Slang vocabulary in the Russian language has long become a generally accepted phenomenon. But many people, having heard this phrase, immediately think of criminal expressions that to an ordinary person don't understand right away. But an example of jargon can be found in everyday life. And, by the way, there are many more of them.
What is slang vocabulary
Before looking at an example of jargon, you should understand what this terminology is. So, these are words that are used only by certain people. They can be united by one profession, specialty, interests, age, common views, etc. In other words, jargon in the Russian language is a completely separate speech that can only be understood by certain people. And, based on the fact that today there are a huge number of social groups, jargon, accordingly, also flourishes.
Types of jargons
It should be noted that today an example of jargon can be found in almost any one. They arise in almost any team that is moderately stable. For example, one can observe jargon in the speech of schoolchildren, students, military personnel, musicians, athletes, alcoholics, criminals, etc. As you can see, the social “dispersion” is quite large. Needless to say, even the expressions of the intelligentsia can be called jargon with full confidence - and this will be correct. After all, their expressions are understandable only to them, and they were not formed out of nowhere. So everything is fair.
Popular words
Many people don't even know that they are using slang words. They have become so firmly established in our lives that they have already become completely normal and acceptable expressions and we pronounce them without thinking. Take as an example the speech of schoolchildren or students. The word “physical”, “couple”, “physical”, “stupid”, “straining”, “clear”, “I don’t get it”, etc. - we hear all this every day and understand what these expressions mean.
However, there are also words “stronger”. We are talking about the jargon of people associated with the criminal sphere. Or, as it is also called, “thieves”. Perhaps the most frequently encountered word in this area is “zone.” Everyone definitely heard him. It means, as one might already understand, prison. By the way, in fairness it is worth noting that thieves and criminal jargon is the richest of all existing ones. It really is a separate language. “Fart” (luck), “Kent” (close friend), “Olive” (bullet), “Kipishnut” (indignant), “Zhigan” (desperate) - there are many more such words. There is no need to go deeply into their meaning - you can already understand that this “language” is really complex.
Emotionality
It is worth noting that the jargon discussed above differs in some features. Whatever field they belong to, they have one thing in common - a high level of expressiveness. Many jargons appeared due to the fact that it was necessary to come up with some word that successfully describes a particular situation (or person). When there are no longer standard expressions that would convey the full emotional degree of delight or disapproval. It should be as emotional as possible - this is the main characteristic of jargon. For example, the phrase “What kind of attack?”, pronounced with the appropriate intonation, sounds much more serious than “What are you doing?” By the way, this is quite a striking example of jargon.
This vocabulary is also much more variable and flexible. Also, jargons die quite quickly - they are replaced by other, new expressions. For example, youth slang of the 60s has practically disappeared - today young people speak completely differently.
Formation of jargons
So, why such expressions appear is understandable, but how are they formed? It's actually very simple. The first way is through borrowing. So, for example, in our modern language the word “man” (guy, man), “fen” (fan, worship), “people” (people, society), etc. came up. As you might guess, the listed words are taken from the English language.
They also often simply take and reinterpret some popular word. To "buzz" - it means "to drink." Why this particular expression? Because it very successfully emphasizes the duration of this process.
There is also another popular method, which is word formation. There is such a word as “to enjoy” (to enjoy). This is where the slang “baddyozh” (pleasure) came from. And there are many more such examples.
Jargon has always existed and it will continue to exist. This vocabulary constantly interacts with the national language, “snatching” certain expressions from it and transforming them in its own way. The most important thing is to know when to stop using such words. Still, you shouldn’t litter your speech with such expressions too often. Otherwise, we will have to forget about the purity of our mighty Russian language if everyone switches to jargon.
The etymology of the word "slang" is one of the most controversial and confusing issues in English lexicography. The difficulty is that it is extremely difficult to determine the time of its appearance.
Slang as such probably arose with the advent of human society, that is, when social stratification and professional affiliation arose, when the need for communication that was incomprehensible to outsiders arose. Slang originated as a special language intended for specific purposes, and remains so to this day. It is hardly possible to determine even the approximate date of its appearance, but we cannot have any doubt that it has existed since ancient times.
