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Theoretical Framework 

 

Slang 

 

Slang is something that everybody can recognize but nobody can define. The literal meaning 

of slang according to the Oxford dictionary is a type of language consisting of words and phrases that 

are regarded as very informal, are more common in speech than writing, and are typically restricted to 

a particular context or group of people. Finegan (2008) said that slang is particularly popular among 

teenagers and college students in general. Akmajian et al (1998) also added that slang has some salient 

features, first slang is part of casual informal styles of language use, second slang is like fashions in 

clothing and popular music, changes quite rapidly, third specific areas of slang are often associated 

with a particular social group, and hence one can speak of teenage slang, underworld (criminal) slang, 

the slang of the drug culture and so on. 

 

The speaker uses slang in order to achieve social dynamics with the people to whom he/she is 

speaking and slang outlines social spaces, and attitudes towards slang helps identify and construct 

social groups and identity (Adams, 2009:57). It means that when someone uses slang, she/he exposes 

ideas, feeling, attitude as how she/he wants to perceive the people that talk to and how she/he wants 

those people to perceive her/him, to infer what she/he means. Adams believe that slang can just as 

well be playful and a joking way of rebelling against standard language to mark the difference 

between e.g. parents and children (in-crowd versus out-crowd), but the children do not necessarily 

have wicked intentions with the use of slang. He also mentions that slang is not slang until someone 

recognizes it to be slang (Adams, 2009:62). It means that the addressee must be able to recognize the 

speaker’s intent and to determine that what they are hearing is slang. 

 

Slang is probably the most famous register if compared with jargon or argot. The different 

function between slang and jargon is that slang is used to show speaker’s attitude while jargon is used 

by speakers and addressee who have the same profession in communicating about their profession for 

example two doctors in hospital talking in medical terms. Meanwhile, argot is a type of secret or code 

language because it is used to hide speaker’s intention. 

 

 

Table 1 Slang expression used by college student in 2013 from urbandictionary.com