Slang

Slang is the aggregate of expressive, emotionally coloured words and phrases of colloquial speech that do not belong to the literary norm and circulate mainly in informal communication, especially among the young. Unlike narrowly group-based jargon, slang has a wider distribution and gravitates toward imagery, wit and language play; its vocabulary is quickly renewed, reflecting the changing tastes and realia of the age. In literature slang reproduces the living colloquial element, characterises a personage by age and milieu, lends dialogue naturalness and a contemporary sound. Slang interacts closely with colloquial vocabulary, jargon and vernacular. It is an important subject of sociolinguistics and stylistics, which investigate the dynamics of informal speech and the limits of its artistic use.