Slang as a part of Spoken English

Some people complain that rhyming slang is spoken to give the Cockneys an unfair advantage over strangers. In fact, it is really hard to understand a man or a woman who asks one where “dog and bones” is. If one does not know anything about rhyming slang, s/he will not even imagine that s/he is asked about the telephone. [33, 152]

Since a lot of immigrants to Australia during the period from 1815 to 1861 were from London, most of them were obviously the Cockneys. Still Australians speak a very interesting and complicated slang- rhyming slang whose rhyming part is dropped. Moreover, they have a system of slang words and phrases, which have no resemblance with normal English or American slang, and which are really hard to understand without a special guide dictionary. (Appendix 2) [10, 17]

Polari (also seen as 'Palare') is a gay slang language, which has now almost died out.

Gay slang in Britain dates back to the involvement of the homosexual subculture with the criminal "underworld". The homosexual subculture of the Eighteenth Century mixed with the gypsies, tramps & thieves of popular song to produce a rich cross-fertilization of customs, phrases and traditions. As the Industrial revolution dramatically changed settlement patterns, more and more people drifted away from villages and small communities and moved to larger towns in search of work and opportunity. In these larger urban locations, the scope for the development of communities of outcasts substantially increased. The growth of molly houses (private spaces for men to meet, drink, have sex together and practice communal rituals) encouraged the creation of a molly identity. A linguistic culture developed, feeding into that profession traditionally associated with poofs and whores: theatre. [3, 87]

Polari itself was never clearly defined: an ever-changing collection of slang from various sources including Italian, English (backwards slang, rhyming slang), circus slang, and Yiddish and Gypsy languages. It is impossible to tell which slang words are real Polari.

Linguists still argue about where it came from. The larger part of its vocabulary is certainly Italian in origin, but nobody seems to know how the words got into Britain. Some experts say its origins lie in the lingua franca of the shores of the Mediterranean, a pidgin in use in the Middle Ages and afterwards as a medium of communication between sailors and traders from widely different language groups, the core of this language being Italian and Occitan. Quite a number of British sailors learnt the lingua franca. On returning home and retiring from the sea it is supposed that many of them became vagabonds or travelers, because they had no other means of livelihood; this threw them into contact with roving groups of entertainers and fairground people, who picked up some of the pidgin terms and incorporated them into their own canting private vocabularies. [4, 164]

However, other linguists point to the substantial number of native Italians who came to Britain as entertainers in the early part of the nineteenth century, especially the Punch and Judy showmen, organ grinders and peddlers of the 1840s. Much of parlarey, the traveling showmen's language, appears to be derived from the lingua franca or the vocabulary of traveling actors and showmen during the Eighteenth and Nineteenth Centuries. Specifically theatrical Palare included phrases such as joggering omee (street musician), slang a dolly to the edge (to show and work a marionette on a small platform outside the performance booth in order to attract an audience) and climb the slanging-tree (perform onstage). Nanty dinarly (having no money) also had a peculiarly theatrical translation in the phrase "There's no treasury today, the ghost doesn't walk." [19, 10]

The disappearance of large numbers of traveling costermongers and cheapjacks by the early twentieth century effectively denied the language its breathing space. As many of the traveling entertainers moved sideways into traveling circus, so the language moved with them, kept alive as a living and changing language within circus culture.

By the mid-twentieth century, there had also been a cross-over to a recognizably gay form of slang, with polari used by the gay community to communicate in code in elaborate forms. Words such as trade and ecaf (back slang for face, shortened to eek) became part of gay subculture. Blagging trade (picking up sexual partners), zhoosing your riah (doing your hair), trolling to a bijou bar (stepping into a gay club) and dishing the dirt (recounting gossip) all became popular coded phrases to describe and encode an emerging homosexual lifestyle. By the 1950's, with secret homosexual clubs emerging in swinging London and the Wolfenden Committee discussing the possibility of law reform around (homo) sexuality, it seems appropriate that Polari should raise its irreverent head.

Polari became an appropriate tool with which to confuse and confound the naff omees (straight men). It traveled the world via the sea queens, who incorporated navy slang into a new version of the language and also accommodated local dialects and phrases. [3, 201]

Polari, as the language came to be known was a collection of words, which when strung together by those most proficient at it, were incomprehensible to those who didn't understand it. (Appendix 3) It was mainly used for conversations that were high in gay "content", so if you wanted to point out to your friend that the man on the tube train next to you seemed to be particularly well-developed in the "menswear" department, you could say "vada the bona cartes on the ommee ajax" and your friend would know what you meant. If the man with the big "cartes" was also gay, he'd know what you were talking about too, and Polari would serve as an "introduction" which could lead to "other things".

Because Polari died out in the 1960s when the Wolfenden Report legalized homosexuality (to an extent) in England, the only people who remember it tend to be distinguished older gentlemen Polari has almost vanished from gay circles. Mention it now and you'll more likely than not to get a blank look, especially from anyone under 30. And those who do profess to have heard of it are likely to only know a handful of words. [24, 9]

Finally, there emerges a question, which really seems to be disputable: What is the point of calling the Cockney language “Rhyming slang” if the rhyming part is practically not used? Or, why there should be a separate language for gays, if they, nowadays, have no need to encode their speaking (with acquiring equal rights), and therefore they do not need this language. This fact makes these languages extinct. Perhaps, these languages will come into an ordinary slang vocabulary some day and lose their original value (as being rhyming or gay slang). But as long as these languages have not vanished completely yet, one should be aware of them too in case s/he comes across them, for they are also types of slang, and the knowledge of any slang words promotes the development of one's linguistic competence too, what again proves the hypothesis suggested.

