - Unit 8

SOCIOLINGUISTICS
UNIT 8
TRƯƠNG VĂN ÁNH
TRƯỜNG ĐẠI HỌC SÀI GÒN
UNIT 8: SLANG AND CLICHÉS IN SOCIOLINGUISTICS
I. INTRODUCTION
There are various ways by which people express themselves in informal atmosphere. The expressions could be determined by the environment or the immediacy of such communication within a given time-frame. In these situations there are acceptable informal linguistic priorities available to speakers of a language within a given geographical entity in order to transfer information at informal levels and relationships. We will assess slang within the





sociolinguistics of English language, using clichés and jargons as slang types.





II. GENERAL OVERVIEW
Being different from academic languages, slangs tend to originate in subcultures within a society. Occupational groups (for example, fire fighters, construction workers, soldiers, loggers, police, medical professionals, computer specialists, etc.) are substantial originators of both jargon and slang. A jargon is considered the vocabulary (lexical items of expression) of a professional code like a register, but slang is a type of conventional language like the secret language of a cult or a particular community, whose vocabulary







component is necessarily a jargon. Different groups creating various slangs include the underground, special forces, armed forces, teenagers, racial minorities, ghetto residents, trade unions, citizens-band radio broadcasters, sports groups, drug addicts, criminals, and even religious denominations (Episcopalians, for example, produced spike, a High Church Anglican, monks speak bible expressions in the pagodas). Group members use slang to express their attitudes and values in their own communities. They do not want other people in other communities to understand their own business. Thus slang is often short-lived coinages which are





not standard language vocabulary. Slang undergoes a conventional process before it becomes acceptable in a community. Usually, slang and jargon overlap greatly. If slang becomes popular and used in the mainstream culture, it will be accepted by the whole society. For example, K (money), cat (a sport), cool (aloof, stylish), Mr. Charley (a white man), The Man (the law), and Uncle Tom (a meek black), Uncle Sam (American) all come from daily uses and become popular nowadays. Slang may spread beyond any geographic region, not only limited in a country.






A slang may quickly come and quickly disappear. For example, bargirl before 1975 in South Vietnam, bus from omnibus, jazz from originally sexual connotations, booze for alcoholic beverage, fivegrand for ₦ 5,000, pot for marijuana. Nowadays both the circulation and the demise of slang terms are speeded up by mass media and rapid travel. Changing social circumstances may create the spread of slang. Used for a long time, slang may be added to the vocabulary of a language. It may be said that slang makes some contribution to enriching the vocabulary.



It is notable that sometimes slang may contribute a necessary word for an object or action (TV, walkie-talkie, a portable two-way radio; tailgating, driving too close behind another vehicle; sometimes it may provide an emotional outlet (buzz off! for go away!); sometimes it may give a satirical or patronising reference (smokey, state highway trooper); sometimes it may coin euphemisms (john, head, can, and in Britain, loo, all for toilet, itself originally a euphemism); sometimes it may give myriad synonyms for parts of the body (bean, head; schnozzle, nose), for money (moola, bread, scratch), for food (grub, slop, garbage), and for drunkenness (soused,



stewed, plastered). Therefore, slang may often help users emphasize an amazing effect by using a sensitive slang expression in an unexpected situation.




III. SLANGS AS SOCIOLINGUISTIC FORMS
In spite of non-standard forms, slang including informal, non-standard words and phrases, is generally shorter lived than ordinary colloquial speech including non-standard and informal expressions typically formed by creative, often witty, juxtapositions of words or images. Jargons, usually technical terms of occupational or other professional groups, are different from slangs with argot or cant (secret vocabulary of underworld/underground groups), but the borderlines between slangs and jargons are




sometimes very dim, and linguists are confused to differentiate the terms such as cant, argot, and jargon in a general way.
Conventionally, linguists regard slang as a vulgar, offensive, and profane form of language with a strong nuances, usually in order to express irreverence and yet vitality in a community. Traditionally slang is regarded as a taboo which should be avoided in most formal social situations. Due to the vulgar idiosyncrasy slang has always been neglected, if not unaccepted, in sociolinguistics. In many scientific conferences,




therefore, slang has not been formally and theoretically discussed by linguistic participants.
However, slang often appears in original works of many researchers, and after that it is corrected and changed into the formal form. It is observed that slang often comes from lexicographical documentation, semantic classification, and etymological description (usually dialect words from the local regions). For example English slang appears in colonies or remote regions more than in Britain. It has been revealed that in sociological analysis of slang people, in most cases, use slang




when they imply something in their speech. Among people in a community, they negotiate secretly something with each other, using even common words, however, with their coined meanings. The vocabulary is used in a variety of registers and is chosen in accordance with the particular social cases. In every community, people tend to a particular usage which is unique for the members in their own groups or organizations. This unique and elaborate lexicon differentiates them from other groups, and is considered their identity among different communities.



