SLANG: LANGUAGE AND STYLE

Lefteris Kailoglou
University of Worcester
E.Kailoglou@worc.ac.uk

Slang

Everybody talks about it

Can it be defined?
Does it exist?
If it exists, can we describe it and,
therefore, define it?

Australia and New Zealand

Aussie Vs Kiwi slang: https://
www.youtube.com/watch?v=jr4rQ5QpXrU&
feature=related
(vocabulary)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xuRrp
83jCuQ&feature=related
(slang) Aussie slang mate
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9uExUyh
lP5o&feature=related
(Australian slang; controversial)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?
3
v=EoE4xxW6U78&feature=related

Colloquial features: Are they

slang?

Bald as a bandicoot: completely bald (<a rat)

Dinkum, dinky, dinky-di: genuine, right (dinkum
Aussie: real Aussie)
Full as a goog: dead drunk (goog<egg)
Hoon/yobbo: loutish youth
Ocker: archetypical, uncultivated Aussie man
Prang: minor car accident
Sanger/Sanga: sandwich
Sheila: girl (a beaut Sheila: an attractive girl)
Shortening of words: Beaut <beautiful; Words
ending in the suffix o or y/-ie . Examples: Arvo
(afternoon), Tinnie (for a can of beer)
4

Slang must be distinguished from other

subjects of the lexicon such as
regionalisms or dialect words (you
all/yall in south US), jargon, profanity
and obscenity, colloquialism, and cant or
argot- although slang shares some
characteristics with each of these and
can overlap with them. (Eble 1996:19)

Cant/Argot: the specialised and sometimes secret

language of thieves and other groups at the
fringes of society
Polari
Sometimes words that start out as the jargon of a
particular group become slang for a wider group
(ice for diamonds)
In other instances, words pass from the jargon of
a group into the general vocabulary without ever
being slang (e.g. input, output)
Slang is colloquial but not all colloquial
expressions are slang (Shut up is not slang)
6

Intra-speaker Variation

Dialect: variation according to region

Style: Variation according to user
Register: Variation according to use/topic
Jargon: specific vocabulary associated with a
group, mostly professional, e.g. doctors,
lawyers, linguists, or with a hobby/interest
Jargon examples (army jargon: jam, ejecta)
Where does slang fit in? (army slang: chicken
colonel/full colonel, John Wayne/militarily
exemplary)
Slang: specific words and phrases
7

Slang includes many obscene words but not all slang

words/phrases are obscene

Patois (English pronunciation: /ptw/, pl. /ptwz/

[1][2]) is any language that is considered nonstandard,
although the term is not formally defined in linguistics.
It can refer to pidgins, creoles, dialects, and other forms
of native or local speech, but not commonly to jargon or
slang, which are vocabulary-based forms of cant. Class
distinctions are embedded in the term, drawn between
those who speak patois and those who speak the
standard or dominant language used in literature and
public speaking, i.e., the "acrolect". (wikipedia here, but
its a nice description)
8

Standard English is:

a dialect. One variety among many.

However it is not associated with any
specific accent.
a purely social (not geographic) dialect.
is different from the other dialects not
phonologically but in some of its
grammatical forms.

Trudgill (2002:167-168) on
Standard English

SE fails to distinguish between the forms of auxiliary forms of the verb do and its main verb
forms. This is true both of the present tense, where many other dialects distinguish between
aux. did and main verb done, as in You done it, did you?
SE has an unusual and irregular Present Tense verb morphology in that only the 3rd sing.
receives morphological marking: he goes Vs he go. Many other dialects use either zero for all
persons or s for all persons.
SE lacks multiple negation, so that no choice is available between I dont want none, which is not
possible, and I dont want any. Most non-standard variities of English around the world permit
multiple negation.
SE has an irregular formation of reflexive pronouns, with some forms based on the possessive
pronouns e.g. myself, and others on the objective pronouns, e.g. hisself, theirselves.
SE fails to distinguish between 2nd person sing. and pl. forms, having you in both cases. Many
non-standard dialects maintain the older English distinction between thou and you, or have
developed newer distinctions such as you versus youse.
SE has irregular forms of the verb to be both in the present tense (am, is, are) and in the past
(was, were). Many non-standard dialects have the same form for all persons, such as I be, you
be, s/he be, we be, they be, and I were, you were, he were, we were, you were, they were.
In the case of many irregular verbs, SE redundantly distinguishes between preterite and perfect
verb forms both by the use of the auxiliary have and by the use of distinct preterite and past
participle forms: I have seen Vs I seen.
SE has only a two-way contrast in its demonstrative system, with this (near to the speaker)
opposed to that (away from the speaker). Many other dialects have a three-way system
involving a further distinction, between for example that (near to the listener) and yon (away
from both speaker and listener).