Review on Chapter I

In the course of analyzing the theoretical material on the topic the following facts about slang have been discovered:

Slang is understood as a language of a high colloquial type, below the level of standard educated speech and consisting either of new words or of current words employed in some special sense.

There are two types of attitude toward slang singled out: 1) Slang is believed to be stupid and vulgar because it occurs in informal conversation, accompanied by grammatical errors; 2) The reasonable use of slang promotes lively speaking it keeps the language fresh and alive.

Slang is said to have originated mostly in subcultures of occupational and professional groups. Teenagers, criminals and uneducated people also play a great role in creating and maintaining slang.

Since slang is a part of spoken English, it diffuses verbally, and not only via real communication but also via television and even the Internet

There are two classifications identifying the place of slang: 1) cant, jargon and argot together make special slang. There is also general slang, which is not restricted to any particular professional group; 2) slang, jargon, argot and cant together make a group of social dialects. All of them are regarded as independent. Colloquialisms have no place in either of these classifications. It is quite a different phenomenon and should be differentiated from slang.

Slang expressions arise in the same ways that other words come into being. Slang words can be presented in different forms: old words used in new meanings, clipped or lengthened words, metaphors and metonymies, acronyms, coinages, blends and rhyming slang.

Slang can be regarded not only from the lexical point of view as a particular vocabulary typical of Spoken English; it can be viewed phonetically, orthographically and grammatically. These can be standard words applied with some phonetic, orthographic or grammatical alterations, what brings to the utterance some slangy coloring, expressiveness and freshness.

There are two languages that are also said to belong to slang: rhyming slang - the language of the Cockneys, Polari - the language of gay men. But they are said to be extinct because rhyming slang has almost lost its rhyming slang and there seems to be no ground to call this language rhyming; gays now have no need to encode their speaking (with acquiring equal rights), and therefore they do not need this language.

Chapter II. Practical significance of slang

2.1 The use of slang units in literature, songs, movies and Internet

Literary works, songs, movies and even Internet can serve as a source of slang: an author, a singer or a speaker while describing something, creates a new word or uses an existing one in some new meaning; and then readers, TV spectators or Internet users begin using this word in their speech. Thus it can become a slang item and then even get a standard status. But users of slang basically use it to create some specific and fresh tone in their description or speaking. The aim of the analysis described below is to present the most typical examples and situations where slang can be revealed and how it can be applied; and to prove the hypothesis, i.e. that it is very hard to figure out author's intentions and ideas, if one does not know slang.

For this analysis different sources are selected: literary works, songs, movies and Internet.

Among literary works the following ones were analyzed:

“The Catcher in the Rye” by JD Salinger;

“A Patchwork Planet” by Anne Tyler;

“Rachel's Holiday” by Marian Keyes;

In “The Catcher in the Rye” Salinger writes about a teenager Holden Caufield and his relations with his parents and friends. Moreover, the story of Holden is told on behalf of Holden himself, which helps a reader to see what language this character uses to reveal his thoughts and act out his feelings. Holden's speech is characterized by a unique colloquial tone achieved by the use of slang and colloquial expressions.

Holden is a very interesting teenager with an unusual way of thinking and outlook. Sometimes it is hard to understand him when he uses normal words, but when he uses some slangy words it causes some greater difficulty to understand his thoughts, although some of these slang expressions have already become standard ones.

It is very noticeable that Holden's speech is full of epithets when he evaluates something or somebody. These epithets sound very slangy. For example: phony -“ëèïîâûé” (phony bastard, phony smile, phony girls); lousy- “ïîãàíûé, äåðüìîâûé, âøèâûé” (lousy childhood, lousy personality, lousy teeth, lousy movie); crumby or corny- “áåñïàíòîâûé, ñòðåìíûé” (crumby old razor, crumby nails, corny shoes, corny jokes).

“Get your lousy knees off my chest!” I told him.”Go on, get off me, ya crumby bastard”.

“She kept saying these very corny, boring things, like calling the can the “little girls' room”.

These evaluative slangy epithets sound rough and rude but nevertheless they help a reader to understand when Holden disapproves of something. Such slang expressions as “to shoot the bull”, “to chew the rag”, “to chew the fat”, “to shoot the crap”, “to shoot the breeze” have their Russian slang equivalents and are translated as “áàëàáîëèòü, òðåïàòü ÿçûêîì”. Judging by Russian equivalents these slang expressions can be understood as those meaning “to lie” but this meaning is hidden in other slang items. For example: “to snow somebody” (çàáàëòûâàòü, çàïóäðèâàòü ìîçãè), “to chuck” (çàëèâàòü, âåøàòü ëàïøó íà óøè), “to give a lot of horse manure about…” (âòèðàòü, ïèíàòü ïî óøàì, ïðèñåäàòü íà óøè). By the way speaking about “horses” some expressions with this word can be singled out: “to horse around” is understood as “äóðà÷èòüñÿ, âàëÿòü äóðàêà, ïàÿñíè÷àòü” in the following sentence:

“Sometimes I horse around just to keep from getting bored”

But the phrase “to horse around with…” in the sentence:” You shouldn't horse around with her at all” obviously means “çàâèñàòü ñ…, òóñîâàòüñÿ ñ…, óãàðàòü ñ…”. This meaning also can be found in such phrase as “to hang around” and “to hang out”.

