STYLES, SLANGS AND JARGONS WITH BANNED LANGUAGES

A Presentation Paper in Socio-Linguistics

(Elena A. Aasco-Ed.D-ELT Student/Researcher)
A Research presented to:
Dr. Carmel Vip Derassin- Professor CNU
August 2014
STYLE- is a choice of a particular way of saying or writing something as there is often
more than one way of conveying the same message.
The style changes from formal to informal, as the situation becomes more urgent.
Other terms that are used to identify different context-dependent styles include frozen,
casual and intimate.
Style choices affect both grammar and vocabulary. Words that are used only in
certain styles are often identified as such in dictionaries. Styles include literary, oldfashioned, humorous and medical.
Examples:
Bonker-humorous

lunatic-old-fashioned

bipolar-medical

The choice is determined by the following:

1. Specific contextual factors, such as the degree of formality that is required.
2. A particular effect that the person wants to achieve.
Style is language variation which reflects changes in situational factors, such as
addressee, setting, task or topic
Addressee as an Influence on Style
Age of addressee= People generally talk to the very young and to the very old. For
example: Baby-talk
Social background of addressee= People talk differently to the higher class and to the
lower class. For example: The pronunciation of newsreaders on different radio station
Context, Style and Class
(Some Examples)
Formal contexts and social roles
Different style within an interview
Colloquial style or the vernacular
The interaction of social class and style

Stylistics- is the study of style, or the way language is used to create particular effects,
especially those associated with the expressive and literary uses of language.
SLANGS- words and phrases which are highly colloquial and informal in type, occurring
more often in speech than in print. It is consists either of newly crafted words or existing
words employed in special sense. It is making abstract concrete and memorable, by
employing imagery.
- are very informal English and maybe understood only within a certain group of
people. Words often have short shelf life, fading away after a generation. Some slang
words have endured and entered the general lexicon, including bogus, geek, mob, hubbub
and rowdy.
REASONS FOR USING SLANG:
1.
2.
3.
4.

For fun
As an exercise either in wit and ingenuity on in humor
To be different; to be novel
To be secret or not understood by those around.
Slang exist alongside jargon and argot
The use of slang plays a major role in the maintenance of the gangs group
identity.
It separates the in-group, who use the slang, from the rest of society who do not
and are not part of the gang.
For example: Glasgow slang, American university (UCLA) slang, etc.

The Examples of Glasgow Slang

Crap bag= coward
Punters= fellow gang members
Malky= weapon
Snide gear= unfashionable clothes
Sleekit= cunning
Peter=police or prison cell
TYPES OF SLANG
(Note: This is only categorized by the researcher based on the different data
gathered from different sources)
1. Abbreviations
Etc- etcetera (and so on)
Vid-video
Po-po= police
2. Acronyms
TLC-Tender Loving Care
BFF- Best Friends Forever
JPEG- Joint Photographic Experts Group ( a file format)

3.
4.
5.

6.
7.

8.

9.

DSL=Digital Subscriber Line

BOLO= Be on the Look Out
Shorthands
GR8=great
24/7= 24 hours a day, 7 days a week
Symbols
$$$= a lot of money
Idiomatic expressions/Phrasal verbs
Pain on the neck= somebody who is annoying
Knock out= somebody who is extremely stunning or gorgeous
Lost the plot= to become crazy or mentally unstable
To goof up= to make a serious mistake
To make waves= to cause trouble
Screw around= to waste time
To catch some Zs= to get some sleep
Its monkeys outside= the weather is freezing or very cold
Zapped out= tired or exhausted
Numbers
404= error or page not found
Words
Swotting= studying a subject intensely for examination
Bummed=to be sad or depressed
Hickey=a reddish mark on the skin caused by amorous kissing or sucking
Pants=something rubbish or nonsense (crap)
Cookie=information transmitted
Ace= very good (American)
Fox=attractive person (American)
Article= objectionable person (British)
Antwacky= old-fashioned (British)
Fossil= a person who has been studying college for more than four years
Phrases
Full monty= to do something complete as possible
Honkey dory= something that is excellent, fine or perfect
Far out= something great
Sentences
Im hooked on you.= extremely addicted
Use your loaf and bread= use your head
She has a dumpling on.=a woman is expecting a child

10. Rhyming slang (David Crystal-1995)

Apples and pears= stairs
Artful dodger= lodger
Cain and Abel= table
North and south= mouth
Read and write= fight
Trouble and strife= wife
Bees and honey=money
Fork and knife=wife

