Slang. Something we all know. And probably use. “Informal language.” Those words not accepted as proper but not bad. That informal language is in fact usually “characterized by vividness and novelty.”
Mostly, the word hasn’t changed that much…but it’s broadened. And is, in fact, itself nearly impossible to trace the etymology of. Various experts have posited various theories, but none can be proven and said experts can’t seem to agree with each other. It might have Scandinavian roots…or French ones…or something else entirely.
What we know is that its first uses were very specific. In 1756 we have a record of it appearing to mean “the specific vocabulary that thieves use.” By 1801 it was the terminology specific to any particular field. But the definition we know now was only a few years behind, having been firmly established by 1818.
So we might not know where it comes from. But we certainly know where it’s been. 😉 And because I have a strange household, my children will occasionally actually argue about whether a word is slang or “accepted.”
Was “slang” acceptable in your family or school growing up?
Roseanna M. White is a bestselling, Christy Award winning author who has long claimed that words are the air she breathes. When not writing fiction, she’s homeschooling her two kids, editing, designing book covers, and pretending her house will clean itself. Roseanna is the author of a slew of historical novels that span several continents and thousands of years. Spies and war and mayhem always seem to find their way into her books…to offset her real life, which is blessedly ordinary.
It all depended on what the word was for both school and home.