ebook | Publisher: A & C Black Publishers Ltd | Lang: Eng | Type: PDF | 510 Pages | Size: 11 Mb
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Slang derives much of its power from the fact that it is clandestine,forbidden or generally disapproved of. So what happens once it is
accepted, even in some cases embraced and promoted by‘mainstream’ society? Not long ago the Oxford English Dictionary
characterised slang as ‘low and disreputable’; in the late 1970s thepioneering sociolinguist Michael Halliday used the phrase
‘anti-language’ in his study of the speech of criminals andmarginals. For him, theirs was an interestingly ‘pathological’ form
of language. The first description now sounds quaintly outmoded,
while the second could be applied to street gangs – today’s posses,massives or sets – and their secret codes. Both, however, involve
value judgements which are essentially social and not linguistic.Attitudes to the use of language have changed profoundly over the
last three decades, and the perceived boundaries between‘standard’ and ‘unorthodox’ are becoming increasingly ‘fuzzy’.
accepted, even in some cases embraced and promoted by‘mainstream’ society? Not long ago the Oxford English Dictionary
characterised slang as ‘low and disreputable’; in the late 1970s thepioneering sociolinguist Michael Halliday used the phrase
‘anti-language’ in his study of the speech of criminals andmarginals. For him, theirs was an interestingly ‘pathological’ form
of language. The first description now sounds quaintly outmoded,
while the second could be applied to street gangs – today’s posses,massives or sets – and their secret codes. Both, however, involve
value judgements which are essentially social and not linguistic.Attitudes to the use of language have changed profoundly over the
last three decades, and the perceived boundaries between‘standard’ and ‘unorthodox’ are becoming increasingly ‘fuzzy’.