Initially, there was no division into slang, jargon, and argot. All this has been one thing for a long time. But over time, these words began to denote specific concepts that were different from each other. Their differentiation occurred much later than the emergence of the specialized language itself.
There are still doubts about the origin of the word “slang”. As is known, this English word slang. According to one version, it comes from the verb to sling, which means “throw”, “throw”. This verb was used in the expression to sling one's jaw, which means "to speak offensive speech." Knowing the expressive nature of slang, as well as the familiarity that is often inherent in it, we find a certain grain of truth in this hypothesis. According to another existing version, slang goes back to slanguage, a word that appeared as a result of the partial disappearance of the word thieves in the phrase thieves’ language. That is, the word slang originally meant the language of thieves. Therefore, slang was probably synonymous with the word "argo" for a long time. This version seems more plausible to us, since the definition of the word “slang” as a thieves’ language is in many ways close to its modern meaning.
It is not known for certain when the word “slang” appeared in England. It first appears in writing in the 18th century. Back then it meant “insult.” Presumably in 1850, this word expanded its meaning and began to mean colloquial vocabulary. Around the same time, synonyms for the word slang appeared, namely lingo and argot. Since then, the meaning of this word has expanded significantly and began to designate a whole layer of vocabulary.
For a long time, various hypotheses about the origin and purpose of slang have been put forward. It was seen both as the language of the lower strata of society, and as a gypsy language, and as a reflection of one of the Scandinavian languages. This kind of theories arise to this day, some are scientifically valid, others are not. But this does not change the essence of slang. It was and remains a completely unique, constantly evolving part of the language, without which modern language is no longer conceivable.
The same goes for borrowing words. For example, the word "hai" is shorter and simpler words“hello”, and the word “buzz” is happy to replace approval (good, excellent, great, wonderful). It is noteworthy that most of the newly formed slang words over time become so tightly integrated into general speech that they become ordinary words, losing the status of jargon.
Professional area
The professional sphere includes jargon that arises based on the characteristics of a particular profession, as well as words that appear in schools, universities and prisons. As a rule, someone comes up with a new word, and people in his social circle begin to use this word. Thus, a whole section of the language appears that needs translation for those who have never encountered it.For example, programmers have their own jargon, which is a mixture of English technical and Russian languages (“bug”, “bot”, “dos”, etc.). Among drivers, there are expressions like “turn the steering wheel”, “drove”, “bombed”, “nine”, “six”, etc. Schoolchildren love the words “teacher”, “bad”, etc. Students add to them the expressions “”, “glasses”, “”, “nerd”, etc.
Particularly different from others is criminal jargon, which includes dozens of words and expressions that are incomprehensible to the average person.
Also, new words and expressions appear in certain groups of people united by some common cause. For example, in the army (“spirits”, “demobilization”, “AWOL”).
Immigration
Many jargons arise due to the migration of peoples. When one nationality merges with another, languages are mixed and new words are obtained that are used only in certain situations. As a rule, such words are modified according to the rules not of the language of their origin, but of the language of the immigrants. This is how the jargon “to be happy”, “to connect”, etc. appeared.Any closed circle of communication in which, for one reason or another, they find themselves various people, inevitably gives rise to its own language. It can be professional slang, student argot or thieves' jargon.
Representatives of the Russian criminal world created a distinctive subculture, which inevitably reflected prison life, the peculiarities of the criminal business, and the psychology of prisoners. So what does it mean to use a hairdryer?
The origin of thieves' jargon
Thieves' jargon has existed in our country at least since the appearance of the first prisons where convicted criminals were kept, that is, from about the 16th century.
For a long time, Fenya remained only the language of criminal elements. But in the twentieth century, the spread of prison vocabulary among ordinary people began. This is largely due to the fact that the number of prisoners serving sentences in Soviet prisons and camps has increased markedly compared to pre-revolutionary Russia. Mass amnesties and the popularization of thieves' romance by individual cultural figures also contributed to this process.
Initially, thieves' jargon itself appeared to hide information not intended for prying ears. Criminal elements could discuss the details of a future robbery in the presence of onlookers or police without being exposed. The inmates warned each other right in front of the jailers. Now, when the majority of ordinary people and law enforcement officers understand criminal speech, dashing people use hair dryers only to confirm their belonging to the criminal world.
