very informal words and expressions that are more common in spoken language, especially used by a particular group of people, for example, children, criminals, soldiers, etc. 俚语 teenage slang 青少年俚语 a slang word/expression/term 俚语
Culture slangslangSlang words are very informal words. They may be new, or existing words used in a new sense and context. As time goes by, some are used more widely and are no longer thought of as slang. Clever and naughty, for instance, were both originally slang words that are now accepted as standard. Many slang words die out after a few years or sooner. The regular introduction of new words to replace them helps keep the language alive.A lot of slang words are used only by a particular social group. Use of slang suggests an easy, informal relationship between people and helps to make social identity stronger. In the 18th century the word slang described the language of criminals, but since then every group in society has developed its own slang terms. Young people also develop slang expressions to show that they are different from older people.The street language of young people changes fast. Street slang includes words relating to young people's attitudes. Young people today may describe something attractive or exciting as bangin', sick, lit or lush. Something that is not very interesting or exciting is meh. A good-looking person is buff and a muscular man is hench. Anything bad is gross or minging. If someone makes a fool of you, you've been owned. Having a good time with friends is referred to as chilling and music is often referred to as tunes. As people get older they sometimes keep on using the same slang words and in this way slang may indicate a person's age. The parents of today's young people used cool, ace and wicked to describe something good, and lame, sad or naff to describe someone or something they disliked, and many of them still use these words. When older people try to use current street slang, it often sounds odd.A lot of street slang refers to drink, drugs and sex. Many of these words and phrases are not socially acceptable and are widely considered rude and offensive. The expressions pissed, hammered and shit-faced relate to being drunk. There are many expressions for vomiting (= bringing food and drink back up through the mouth), for example, vom, chunder or barf. Slang words for drugs include smack (heroin), E (= ecstasy) and coke (cocaine). Expressions connected with drug-taking include chasing the dragon (= smoking heroin in tinfoil), doing a line (= sniffing cocaine through the nose) and jacking/shooting up (= injecting drugs). The film Trainspotting helped to make some of these terms more widely known. Shagging, screwing and banging all refer to sex. Other common slang expressions refer to the body's waste functions, for example, piss, go for a slash, have a shit and take a dump. Some words, such as fuck and shit, are frequently used swear words but they are still likely to offend many people.Many slang words are used in text messaging and social media. Common abbreviations used in messaging include AFAIK (= as far as I know), BTW (= by the way), IMO (= in my opinion), LOL (= laughing out loud), OMG (= oh my God) and WTF (= what the fuck). Other words and experessions are made shorter in a different way, for example, totes (= totally) and I can't even (= I can't even speak because I'm so shocked or surprised). Your bae is your boyfriend or girlfriend, or any very close friend. A troll is someone who writes negative comments on a social media website in order to make people react. Some professions and areas of work have their own terms, often called jargon, which are different from slang. Many people learn bits of the jargon of other groups through television programmes and films about hospitals, law courts, prisons, etc. Some of the jargon that was originally used only by people who work with computers is now considered standard English. Most people know, for instance, that a hacker is somebody who gets into other people's computer systems without permission.Extra ExamplesTopics Languageb2‘Ruby Murray’ is rhyming slang for ‘curry’. Ruby Murray 是curry 的同韵俚语。 ‘Woofy’ is slang for ‘good-looking’. woofy 是 good-looking 的俚语。 The gang members use street slang. 黑帮成员使用街头流行的俚语。 cockney rhyming slang 伦敦东区的同韵俚语 military slang 军队俚语
Oxford Collocations Dictionaryadjective- current
- modern
- common
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- use
- expression
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- in slang
- slang for
Word Originmid 18th cent.: of unknown origin.