10

Common Non-Standard Forms

Non-Standard

Standard

I didnt do nothing to nobody (multiple

negation)

I didnt do anything to anybody (single

negation)

I never threw it (never as past-tense

negative)

I didnt throw it (didnt as a negative in the

past tense)

Im not keen on them films (them as

demonstrative adjective)

Im not keen on those films (those as

demonstrative adjective

Six pound of potatoes, please (plural

without markedness)

Six pounds of potatoes, please (plural

marked by s)

The boy played brilliant (adjective

form as adverb)

The boy played brilliantly (suffix ly)

Im going up London (shortened

preposition form)

Im going up to London (complex

preposition up to)

He did it hisself (patterned on

my(self), your(self), his (self))

He did it himself (breaking the regular

pattern of the previous example)

Cf. Coupland 1988

11

Other non-standard
features

What as a relative pronoun: the book

what was on sale
Theres/There was + plural: there was
loads of them
Be + Sat/Stood: She was sat/stood on the
other side of the room

Rhys 2007; Cheshire and Milroy 1993)

12

Innovation

Innovation is central to the notion of

slang
Innovation is a general characteristic of
slang
The rapid rate of innovation in slang just
makes it more visible
Innovation in slang follows the same
patterns/devices as in other aspects of
language
13

Innovations on
Shakespeare
Semantic Neologisms
Word-formation
Derivation
Compounding
Borrowing

The same means are used in slang

14

New words and phrases from

Shakespeare
Words: addiction, assassination, comply,
consign,, compulsive, denote, discontent,
domineering, exhale, generous, hostile,
investment, luggage, obscene, pious,
protester, retirement, survivor, supervise,
tranquil, unreal, useful
Phrases: neither here nor there, breathe ones
last, cheer up, a foregone conclusion, the long
and the short of it, good riddance, household
name, salad days, seamy side, tower of
strength, with bated breath

About half the words Shakespeare coined remain

in English today. Others underwent semantic
15
shift; some fell out of use, either immediately

Multicultural London English (MLE)

Linguistic Innovators: the English of Adolescents in London,

(Kerswill and Cheshire ) :
the effects of a multiracial vernacularon mainstream
speech from a dialectal, a phonological point of view.
an emergent common vernacular, a dialect, heavily
influenced by Afrocaribbean and Asian speech patterns,
spoken by young people across swathes of Greater
London.
There is a possibility that this variety may well have a
lasting effect because those social pressures that stop
people taking their youthful language practices forward
into middle age are no longer in place.
Factors: the print and broadcast media, other electronic
interactions and peer-pressure on the street and in the
playground actually encourage this blurring of generations
and blurring of distinctions between standard and
non-standard usage (pp4-5)
www.llas.ac.uk/cardiff2006
16

Main findings on teenage MG slang

(Iordanidou & Anroutsopoulos 2001)
1.
Word formation types common to other colloquial
varieties of MG (e.g. derivational suffixes ias,
-akias, -atos, -iaris, -dhiko, -menos)
2.
Some genuine nonstandard formation types specific
to teenage slang and in certain argots of MG
3.
Innovative use of known formation types, often with
a shift in semantic function
4.
Several suffixes can be combined with unusual
bases (anetos<anet-ia cool)
5.
Idiomatic construction patterns
6.
Specific syntactic features
7.
Semantic neologism
8.
Back slang

17

slang is an ever changing set of colloquial

words and phrases that speakers use to
establish or reinforce social identity or
cohesiveness within a group or with a
trend or fashion in society at large (Eble
1996)

18

Criteria
Dumas and Lighter (1978, 14-16) reject the classical formula
for definition and instead propose four identifying criteria for
slang.
1. Its presence will markedly lower, at least for the moment,
the dignity of formal or serious speech or writing.
2. Its use implies the users special familiarity either with the
referent or with that less statusful or less responsible class of
people who have such special familiarity and use of the term.
3.It is a tabooed term in ordinary discourse with persons of
higher social status or greater responsibility.
4. It is used in place of the well-known conventional synonym,
especially in order a) to protect the user from the discomfort
caused by the conventional item or b) to protect the user from
the discomfort or annoyance of further elaboration.