11. Exclamation/Cockney Slang

Charles dead!= to draw attention when somebodys trousers are unzipped
He has a load on. = he is drunk
There are ants on your pants.= anxious or restless
12. Backslang or Pig Latin
Rennig=nigger
Ump chay = chump ( a foolish person)
A.C.A.B= All Coppers are bastards
JARGON- (American Dictionary) the language, especially the vocabulary, peculiar to a
particular trade, profession, or group; medical jargon.
A language that is characterized by uncommon or pretentious vocabulary and
convoluted syntax and is often vague in meaning.
Unlike most slang, academic jargon is typically not imaginative or picturesque. Too
much of it would make one feeling stifled, even oppressed. Like some slang, jargon might
keep outsiders out, serving to exclude. Nonetheless, jargon has its place, enabling
members of a group to communicate about their interests. There are also non-academic
jargon which is delightfully creative as with the metaphoric trucker jargon like bear in the
air, rubber duck, roller skate, alligator and etc.
This is originally an old French word meaning warbling of birds. In Britain, government
jargon is called, whitehallese. In the United States,Federal Prose or Gobbledygook
( from the gobbling noise of Turkey cock)
Jargon and Argot
The terms jargon and argot are often used almost interchangeably to refer to obscure or
secret language or language of a particular occupational group.
The term argot arose in the 17th century as the label for a speech variety used by French
beggars and street merchants and later was applied to the secret language of criminals.
The Examples of Jargon and Argot
Cockney rhyming slangEnglish argot used among navies in Londons East End in the
19th century (bees & honey ; money, merry-go-round; pound sterling)
Gay lingo; used among homosexual co.
Hacker jargon (freeware, happiware, etc.)
Cyberspace jargon (www, mailing list, e-mail, etc.)

Examples of Jargons:
1. Grease= money
2. A tiger hunter= a gambler
KINDS OF JARGONS
1. Medical Jargons

Agonal - Term to signify a major, negative change in a patients condition

BP - Medical shorthand for blood pressure

FX - Medical jargon meaning bone fracture

JT - A joint

NPO - A patient should not take anything by mouth

IM - Intramuscular

K - The elemental symbol for potassium

2. Business Jargons

Bang for the buck - A term that means, to get the most for your money

Due diligence - Putting effort into research before making a business decision

Sweat equity - Getting a stake in the business instead of pay

The 9-to-5 - Business jargon meaning a standard work day

Chief cook and bottle-washer - A person who holds many responsibilities

3. Police Jargons

Suspect - A person whom the police think may have committed a crime

10-4 - Radio jargon meaning Okay or I understand

Code Eight - Term that means officer needs help immediately

Code Eleven - A code that means the individual is at the scene of the crime

FTP - The failure of an individual to pay a fine

Assumed room temperature: An individual has died

4. Military Jargons

TD - Temporary duty

AWOL - Absent without leave

SQDN - A squadron

SAM - Surface-to-Air missile

PCS - A permanent change of station

LES - Leave and earning statement

5. Political Jargons

Left wing - Political jargon for liberal, progressive viewpoint

Right wing - Jargon meaning a conservative viewpoint
Getting on a soapbox - Making a speech in public
POTUS - President of the United States


SCOTUS - Supreme Court of the United States
6.Internet Jargons

BTW - By the way

CYA - See you around

FAQ - Frequently asked questions

HTH - Hope this helps

MOTD - Message of the day

YMMV - Your mileage may vary

IIRC - If I remember correctly

IANAL - I am not a lawyer

LOL - Laugh out loud

BFF - Best friends forever

TTYL - Talk to you later

7.Campus Jargons
A lexer= a student preparing for a law course
8.Trucker Jargons

DifferentiatingTerms:
Gobbledgook-long stretches of pretentious, often unintelligible words; reminds one of the
gobbling snd gook-ing and pretentious strutting of a turkey.
Slang- informal, casual, often playful words. Typically short-lived coinages and figures of
speech that are deliberately used in place of standard terms for added raciness,humor,
irreverence or other effect.
Cant- sometimes used synonymously with jargon and slang, but more often referring to
hypocritical affectation, humbug-or whining manner of speech-of tramps, thieves, or
beggars.
Argot- secret language used by criminals; criminal cant.
Doublespeak-obscure, deceptive, inhumane, or propagandistic language-especially such
language with pernicious, social or political consequence.
Tech Speak-As defined by Edward Tenner in his book Tech Speak, or How to Talk High
Tech. It is post colloquial discourse modulation protocol for user status enhancement. It
is a referential system for functiona-structural, microscopically specific macroscopic
object redesignation. It is a universal semantic transformation procedure.It is a
holophrastic technocratic socilect. It is a meta-semiotic mode for task specific
nomenclature.

