Why do people use slang, and how are slang terms created?
By Paul Baker p.baker@lancaster.ac.uk Slang is one of the most creative forms of language in existence. Many slang terms originate within small social groups of speakers and gradually spread out to the wider population. Many innovative slang terms are created by young people, and are connected to various fashions or interests that are shared by social groups. The media (newspapers, television and the internet) help to spread slang terms. However, once a slang term is known to lots of people, it has usually lost the qualities that made it so attractive in the first place – its exclusivity and way of marking its users as different from everyone else. Therefore, slang words have a very high turn-over – groups of slang users constantly need to invent slang terms as the old ones are discovered and appropriated by a wider audience. Slang is very similar to fashion. Successful slang words usually have something unusual about them, which will make people notice, remember and reuse it. Rhyming