19

when something fits at least two of the

criteria, a linguistically sensitive audience
will react to it in a certain way. This
reaction which cannot be measured, is
the ultimate identifying characteristic of
true slangNone of the four criteria is
formal, for slang is not distinct in form.

20

Function: The case of London

(Sian
2010)

Similar to studies of their school-aged counterparts (Harris

1997, 2006; Leung, Harris, and Rampton 1997; Rampton
2005), the students display a strong affiliation to the local
vernacular, in this case London English (Harris 2006), which
they consistently refer to as slang. They construct a
slang/posh dichotomy to contrast the language practices
of their peers with those of the academic community.

While some of the female students in my study appeared

ready to balance their slang and posh selves, most of
the students seemed reluctant to embrace the posh
language and literacy practices of the academic
community and to display academic knowledge.

This may well be a hangover from schooling, in which

students learn to balance (or not) popularity and high
academic achievement to avoid the risk of being
ostracized (Frosh et al. 2002; Jackson 2006; Francis 2009);
as such, it seems related to life stage, gender and popular
culture.
21

Summary of
Characteristics

Slang is ephemeral
Sometimes a new slang form either
replaces an earlier one or provides
another synonym for a notion already
named in slang
Sometimes new slang extends to new
areas of meaning or to areas of meaning
of recent interest to the group inventing
the slang
Some slang terms come back for a
second and third life
22

Insights on Slang (Iordanidou &

Anroutsopoulos 2001)

1.

2.

3.
4.

5.
.

Main ideas:
Interrelation between lexical innovation and
grammaticalisation processes
Mostly lexical items and certain discourse items (terms
of address, formulaic expressions, discourse markers)
Slang research not ideally conducted via questionnaires
Relation to adolescent networks and particular
subcultures
Distinction between youth specific slang-items from
general slang ones remains vague (Cf. Adams 2009)
Corpus of 2,000 words (face-to-face and mediated
discourse); (1990-1995) recorded conversations,
interviews, informal letters and youth magazines

23

My study (Kailoglou 2010)

1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
9.
10.
11.

Diminutives
Nominal endings
Compound words
Malapropism constructions
Greek and English compounds
Formations based on a new root + usual nominal
endings
Formations based on an existing root + usual
ending,
combined in a new way
Words with obscure meaning
Obscene words about religion and the saints
Formations based on the change of gender
Back slang
24

The Method

25

Three groups with different socio-cultural styles

Invitation by an insider of the group
Ethnographic observation
Recordings took place between 2005-2008 (more than
20hrs)
Analysis of 12 hours of natural speech (4 each group);
video and audio recordings
Three communities of practice (Wenger& Lave 1991,
Wenger 1998, Eckert & McConnell-Ginet 1992, Eckert
2000)

The three groups

Trendy Group: mainstream, 9 persons, male majority, age

22-27, pop music, designer clothes, holidays: Paros &
Mykonos, quest for not being uncritically mainstream
The Parea: alternative/non-mainstream, 15 persons, male
majority, age 27-35, electronica/brit-pop/world music,
mixed clothing style, holidays: Elafonissos & Gavdos,
quest for differentiation from the mainstream,
The Cavemen: alternative/hard-core/non-mainstream, 8
persons, male, rock music, mixed clothing style, holidays:
Gavdos, quest from differentiation from the mainstream

26

The linguistic styles

1.
2.
3.
4.

There are four main aspects which characterise the style

of all three groups:
the construction of new words,
the use of unusual metaphors,
the use of slang, and
the use of taboo language

These are all means for creativity and are inextricably

intertwined
(e.g. Adams 2009:44-45 & 112-113, Eble 1996: 67-68,
Kovezses 2010: 35, Kailoglou forthcoming)
.
Shannon (1992) sees metaphor as a prime instrument for
the creation of novelty, too, and argues that metaphor
confronts one with incongruence which is highly
reminiscent of a typical feature of humour
.