Computerese-The Tech Speak of computer geeks. He was running OS/2 se 1.0 on an

AT/099 with an ST251-1.
Buzzword-An important-sounding word or phrase connected with a specialized field or
group that is used primarily to impress lay persons. Sensitivity is the buzzword in he
beauty industry this fall.
Alphabet soup- language laced with acronyms. An RFP was issued by DOE; ORNL for
the ORR.
Bureaucratese-the inflated, euphemistic, official-sounding language of government-often
dripping with alphabet soup.
Pentagonese-military jargon.. After the damage assessment study, our weapons systems
revisited the site to further suppress enemy assets; we achieved effective attrition, but
unfortunately, we had collateral damage due to incontinent ordinance.
PC- Politically Correct speech; language that goes to absurd lengths trying to avoid
offending various classes of people. The anthropology professor lectured on
Neanderthal person.
Why are there banned languages?
The following reasons for banning languages are results on the researchers analysis on
the different articles.
1.Offensive racial language or language with racial slurs ( Example: numerous
communities currently ban 'Huckleberry Finn' as required reading in public schools owing
to its offensive racial language", and that in his long experience, people prefer it without
the racial slurs.
2.To create a good working environment (Example: Foreign Staff at the HobbyCraft
warehouse in Burton ( U.K) are not allowed to speak their own language for safety and
health reason)
3. Uncomfortable or awkward for usage ( Example: OBien recommended these words
to be banned in the English Language:
a. Pulp- a crotch bulge coated with slime
b. Slurp-Somewhere between drooling and full-on puking
c. Yolk- awful to say or hear and sounds messy..associated with polk,
poke, yuck..

d. Bulbous- An itchy tube that runs the length of the wiener, or a sticky
membrane that scolds the testicles when they get out of place or
whatever.( like a caner in a male genitalia)
e. Jowls- An embarrassing body disease caused by personal negligence,
sort of like rickets.
f. Moist- Imagine a pale, unshaven, miserable kind of "Indoor Person."
He has cold, clammy hands that are always touching you, and there's
a ring of wetness around his mouth, because he's either constantly
licking his face or he just secretes some kind of acidic creep facejuice. That person can be described as "moist."
4.Innocent yet embarrassing words (O Bien recommended the following words to be
banned in the English language)
1. Rural- refers to genitals as the rural area, because they're wild
and overgrown, and full of bugs and stuff.
2. Ointment- Some kind of horrible growth, in an imagination. Like
a giant wart, but angrier. A huge, throbbing goiter that grows out
of your neck and ruins your good time.
3. Phlegm- just leaking everywhere, and bumming everyone out.
He smells like a bag of butts that got peed on.
4. Dollop- loose bit of skin fat that dangles under the chins of old
folk
Use it in an Awful Sentence:
"Doctor? I'm concerned about my 10-month-old just threw up about
a dollup of egg yolk and orange pulp. Should I take him to the emergency
room?"
No, just bury him and please never call me again, that fictional doctor
should have said.
e.Panties- An irritating piece of slang that horrible people would use to
describe someone who was acting prissy or cranky. Like, you know how the
most annoying character in a sitcom set in an office always accuses
someone who's pissed off as having "a case of the Mondays?" If you came to
work very irritable, that same person would say "Ooh, call the doctor, it looks

like Johnson over here has come down with a case of The Panties, heh heh.
Hope it's not contagious, or else we'll have a panty-demic on our hands!"

5.To preserve national language (English is banned in Chinese Writings as

governments intervention)

6. Using obscene languages (Example: Russian President Vladimir Putin signed off on a
new law Monday that bans swearing at arts, cultural and entertainment events in the
country.Any new film containing obscene language won't be granted a distribution
certificate, so there's no chance of seeing it at the movie theater. And copies of books,
CDs or films containing swearing can only be distributed in a sealed package labeled
"Contains obscene

Sources:
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2. Ebbers, S. 2011. Dialect, Slang, Jargon, Register: Implications
Instructions.vocablog.plc.blogspot.com
3. Ceema. Englishtrainer letspod.com
4. Yuuk, N. 2011. Nyuntekyuuk.blogspot.com
5. Piuario,
R.1918.Slang:
A
Non
Standard
Variety
English.www.uab.ro/reviste_reconuscute?..16 doc.
6. examples@yourdictionary.com
7. Reducing jargon@writing.com
8. Mair, V. 2010. Language and the Law. www.languagelog. Ldc.upenn.edu
9. Morari, S. 2013. Slang versus Jargon.www.slideshare.net
10. G.L. 2011. Johnson Language. New York.www.economist.com
11. OBrien, D.2010.www.cracked.com
12. Smith-Park L. 2014. CNN.www.edition.cnn.com

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