“Take it easy!” does not mean only “Don't worry!” but also “So long!” (Ïîêà! Äàâàé!) when somebody is leaving. Moreover this somebody does not just “leave” but “clears the hell out” or “beats it”, which is understood as “ ñìûòüñÿ, ñâàëèòü èëè ïðîñòî óéòè”.

“Stink” or “to stink” in different contexts have different meanings. For example : “to stink something up” means “çàïîðîòü, çàïàðòà÷èòü, èñïîðòèòü” but “to make a big stink” means “ çàêàòèòü ñêàíäàë, ðàçâîíÿòüñÿ”.

The meaning of “thing” ( as an abstract notion) is presented by the following slang items: job - junk - stuff - crap, where “job” is the most is the most innocent and “crap”- the rudest.

For example:

“They were these little hard, dry jobs you could hardly even cut”

“That kind of junk is sort of fascination”

“That stuff bores me”

or “ I had to sit there and listen to that crap”

As it has been already mentioned “lousy” means something bad and is mostly used in a rude sense, but “to be lousy with something” means “to have a lot of something”. For example: “He is lousy with money” -“ó íåãî óéìà äåíåã, ó íåãî äåíåã êóðû íå êëþþò”.

Speaking about money this word almost does not emerge in Holden's speech, he mostly says “dough” (áàáêè, êàïóñòà, êîïåéêè, ëàâý).

If one hears Holden say : “I've never given it to anybody but Ackley sometimes gets some old bag, then he starts giving her a feel and necking her knockers and then he gives her the time”, it is very hard to see what he is talking about, but thanks to a knowledge of slang his language is not that complicated. Making a profound study it is evident that “to give it” or “to give the time” means “ to have sexual intercourse”, “ to neck” means “ to kiss”, “knockers” stand for “ breasts”, “to give a feel” denotes “to touch” (ùóïàòü) and at last “ an old bag” means “ a woman” ( áóêâ. Ñòàðàÿ êîøåëêà).

So “a bag” does not always mean “a sack” but “a sack” does not necessarily denote “a bag”. For example: “Nobody was around anyway. Everybody was in the sack”

Here “to be in the sack” stands for “to sleep” ( äðûõíóòü).

Since “knockers” as parts of an “old bag's” body have ben mentioned, it is necessity to mention “a can”, which stands for “butt” or “ass”. But if a reader gets at such sentence as: “It was steamy in the can.” Or “I walked around the can” or “I went to the can to wash up”, he will probably think that it has something to do with “butt”. But it is wrong. “Can” is used here in the sense of “bathroom”. Thus a reader should bear in mind that there can be slang homonyms.

When Holden speaks about “a booze hound”, who “boozes” and gets “crocked”, he talks about an alcoholic, who drinks a lot and then gets drunk.

Although Holden's language is difficult to perceive, what is typical of teenagers' language, a reader can easily understand him, if he has a good command of slang. [29, 3-287]

Another literary work “A Patchwork Planet” by Anne Tyler has been written in the XXI century. Thus the “freshest” slang items may be traced here. In comparison with “The Catcher in the Rye” told on behalf of Holden, a teenager, “A Patchwork Planet” is narrated on behalf of Barnaby, who is about 30-35 years old. However, despite the age of the main character, slang phrases can be found in his speech.

Many slang examples with “hang” were figured out in “The Catcher in the Rye”, here in “A Patchwork Planet” a reader can find no less ones. For example: “to hang around” also means here “òóñîâàòüñÿ, óãàðàòü, øàòàòüñÿ áåç äåëà”. The same meaning is found in the slang expression “to goof around”. “You'd better do some more serious stuff instead of hanging and goofing around”

“Hang up” is a core component in some slang expressions. For example: “to be hung up on somebody or something” stands for “çàöèêëèòüñÿ íà êîì-ëèáî èëè ÷åì-ëèáî”; “to hang up on somebody” means “ ïðèñòàòü, ïðèëèïíóòü ê êîìó-ëèáî” but “to hang up on somebody” also stands for “ áðîñèòü òðóáêó”- for example: “You hung up on me! Why?”

“Booze”, which was once singled out in “The Catcher in the Rye” also means here “alcohol drink” (ïóçûðü); and “to booze”, therefore is understood as “áóõàòü, ëå÷èòü ãëàíäû”. People, who like to booze, tend to pay a visit to somebody, but this sounds very conventionally, they do not visit but “drop up to somebody”, which is understood as “çàâàëèòüñÿ ê êîìó-ëèáî”.

As it is obvious, many slang expressions in “A Patchwork Planet” reflect relations between people and their attitude to somebody or something. For example, among such slang items expressing relations one can find the following expressions: “to hook up with somebody”- “ñâÿçàòüñÿ, ñïóòàòüñÿ ñ êåì-ëèáî”; “to stand somebody up” - “ïðåäàòü, îáìàíóòü êîãî-ëèáî”; “to pick somebody up” -“ïîäöåïèòü êîãî-ëèáî”.