27

The communities of practice

A community of practice is an aggregate of people who

come together around mutual engagement in some common
endeavour. (Wenger& Lave 1991, Wenger 2000, Eckert &
McConnell-Ginet 1992, Eckert 2000)
Stylistic Practice (bricolage)
Bricolage consists of the processes by which people acquire
objects from across social divisions to create new meanings
(Hebdige 1979)
Jocks and Burnouts in Belten High (Eckert 2000)
Co-construction of linguistic and social meanings

28

Signs and their meaning in different

subcultures
Example A. Iron Cross

Example B. Suspenders

29

Signs and their meaning in different subcultures

(continue)
Example C. Army jacket 1

Example D. Army jacket 2

30

Meaning

1.

2.

Signs have meaning as part of a system

Language:
Linguistic meaning (denotatio):
Knackered (tired)
Social meaning (connotatio): (informal,
familiarity)

31

Style and Identity

Social meaning is created in interaction

and stylistic processes making use of
connotational practices
Style is a combination of connotations
End product: Ones Identity
Identity as Distinction (i.e. as opposition
to pre-existing signs and meanings)
The issue of authenticity

32

Central Notions

The approaches to style

Structure Vs Agency
Audience Vs Speaker
Fixed Social Categories Vs Fluid
Formations
Identity Vs Personna
Indexical Processes
Bricolage

33

The study of variation

Correlation
of
Independent
Social
Variables with Dependent Linguistic
Variables
Aims: a) To describe linguistic variation
b) To explain it
A linguistic variable is a linguistic unit (of
any level of linguistic analysis) which
consists of at least two variants.
The occurrence of each variant depends
on linguistic (e.g. the linguistic context)
and/or social (characteristics of the
speaker, social context etc.) conditioning
factors.
Inter-speaker variation Dialect (different
speaker)
Intra-speaker variation Style (different
context)

Social
Variables

Linguistic
Variables

Age

H-dropping

Social Class

Th-fronting

Sex
Ethnicity
etc.

Glottal stops
Quotatives
etc.

Linguistic variation may lead to language

change, but language change cannot
occur without the prior existence of
variation!
34

The first two waves of variation

studies in a glance

The first wave : established broad correlations

between linguistic variables and the
macrosociological categories of socioeconomic
class, sex, class, ethnicity, and age.

The second wave: employed ethnographic

methods to explore the local categories and
configurations that inhabit, or constitute, these
broader categories.

In both waves, variation was seen as marking

social categories.
35

Eckert 2012

Third Wave
(a) variation constitutes a robust social semiotic
system, potentially expressing the full range of
social concerns in a given community;
(b) the meanings of variables are underspecified,
gaining more specific meanings in the context of
styles, and
(c) variation does not simply reflect, but also
constructs, social meaning and hence is a force in
social change.
36

Variation and Style (Eckert

2005)
Variation also emerged as part of a broader
stylistic complex including territory and the
full range of consumptionsuch as
adornment, food and other substance use,
musical tastes that jocks and burnouts
exploit in constructing their mutual
opposition

37

Meaning in Third Wave

stylistic practice:
speakers make social-semiotic moves, reinterpreting variables
and combining and recombining them in a continual process
of bricolage (Hebdige 1984)

This leads to the mutability of indexical signs

Indexicality (Silverstein 1993; 2003)

Indexical Order

Indexical Field (Eckert 2008)

meanings at any particular time constitute an indexical field
(Eckert 2008)a constellation of ideologically linked
meanings, any region of which can be
invoked in context.

38

Distinction

39

Goth or Pirate?

40

Lifestyle in late modernity

A lifestyle can be defined as a more or less

integrated set of practices which an
individual embraces, not only because such
practices fulfil utilitarian needs, but because
they give material form to a particular narrative
of self-identity (Giddens 1991)
the new heroes of consumer culture make
lifestyle a life project and display their
individuality and sense of style in the
particularity of the assemblage of goods,
clothes, practices, experiences, appearance
and bodily dispositions they design together
into a lifestyle. (Featherstone 2007)
41

Lifestyle: why it matters

Nor is it any more legitimate to attempt to explain the

contemporary subcultural scene with a conception that
assumes a homological unity of class-based practices,
particularly one that imposes a hermeneutic seal around
the relationship between musical and stylistic preference
(Bennet 1999:599).
It is common for members of a nebulous neo-tribal
grouping to demonstrate their enthusiasm for a wide
range of musical dance genres (Bennet 2000).
This somewhat paradoxicall expression of widespread
tastes in underground sounds is one tactic by which
liminal youth cultures attempt to accumulate
subcultural capital thereby maintaining distinction from
other, more restrictive (sub-)groups and claiming
authenticity of identity (Muggleton 2000)
42