IV. JARGONS AND CLICHÉS IN SOCIOLINGUISTICS
Normally, an expression which is abused in an overused way is called a cliché. Then the expression has no original effectiveness or power from overuse. An overused idea, an overused activity or notion can be seen as a cliché that is a redundancy of phrases or expressions without impact. Originally a cliché might a wise and concise use of words. Gradually, the overuse of expressions becomes clumsier and more boring. The oftener they use a cliché, the further away from the original the expressions seem. Instead of making the usage more lively, they change a


cliché into uninteresting prose in a desperate (and misguided) attempt. Using a cliché for this purpose will make a mistake. As a result, a cliché will seem unnatural, and not trigger the listeners of readers any interest. To overcome this problem, writers should try to revise their work to make it more compelling.
When you use a cliché, you should be very careful to wonder if it is the best way to use it. When a cliché can make an atmosphere more interesting, you may make it in use, but do not try to use it for the second time. When you write, you should pause and put yourself in the position



of readers and ask whether they may be amused at the expression. Any expression, if repeated so many times, will become dull, and make people tired of it. We extract the following common clichés that are commonly used in English language informal usage from the sociolinguistic works:
add insult to injury
agree to disagree
all in a day’s work
as luck would have it
at a loss for words
beginning of the end
benefit of the doubt
better late than never
better left unsaid
burning the midnight oil
busy as a bee
calm before the storm
cut down in one’s prime
dead as a doornail
diamond in the rough
dig in one’s heels
easier said than done
equal to the occasion
exception that proves the rule
hook, line, and sinker
in the same boat
last but not least
leave no stone unturned
lock, stock, and barrel
make a long story short
make a mountain out of a molehill
matter of life and death
B: Jargon and Argot [sociolinguistic implications]
Jargon is the professional vocabulary used exclusively/uniquely by a particular community; for example, the members of a profession or a particular field. People working in a special branch who do want other members of the same branch to understand their ideas quickly and precisely use their own jargons.


Apart from jargons, argots are composed of an informal vocabulary used by secret groups, underground, particularly criminal gangs, usually used to turn information to incomprehensible to outsiders. That is, they do not let other people understand what they communicate with each other. A jargon consists of the own-created vocabulary of a particular field or profession, especially when people make it incomprehensible to other people to keep it secret.
A jargon usually separates people of the same organization from the outsiders via expressions showing new ideas. A jargon is only




comprehended by people of the same group and is therefore usually not the most effective tool of language to everybody for communicating their ideas. Even though in the same group people often use common expressions for other purposes. Jargons can usually be seen in medicine, law, education, technical occupations, the military, the entertainment world, and most academic disciplines. The jargons many people know best and are most tempted to use are the ones of bureaucracy and business which are probably the most widespread.





It is suggested that one should try to avoid jargons as much as possible although using jargon is almost required in many business settings. People of the same profession may see jargon as the badge of a true insider, but many others, especially the outsiders, will regard it as pretentious, smug, and evidence of a lazy mind. In recent years many examples of business jargon have been resoundingly derided as follows:
bottom line: The bottom line is that he should be fired.
communication: You should send a communication to his firm.



credentialed: The applicant is properly credentialed.
dialogue (as a verb): We need to dialogue about the problem.
expedite: What can we do to expedite the process?
facilitate: A manager should facilitate her staff’s efforts.
feedback: Let me know your feedback.
impact (as a verb): How will this impact our deadline?

implement: Implement this plan as soon as possible.
in the affirmative: The supervisor replied in the affirmative. input: I would like to have your input.
interface: We need to interface with other departments.
leverage: To get approval on the plan, we need more leverage. liaise: You should liaise between the two departments. optimize: What should we do to optimize morale?
parameters: We need to set precise parameters.
prioritize: I need to prioritize my goals.
proactive: A proactive approach will allow us to continue to dominate the market.
process: We should all participate in the decision-making process.
same: If you took my stapler, please return same. scenario: If the market shifts, what scenario will follow?
time frame: I will finish the report within an acceptable time frame. utilize: How should we best utilize this information?
viable: Let me know if this plan is viable.

V. CONCLUSION
Ordinary speech rules the processes by which slang expressions are created. Figures of speech such as metaphors, similes, metonymy, personification, euphemism, etc. form slang expressions. In the processes, the same words may have new meanings (cool, cat); they may have a narrow meaning (fink, originally a strike- breaker, later a betrayer or disappointer) or vice-versa (heap, a run-down car); they may be through processes of clipping or abbreviation (mike, microphone, IV, invitation card); or acronyms may gain







currency (VIP, AWOL, snafu); they may be added with foreign suffix (the Yiddish and Russian -nik in beatnik); they may be adopted foreign words (baloney, from Bologna, waka-well, by students from Nigerian pidgin); they may have a change in meaning to make vulgar acceptable words (jazz) or an acceptable word vulgar (raspberry, a sound imitating flatus; from raspberry tart in the rhyming slang of Australia. In general, slang is regarded as a sociolinguistic tool to form newer linguistic forms that are generated within the constraints of linguistic requirements of the people.







VI. SUMMARY
Social language varieties are named after specialised terms such as slang, argot, and jargon which are usually defined by their specialised vocabularies. All the time sees newly-invented words in a language. Among the newly-created words is slang. Its nuances, vigour, and colour make daily speech more abundant. It is only in the 20th century that slang gained its respectability, while it was often looked down upon as vulgar in the past. It may be said that few people such as Shakespeare brought into acceptable usage such slang terms as hubbub, to bump, and to dwindle. Furthermore, in the 20th







century many writers used slang brilliantly to express character and ambience. Every language has its slang at all times. Up to now there have been so many slang words of different languages such as person’s head called kapala (dish) in Sanskrit, testa (pot) in Latin; testa later was used as the official Latin word for head. Western languages such as English, Russian, French, Spanish, Italian, German, Portuguese, Yiddish, Romanian, and Romani (Gypsy), and Asian languages such as Chinese and Arabic are particularly rich in slang. Vietnamese has derived many slang words from the Chinese pidgin: hủ tíu,giòchó quẩy, chạp phô,etc. or English pidgin: cao bồi, ti vi, cốp pi, etc.
VII. EXERCISES
1. What is slang?
2. What are jargons?
3. What is a cliché?
4. What are argots?
5. Do people use English jargons in Vietnam?
6. Do people use Vietnamese slang in our country?





Good luck!