Speaking about expressions reflecting people's attitudes one can single out “sharp!” (“Wow! Sharp!”), which is understood as “Cool!” - “Êðóòî!”, or if one finds a sentence where Barnaby says: “That's tough”, it is obvious that it stands for “Äà…ñòðåìíî”.

If one heard Barnaby say: “I stashed my money but somebody swiped it”, it would be probably clear that “to stash” means “to hide” - “çàíûêàòü, ïðèïðÿòàòü”, and “to swipe” stands for “ñòàùèòü, ñòèáðèòü”. [1, 5-227]

Less slang expressions are traced in “Rachel's Holiday” by Marian Keyes- about 120-130 units. The main character of the work is a twenty-seven-year-old Rachel Walsh. Rachel desperately tries to find a soul mate to love…but her only drawback is that she is some sort of “junkie” (drug addict). Here to watch a love story is as possible as to watch a life of a “junkie”. “Rachel's Holiday” combines two points: 1) Love is a serious thing and it does not admit such a language as slang, it needs a more elevated and poetical language; 2) The world of drugs is a good sphere for development and use of slang. Thus, here two opposite points fight, what caused almost a 50/50 outcome.

So it is obvious from the description that Rachel is a “junkie”, which stands for “drug addict” (íàðêîøà). Moreover “drugs” in slang can be substituted by “hash” (òðàâêà).

“Anna, who'd never had a real job, sometimes sold hash to make ends meet.”

“She is not a goody-goody. Just because she's not a, a…junkie who can't get a job and whose husband leaves her…unlike some”, he finished.

“Paul was obviously referring to Claire, who managed to get hitched by her husband on the same day that she gave birth to their first child”

In the last example “to hitch” stands for “to abandon” (êèíóòü). Maybe for somebody “getting hitched” is `no big banana” or maybe it really “pisses one off”. Here it is apparent that “no big banana” means “no big problem”, while “to piss somebody off” is a substitute for “to get on one's nerves. These two slang phrases can be figured out in the following examples:

“I had a toothache, that's all, no big banana”.

“No. She is a fine, big, tall girl. You know, strong”, they said. I was always described as strong. It really pissed me off.

“Hey there” stands for “Hi” though it may sound a little impudent. The same meaning is revealed in “What's up?” Both should be used when addressing a very close person.

“Hey there, girl!”

“Yo, girlfriend, what's up?”

But “get lost” should not be mistaken here for “go away”. In the following example it is obvious that it means “you are kidding” (íå ãîíè, ãîíèøü). The phrase can be applied when expressing one's disbelief.

“-Because he's a gay”

“- Get lost!”

“To sack” in “Rachel's Holiday also means “to get somebody lost” in other words “to fire” “I'm so embarrassed! What will they think? They'll sack me for this, you know”.

No one will “sack” anyone unless s/he does some “crap” or “screws something up”, of course. In the examples suggested below it is apparent that “crap” means something unbearable, which can be also replaced by “shit”, and “to screw something up” means “to make something worse” or “spoil”.

“No more! I can't bear it; it's all such, such…crap!”

“Let this be a lesson to you. The next time you meet a man as sexy as Luke Costello, maybe you won't screw it up”

“Yeah, I knoo, I knoo ya when ya got in, and kept lookin' atcha but couldn't remember from where”.

Here one can see a text-messaging slang, which graphically imitates one's speaking; it expresses the speaker's speech just the way he delivers it. The extract given above regularly can be rendered as following: “Yeah, I knew, I knew you when you got in, and kept looking at you, but couldn't remember from where” [18, 5-482]

Even though slang is a speech phenomenon and is used mostly in Spoken English, and even though it found its place in literary works (mostly in dialogues), it does not necessarily mean that slang cannot be found in songs. Songs are also a good means in spreading of slang. Thus when hearing a song containing slang units, an English learner can include them in his/her active vocabulary and then recognize them when watching a movie or talking to somebody; or use them when producing his/her own speaking. This brings to the conversation some informal and relaxing spirit; it pushes off traditional and limited character of a common talk.

Of course most songs are about love and mostly a romantic and elevated language full of serious things is used here, and it seems that there is no place for slang in them. But slang is a fast-running thing trying to find any way to come into notice.

Mostly producers of songs apply slang in their works to also establish an easy atmosphere. Sometimes slang words are used in songs because they perfectly fit into a verse line without destroying or altering the meaning of the whole, thereby remaining a rhythmic tempo and rhyming tone. In other cases slang is used because it accurately reveals ideas of a song and because no other words can express these ideas. Sometimes slang is applied in songs in imitating something like a conversation, i.e. when a duo-song is performed or when a solo-singer reveals the ideas in such a way that reminds of talking to someone.

Of course context or the plot of songs must be of major importance. Most songs, as it has already been mentioned, are about love, but it does not always mean that they can not contain slang words. The question is what love is the subject of a song. Mostly it is unshared love. And when being frustrated a hero, on whose behalf a song is sung, can not find suitable words to blame himself or damn everything that put him in this state. Speaking about emotions, it is mostly some negative spirit which is found in the cases of slang in songs, i.e. it is mostly applied when a negative attitude toward something is expressed. It can be again unshared love, it can be jealousy it can be envy, it can be anything that is difficult to express by means of simple words. In many songs slang is used in its rude meaning, the so-called vulgar slang. It intensifies the negative meaning and atmosphere of a song or a verse. Of course this may be considered silly to suggest listening to such songs and selecting vulgar slang words, but it is not necessary to use them in one's speech but at least it helps to recognize and identify them when seeing or hearing them, because knowledge of any slang words is of much importance in the development of one's linguistic competence.