Weinzierl & Muggleton

2003:7

Authenticity

Language and authenticity; how people lay

claim to authenticity through their speech
Postmodernism: The end of authenticity?
The role of media; subcultures are not authentic
since they are formed inside the media (cf.
Thornton 1995)
Claims to authenticity: Widdicombe and Woofit
(1995) interviewed members of subcultures who
contrasted their deepness and authenticity to
the claimed inauthenticity and shallowness of
others
43

Subculture and late

modernity

The end of subcultures? A) increasingly

fragmented, and B)there can be no authentic
subculture which is media-free (Redhead 1997)
Despite post-modern assertions that hybrid
eclectic styles today make it more problematic for
young people to distinguish between themselves
and other youth cultures (Muggleton 1997:199),
many young people have no such difficulty in
identifying varied nightlife spaces inhabited
by different social groups. (Chatterton and
Hollands 2003)
Moreover, youth cultures are not unified but they
have internal hierarchies (with claims to
authenticity) (Thornton 1995)
44

Distinctions of Taste

distinctions are never simply statements

of equal difference they entail claims to
authority, authenticity and the presumed
inferiority of others (Thornton 1996; cf
Bourdieu 1984))
Cultural hierarchies: authentic vs
phoney; hip vs mainstream;
underground vs the media (Barker
2000)

45

Subcultural Capital (Thornton 1996)

can be objectified in the form of fashionable

haircuts and well-assembled record collections
(full of well-chosen, limited edition white label
twelve inches and the like);
or embodied in the form of being in the know,
using (but not over-using) current slang and
looking as if you were born to perform the latest
dance styles.
Both cultural and subcultural capital put a
premium on the second nature of their
knowledges. Nothing depletes capital more than
the sight of someone trying too hard.
46

Socio-cultural Style and Space

Three main types of nightlife

consumption spaces: mainstream,
residual, and alternative (Chatterton and
Hollands 2003)

1.
2.

3.
47

Athens
Exarheia Square, (Anarchists, Rockers,
Students, Hardcore, Electro)
Kolonaki Square,
(businessmen/businesswomen,
intellectuals, stars, artists, politicians)
Mavili Square (Alternative youth,
Rockers, Students, Hardcore, Electro)

Map of Athens

48

Map: www.athens-greece.us

Alternative and
Mainstream
Alternative: originally a sub-genre of rock (Rock FM 96.9 the

1.
2.
3.
4.

alternative radio of town); extension: what is non-mainstream

Mainstream: Pop music (Greek and foreign, MTV, Radio stations
with hit lists); Urban, hip-hop etc.
Alternative tourism; Alternative cultivations (agriculture)
Socio-cultural terms and subcultural classifications do not have
the same meaning in different societies (e.g alternative, hardcore, goth, emo); Global subcultures are reified differently in
local contexts (Chatterton and Hollands 2003); (cf. Pennycook
2010)
Time lapse: Brit-Pop in the UK mid-1990s, in Greece 2000s
Greece since the 1990s
Introduction of lifestyle magazines had already begun
(late80s): Nitro, Klik, Men etc.
Private TV channels: Mega Channel, Antenna, Star Channel
New radio stations (private)
From a society of need, to a society of consumption (Karakousis 2006)

49

Overview

50

The styles of the 3 groups are characterised by

the use of slang, neologisms, humour and
unusual metaphors
Each of these features can be used to increase
the distance from the conventional/mainstream
Each group chose to use them to a different
degree according to what they perceive to be a
desired level of divergence from the
conventional/mainstream

Examples
Food Stories

(description of a dish of deer leg) (There was a whole leg with the
hair in the hoof staring at you like the old lady. This from the
hoof.)

(Oh, malakas, you are crisps. Crisps. Simply, like that. Of such
quality [you are], crisps.)

(about food) (-Pastrami fucks. What [do you mean] fucks?

Personally, my blood pressure is raised, malakas.)
Taboo language/Swearing

(You look awful, you suffered lead poisoning)

(You have the psycho-synthesis of a transsexual,

malakas)

(Do not breathe again. Never.)