For the analysis of the use of slang in songs different pop songs were selected. In the course of research work various slang unites were figured out but also some grammar, sound and syntax deviations, which together make text-messaging slang. All this again has a slangy meaning and brings informal character to the verse.

For example in “walking away” performed by Craig David “coz” is employed instead of “because” “coz I saw them with my own eyes” This is due to its ability to fluently link this verse with the preceding one. As a result the two lines flow smoothly non-stop. “Because” is not always substituted by “coz”, it can take different forms, but all of them are pronounced in the same manner and no differences are distinguished. “Because” can take its form as “'cause”, “cus” and “cuz”. A lot of these because-forms were figured out in songs.

“So hold you close to set you free

Coz I just wanna see you smile again” (“Talk to Me” by Smash)

“There must be another way

Cause I believe in taking chances” (“Overprotected” by Britney Spears)

“And if it's good let's just make something cooking

Cus I really wanna rock with you” (“Superstar” by Jamelia)

“And I don't really know what to do

Cuz I've got a thing about you” (”A thing about you” by Roxette)

All these because-forms, as it has been said, are applied in verses as a linking component between two verse lines making a song go easy. Besides they keep the rhyming and rhythmic effect better than the whole “because” would.

Among other deviations found in songs and characterizing slang one may point out the use of “wanna”, which serves as a substitute for “want to”. It proved to be a very popular form in songs. Such forms as “gonna' (=going to) and “gotta” (=have got to) have the same ability of fitting the best into a verse line. They also do not alter the meaning of the whole verse line but on the contrary they serve as a linking element between the words.

“Some people don't wanna compromise “

or “and well I don't wanna live and lie too many sleepless nights”

(“Walking Away” by Craig David)

“Is the love I gave her in the past

Gonna be enough to last

If tomorrow never comes?”

(“If Tomorrow never comes” by Ronan Keating)

“You gotta tell me what you need from me

So hold you close so set you free” (“Talk to Me” by Smash)

“I'm gonna wake up, yes and no

I'm gonna kiss some part of

I'm gonna keep this secret

I'm gonna close my body now”

(“Die Another Day” by Madonna)

“Ain't” was also distinguished among grammatical characteristics of slang. This form may stand for “am not”, “isn't” and “aren't”. The aim of the use of “ain't” is the same as that of “cos”, “wanna” and “gonna”. But this form as considerably rare:

“I ain't gonna hold out either

I'ma give it all to you baby”

(“I know what you want” by Mariah Carey)

My loneliness ain't killing me no more

I'm stronger” (“Stronger” by Britney Spears)

“That was a different thing

No it ain't” (“Shut Up” by Black Eyed Peas)

All the forms described above, as it has been said, are characterized as slangy. And it is not a single example where these slangy forms can be revealed. They also can be found in movies and literature, though considerably less, but they are popular in songs due to their ability to make a song sound more easy and fluent.

The verses suggested above show good examples where slang forms can be revealed and how to use them. And these forms are not necessarily to be used in text messaging, i.e. to be used only while printing, they can successfully be applied in Spoken language making one's speech flow smoothly and uninterrupted.

But all the examples described above are slang examples regarded from the grammatical and orthographical point of view. As for the sheer lexical slang units they are used comparatively less in songs, apart from dirty slang, or vulgar slang. Dirty slang emotionally expresses a negative attitude toward something. Such songs containing vulgar slang words sound more expressive than if these words were substituted by stylistically neutral words. Among such songs the songs performed by Eminem abound in vulgar slang units a lot. Ordinary slang words reflecting almost no negative or rude attitude also find their expression in songs, though less in number.

When somebody refuses doing something or is reluctant to do something s/he may express her/his unwillingness by the slang expression “no way”. This expression was also figured out in songs when studying them:

“I'm falling apart in your hands again

No way

I've got to get away” (“Objection” by Shakira)

“If he'd told me, one day

That somebody'd have my heart in chains

Would I believe, no way

Made up my mind I'd never fall that way”

(“My Father's Son” by Rondor Music)

In these two cases the expression “no way” really fits the verse line and, besides, it carries out its function - to express unwillingness and to retain the rhyme. Sometimes slang words are used not only to0 perform a rhyming function but also to avoid repetition. This is where synonyms are required. Thus, for example, “relax” can be replaced by such slang synonyms as “chill out”, “lay back” and “laugh out” like in the song “Complicated”:

“Chill out, what you are yelling for?

Lay back, it's all been done before…

Laugh out, when you strike a pose

Take off all your preppy clothes”

(“Complicated” by Avril Lavigne)

All these three slang synonyms contain the same number of syllables and thus, again, they perfectly fit the verse line. Besides the use of them helped to avoid the use of a simple verb “relax”, which might be applied several times within one song. These verbs also possess some informal spirit appropriate in spoken situations. This is due to the fact that these lines suggested above resemble somebody addressing another person and it looks like speaking to someone. That is why these slang words can be selected by English learners and applied in corresponding situations.

It is apparently noticeable that all songs suggested above mostly contain text-messaging slang, the one applied when typing than when speaking. Lexical slang units expressing neutral attitude rarely emerge in pop songs.

Vulgar slang or dirty English has also gained its place in songs, particularly in rap songs. To display the use of vulgar slang rap songs performed by Eminem are selected. Such songs sound very expressive and inferior. A great number of vulgar slang words or slang words in general, in rap songs is caused by the fact that they are extremely resemble one's speaking . Perhaps because rap songs do not follow the rules of rhyme and tone a lot, as a result the lines go like one's talk - without apparent rhyme and great timbre variations.

The most popular vulgar slang units in Eminem's rap songs are “shit”, “ass” and “fuck” (and its derivatives). These are the words which function in his songs in different meanings. “Shit” mostly means “thing” as an abstract notion, which may be easily substituted by “stuff”. For example this meaning is expressed by “shit” in the following verses:

“You know what I'm saying, cause they don't

know shit about this” (“Infinite” by Eminem)

“I got them open like marijuana smoke up in your nose

Bucking these hoes, I got that shit down to a science”…

... “You want your shit to blow up?

Well I'ma stuff some dynamite in your ass crack

And blast that shit to kingdom come”

(“313” by Eminem)

In the last verse “shit” means “shit”, while the second “shit” again means “stuff” or “thing”. “Shit” also can stand for something bad in general, i.e. “to do shit” would mean “to do nasty things”. This meaning is revealed in the following verse:

“I've seen it turn beautiful people rude and deceitful

And make them do shit illegal” (“It's OK” by Eminem)

A compound “bullshit” does not mean “shit of a bull” but “lie”, “nonsense” or “absurd”:

“So stop that bullshit and flow

Yo, you need to come with the real skills, and

act like you know” (“313” by Eminem)

“Fuck” may not serve any syntactical function in the sentence but it serves to intensity Eminem's emotional attitude to what he is singing, actually talking, about:

“Inebriated, till my stress is elevated

How is the fuck can Eminem and shady be related?”…

“If you hear a man that sounds like me

smack him

and ask him where the fuck did he get this damn raps from.”

(“Low .Down. Dirty” by Eminem)

The derivatives of “fuck” such as “fucking” or “motherfucking” are also applied for emotional expression.

“Oh yeah, this is Eminem baby, back up in that motherfucking ass

One time your motherfucking mind, we represent the 313”

(“Infinite” by Eminem)

“Dumpin' your dead body inside of a fucking trash can

with more holes than Afgan” (“Just Don't Give a Fuck” by Eminem)

The phrase “I just don't give a fuck” stands for “I don't care”. But the first sounds more impressive than if it were just “I don't care”:

“But see me on the street and duck

cause you gon' get stuck, stoned, and snuffed

cause I just don't give a fuck”

(“Just Don't Give a Fuck” by Eminem)

When Eminem says “your ass” it means “you”, and if it is somebody's ass it just means this somebody: “his ass” -he, “her ass” - she, “my ass” - I.

“My rhymes they keep coming like nymph

maniacs that masturbate

At a faster rate, yeah I got something for your ass to hate”

“This puppy is lucky I didn't blast his ass yet”

(“Criminal” by Eminem)

It is noticeable that slang in the songs suggested above is either text-messaging, i.e. which is more apparent when typed than when pronounced, or dirty (vulgar). Neutral slang units reflecting no immorality, at least in the songs analyzed, have not been singled out. It is necessary to mention that although vulgar slang is described in this paper, it does not mean that this paper suggests learning such slang. This analysis has been aimed at suggesting different situations where any slang can be recognized, no matter what kind of slang it is: text-messaging or vulgar. [54]

Another source where slang can come from is a movie. Here one can really observe Spoken English. Different slang kinds were selected while analyzing the movies. The reasons of why slang is applied in movies are the same as in literature. For this analysis the following movies were chosen:

Don't be a Menace South Central (while drinking your juice in the hood).

Dumb and Dumber

Pulp Fiction

Finding Forrester

Sometimes in one movie the similar expressions of slang were discovered and it was decided to show only some examples of slang.

The first movie analyzed is “Don't be a Menace South Central …”. It is about one Afro-American guy Ashtray by name. His mother brings him to the black block to his father and wants him to become a real Afro-American man. The movie is hard to understand because of the accent most black people have, but nevertheless due to the fact that most black people in the movie are young it is possible to find some slang terms.

“Hang out”, which is rendered as “çàâèñàòü”, was already singled out in “The Catcher in the Rye” and “A Patchwork Planet”, but these are literary works and this time this slang phrase is applied in a movie.

“I don't want you to hang out somewhere.

I want you to be a man”

Guy, buddy or pal can be substituted by a slang word “dude” (ïàðíèëà) which is mostly applicable to a male person.

“- Are you dating anyone?”

“- Well…there was one dude”

If “What's up?” once meant “What's happened?” then now, as a slang phrase, it stands for “Hi” and at the same time “How are you doing?”. That is why it is enough to say just “What's up” and this will express both meanings, moreover this slang phrase requires the same reply.

“-What's up, man?”

“-What's up, young blood?”

If “What's up?” is used in greeting, there is also a slang expression used in farewell- “Take care” (Ïîêà, áûâàé) and it should not be mistaken for “be careful”.