51

Neologisms and Semantic

Innovation

(hese, they are some goat-calves who say Vatatz.)

(Gosh, they are both stupid, re my child. Antifootball-faces that is. They are not human
(commenting on the hosts of a sport show on TV).

(Although we are by definition little men; and the

little man as an animalthis is his phase (his
nature). He is flock-ish, re my child. He cannot avoid
it. And many animals are flock-ish. Whatever the
other little animals do, he does it (too)).
Playing Video Games

(When we say see that, we do not mean for the other one to see
that. We mean I fucked you, did you understand?)

(Because I am Batman!)

(With all these arrows on you, you have become a Christmas tree.
You acquired roots

More Video Games

(You are the worst because you have the look of a cartoon
I fucked you and now Im getting bored, so I will fuck you
again.)

(After that, I shall be sending you to buy me cigarettes

[meaning I shall rule over you]).

(Right, Sir Vomit entered (the game) {meaning someone

who ruins the game).

(Play pistol to do El Paso [meaning Use the pistol so we

shoot together].

53

Watching TV

(We are talking about a schizophrenic size, when it [the boat] is

loaded [with cargo and passengers].)

(The biggest port in the world is Pireas, malakas; because the

ancient [Greeks] had dug the ocean with [their] cosmo-spheres.
Argo [the boat of the Argonauts] was actually a spacecraft,
malakas. And the Golden Fleece, malakas, was dioxide of whats
its name.)

(talking about a woman allegedly innocent) (She looks like she

has swalowed a U-Boat. Where do you see the innocence?)

(about Oprah Winfrey) (Her face is like a mackerel. She hits her
breasts like a baboon. If she was green, she would be Hulk).

54

Slang definition revisited

Dumas and Lighter (1978) criteria seem

to be the most satisfactory approach:
A) lowering formality,
B) indexicalities of familiarity with
specific groups,
C) taboo status, and
D) substitution of conventional synonyms

55

Slang and Authentic

identities

Slang and taboo language is used by all groups

Authenticity is not about fitting nicely in a prefabricated
subcultural label, but about originality expressed in the
degree of distance from the conventional/mainstream (cf.
the posh/slang dichotomy in London)
Slang is a means of authentication (as one of its
indexicalities) and a feature of specific stylistic
constructions
Linguistic originality (incl. slang usages) is related to
subcultural affiliation as authenticity is linked to
subcultural capital and status acquisition
Status acquisition is influenced by the classnessness of
youth club-cultures in late modernity
Slang meaning is linked to lifestyle practices and nightlife
consumption spaces in the construction of personas
56

Selected References:
Adams, M. (2009), Slang: The peoples poetry, Oxford: Oxford University Press
Androutsopoulos, Yannis (1997). (1997). Teenage slang in a comparative perspective. Greek, French, German [in
Greek] Meletes gia tin Elliniki Glossa. 17, 562-576. Thessaloniki: Kyriakides.
Ioardanidou, A. & Androutsopoulos, Y. (2001) Youth slang in Modern Greek, in Georgakopoulou, A. & Spanaki
M. (2001) (eds.), A Reader in Greek Sociolinguistics: Studies in Modern Greek Language, Culture and
Communication, Oxford/Bern: Peter Lang.
Barker, C. (2000), Cultural Studies: Theory and Practice, London: Sage
Chatterton, P. and Hollands, R. (2003), Urban Nightscapes: Youth Cultures, Pleasure Spaces and Corporate Power,
Oxon: Routledge.
Eckert, Penelope and Sally McConnell-Ginet. (1992) Think Practically and Look Locally: Language and Gender as
Community-Based Practice. Annual Review of Anthropology. 21, 461-90. (Reprinted in Camille Roman,
Suzanne Juhasz and Christanne Miller eds. (1994). The Women and Language Debate. New Brunswick:
Rutgers University Press. 432-60).
Eckert, Penelope. (2000) Linguistic variation as social practice: the linguistic construction of identity in Belten
High. Malden, Mass.: Blackwell Publishers
Eckert, Penelope. 2005. Variation, convention, and social meaning. Plenary talk. Linguistic Society of America.
San Francisco.
Featherstone, M. (2007), Consumer Culture and Postmodernism (2nd edn.), London: Sage Publications.
Hebdige, Dick. 1979. Subculture: The Meaning of Style. London: Methuen
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