Among vulgar slang the following words are singled out: “shit”, “fuck” and “suck”. “Shit” mostly means “stuff” and “thing”.

“Pass me that shit over there”

“She tells me the same shit”

“He will fuck your head up when he learns that”

Here the paper is not able to give the Russian variant, which is the closest to the meaning, but this phrase can be rendered as “to punish severely”.

“Motherfucking” and “motherfucker” are of the same stem, but the first functions as an adjective and the latter as a noun. “Motherfucking” is actually hard to render but it is mostly used when one is furious: “I tell ya, get off this motherfucking music”

“Motherfucker” can be substituted by “bastard”, but it is much more offensive. “Sucker” is also much more offensive than just “fool” “Dreams are for suckers”

“Get your ass out of here” (ñâàëè, êàòèñü îòñþäà) sounds rude too though this meaning can be revealed by “get out of here” or “go away”. [49]

“Dumb and Dumber” is about two guys, Harry and Lloyd, who in the course of the whole movie are doing stupid things. The movie itself is a comedy and it allows the use of slang, because comedies tend to create an easy and due to the use of the language people usually speak in everyday life these movies are closer to viewers.

When Harry asked Lloyd: “How much dough do we have?” some viewers might misunderstand him: why dough and for what? Here dough means the same as in “The Catcher in the Rye”. It stands for “money”, though “dough” belongs to food. Speaking about food there was also “a piece of cake” which did not mean any food actually, in the following context it denotes “an easy thing” (ëåãêîòíÿ).

“- She is gonna leave the brief case near the escalator.

You make the pick up”

“- Piece of cake”

When Lloyd said to Harry “Get out of here” it did not mean that he wanted Harry to disappear. In the following context it is obvious that saying this he expressed his disbelief. This phrase is applicable in any case of expressing disbelief and can be used instead of simple “You are kidding!” (Íå ãîíè).

“- You know I talked to her”

“- Get out of here!!!!”

“To freak out” in this movie stands for “to get nervous” (ïñèõîâàòü).

“They always freak out when you leave the scene of an accident”

Speaking about being nervous the act of making someone mad can be rendered with the help of two verbs: “to piss somebody off”, “to chaff somebody” (áåñèòü, âûðóáàòü êîãî-ëèáî).

“That pisses me off. That pisses me right off”

“You know what really chaffs my ass, though?”

If somebody pisses Harry and Lloyd off, then there also must be something that makes them relax, and not just relax but “lay back”, “straight out” or “flat out”. These three verbs substitute a traditional and common verb “relax”. Obviously they relax “boozing” or with the help of the “booze”, which must mean “to drink alcohol” and “alcohol”.

“This is a lot easier if you just lay back”

“Straight out, flat out and give me the honest answer”

“Where is the booze? I know you've got it because I see you've been doing a bit of boozing”. [50]

“Relax” in “Pulp Fiction” is replaced by the verb once used in the song of Avril Lavigne “Complicated”. Here this meaning is revealed by the verb “to chill out”. “I go there once a year to chill out for a month”

This movie, “Pulp Fiction”, is a combination of episodes which are not actually connected with each other. But here drugs find their place and that is why vulgar slang (Dirty English) is possible to be found here too. And it is really mostly vulgar slang that can be heard in this movie. Primarily it is “fuck” and its derivatives, they basically serve for emotional intensification.

“I'm in a big fucking trouble”

“She is fucking dying in my car, man!”

It has been mentioned that “Pulp Fiction” is connected with drugs. In this movie “drugs” can be heard as “hash”, which is clipped from “hashish”. And the place, where the `hash” can be purchased is called “hash-bar”.

“Ok, tell me again about the hash-bar”

The girl in the hash-bar was eating cool ice-cream and then she said “Yummy!!!” This meant her satisfaction, by this she expressed that the ice-cream was tasty or delicious, although it seemed a little childish. Besides “cool” does nit always mean “cold” or “great'. This is obvious in the following example:

“- There is no “you” and no “me”. No more”

“_ So we are cool”

“_ Yeah, we are cool”

So it is evident that “to be cool” here does not express somebody freezing or being great. And with the help of the context suggested above it can be understood as “ìû â ðàñ÷åòå”. “Goof “and “goofy” are applied when characterizing a person. If one says “I've been a goof” it means that he is a fool. Therefore “goofy” characterizes something which is typical of fools, i.e. of “goofs”. In other words “goofy” can be rendered as “silly”.

“I brought you a case. You left it in the airport, you big goof”

“Get that goofy look off your face” [51]

Evidently Jamal Wallace is not a goof if he was awarded a scholarship in a very popular American University. He is a main character in the next movie analyzed “Finding Forrester”. “Finding Forrester” is a story of a University student, Jamal Wallace, who gets a scholarship and takes classes in a very expensive University in the States. He is a skillful basketball player but his secret passion is writing poetry. Accidentally he meets a man, William Forrester, who proves to be a writer but due to some circumstances got forgotten. Forrester teaches Jamal how to write and eventually Jamal in his turn teaches Forrester to appreciate friendship. Of course Forrester did not teach Jamal a slang language, but it is not him who always speaks it, Jamal's friends do. Again when greeting Jamal's friends never say “Hi” or “Hello”, they usually greet with “What's up?”

“-What's up, J?”

“-What's up, man?”

Besides this “man” may appear in any speech phrase and actually does not have any syntactic function:

“No problem, man?”

“Come on, man!”

“Are you okay, man?”

“Dude” has been mentioned when the movie “Don't Be a Menace South Central” has been described. This word can be replaced by “buddy” or “pal” and mostly refers to male people.

“I gotta go over to this dude's house”

“Seems like a different kind of dude, man”

“To screw up” actually means “to have a sexual intercourse” but in certain context this verb may have a meaning “to do something wrong” or “to spoil something”. “If you don't screw it up by being a 16-year-old guy, okay?”

The meaning “to have sexual intercourse” can also be expressed by another verb “to get laid”. Basically this verb is not so offensive as “to screw up”: “Cause they wanna get laid!”

The word “nothing” has its slang synonyms too, it can be substituted by “zip” or “nada”. The latter was borrowed from Spanish. In “Finding Forrester” Jamal's friend made use of these words for intensification: “There is nothing, nada, zip!!!”

Probably Jamal's friend was nervous about having nothing, nada, zip. The state of being nervous can be expressed by slang, and a mad person has its slang substitute. “To go nuts” denotes “to be nervous”, “to go mad”; and “psycho” means “a mad, crazy person”. “This lady is a psycho! She's gone nuts” [52]

The last source analyzed where slang has been figured out is Internet. In the course of analyzing this source no definite websites were browsed. The data for the analysis were drawn from the English-speaking chat-room at mail.ru Different people from all over the world visit this chat-room and make acquaintances. Here an on-line live conversation can be observed. It is quite a real conversation but all the speaking is performed by means of typing. Since it is speaking, Spoken English can be applied here. But apart from the usual slang words applied in verbal communication, text-messaging slang is used in the chat-room. Text-messaging slang is apparent when typed. This kind of slang is characterized by the lack of vowels. But the absence (or almost absence) of vowels does not affect the pronunciation of the slang words. The below suggested example displays the usage of text-messaging slang in the chat-room.

Ppl, u have a good chance 2 talk 2 a normal person, talk 2 me pls!

First it seems to be an odd combination of words, letters and figures, but actually together they make sense.

Expressed by ordinary words this expression would look like this one: “People, you have a good chance to talk to a normal person, talk to me please!” such slang words as ppl (people) and pls (please) are obviously built by consonants only. The figure “2” replaces the particle “to”, sometimes when chatting it can substitute “too”. I'm a student 2.

The reason of using this kind of slang is to save time, because typing requires high speed. The letter “u” in the above suggested example stands for “you”, the point is that the letter “u” is pronounce in the same way the personal pronoun “you” is pronounced. On the basis of the same principle the auxiliary verb “are” is replaced by the letter “r”.

What r u talking about?

How old r u?

Since “you” is substituted by “u”, so “ur” stands for “your” and “urs” or “urz” means “yours”.

What's ur name?

My country is bigger that urz.

U got my picture, can I see urs?

Besides the figure “2” text-messaging slang include “4” which replaces “for”.

I'm ready 2 die 4 u.

The bell rings 4 ya.

Here “ya” means “you”, sometimes it may express “your” or “you are”.

What's ya name?

Ya so funny!!!

The word “people” is not expressed by a sheer consonant word “ppl”. This word can be expressed by a single letter “p” or by a strange word “pips”.

Hello 4 all p!!!

Hey there pips!!!

It someone in the chat-room types such a word as “tnx” or “thx”, this means that s/he wants to say “thanks”.

Tnx 4 saying it.

It's great, thx!

This kind of slang causes great troubles for new chat-room comers. And not everybody on the first day of chatting understands such things as “Hi ppl! How ru? I want 2 talk 2 somebody”. Language is constantly developing and maybe some day the slang words indicated above will be ordinary Standard English words and people will write them only this way. [60]

Thus summing everything up it would be correct to state that knowledge of slang considerably simplifies comprehension of chat phrases, literary works, movies and songs and gives a PC user/reader/TV watcher or any listener great opportunities to assess a style and to understand an idea of a literary work /movie/song. It is necessary to mention that such sources as those analyzed contain many slang words and expressions and one has a good chance to get acquainted with them and then use them in his/her speech thereafter thus filling a gap between him/her and native speakers.

2.2 The place of slang in teaching English as a Foreign Language (EFL)

English has won a great popularity in today's society. It has become an energizing factor in the progress of science and technology, economics and culture. This emphasizes the importance of English as a school subject. Today Kazakhstan witnesses intercultural development in business, science and politics. This causes the demand for people having a good command of English. Therefore, the process of teaching EFL should be organized in such a way so that to let English learners reach the level of communicative competence.

Communicative competence is one's ability to perform communication with the help of linguistic means and with regard to the purpose and situation of this communication. [18, 91]

Since the 70's of the XXth century EFL teaching has focused mostly on phonetics, grammar and lexicology. However, when one is in the contact with native speakers, his/her knowledge obtained due to such an approach comes to nothing. The fact is that while working different teaching aids and textbooks out the material of the so-called literary English was used. As a result of this “correct” teaching some learners who are really good at grammar and vocabulary happen not to be able to apply their knowledge in real communicative situation, i.e. they misunderstand the things described or said in seemingly familiar English. That is why while teaching EFL it is necessary to teach an “authentic” language, the one spoken today.