There is a thieves' jargon wherever there is a criminal stratum of society. According to the version widespread in scientific circles, fenya arose on the basis of the language of peddlers (ofenya). Having no official written language, the Ofeni passed on their language orally from generation to generation. Soon it was used by traveling musicians, horse thieves, pimps, and beggars.
Linguistic features
Interest among linguists and simply curious intellectuals in the specific language of criminality has always been high. Even during the times of Tsarist Russia, many scientists published works on this topic. For example, V. Dahl compared criminal jargon with “thieves’ music” composed by thieves and swindlers of various stripes.
It is noteworthy that V. Trakhtenberg, the compiler of the book “Prison Jargon”, published in 1908 in St. Petersburg, was also an international swindler. This enterprising businessman somehow managed to sell the French government mines in Morocco that did not exist in reality.
A striking feature of the thieves is the frequent use of terms from a zoology textbook. Perhaps this is due to the psychological aspects of prison life, when a prisoner often needs to humiliate his fellow inmates and demonstrate to them his disdainful attitude. Such words, as a rule, carry a negative connotation: rooster, goat, bull, horse, rat (stealing from one’s own), hen (informer).
Blatnaya Fenya is also replete with adjectives that have become nouns when one or another quality of a person becomes his designation. For example, thieves, watcher, cop, offended, downtrodden, black, red, nepotistic, etc.
Researchers note that thieves' jargon was often replenished with borrowings from other languages: in Russian prisons there was just about anyone. For example, the famous word “fraer,” according to one version, comes from the German frei, which is translated into Russian as “free.” The word “marviher” (an experienced, highly qualified thief) in Yiddish means “able to earn money.” But the term “huckster” (speculator, dishonest businessman) is derived from the word “profit”, which has Turkic roots. Most of the feni are simplified or outdated words of the Russian language, which are sometimes given a different meaning.
Thieves' jargon is a changing, living phenomenon. Each prison or zone, each criminal profession has its own specific words.
Who speaks
Many Russians are unhappy that words from thieves' jargon are gradually migrating into the vocabulary of people who are far from crime. Through means mass media, films and books, young people have long known what a “rotten bazaar” or “show-off” is. However, the prison subculture is an integral part of the life of our society, and the criminal fenya is rich in pithy phrases and original expressions, the brightness and emotionality of which is difficult not to recognize.
There are two main categories of people who use the hairdryer: the criminals themselves and the so-called “passengers” who are not directly related to the criminal world, but due to certain circumstances they encounter criminals. If for the former, Fenya is their language, in which they think and speak constantly, sometimes not even knowing how to express their thoughts and feelings differently, then the “passengers,” although they understand criminal vocabulary, use it only when necessary. The same people who try to pass themselves off as thieves, using theoretical knowledge of slang expressions, are immediately identified as real criminals.
Despite the fact that Fenya practically exposes the criminal, the thieves speak their own language, this is part of their image, which they are proud of. They understand the thieves' jargon as their own special language, which contrasts the thieves with the rest of society, the laws of which they do not recognize.
It is noteworthy that there are translations of certain classical works into fenya. Fima Zhiganets (real name Alexander Sidorov) is especially famous in this regard. This author, for example, translated the famous poem by M. Yu. Lermontov “On the Death of a Poet” into criminal jargon.
Modern society is a mobile system that includes many subcultural formations (professional, territorial, status), each of which has its own specific vocabulary, its own slang. One of the non-normative manifestations of the Russian language is youth slang - a layer of the national language that is an integral part of it.
In the scientific literature, three waves in the development of this phenomenon are traditionally distinguished. The first dates back to the 20s of the twentieth century, when the revolution and the Civil War, having destroyed the structure of society to the core, gave birth to an army of street children, and the speech of “prosperous” youth was replenished with many “thieves” words. The second wave occurred in the 50s, when “hipsters” took to the streets and dance floors. Along with their special fashion (tight trousers, checkered jackets, colorful ties, boots with thick soles), the dudes brought their own language, partly borrowed from foreign words, partly from the musical environment. The third wave is associated not with turbulent events, but with a period of stagnation, when the suffocating atmosphere of public life in the 70s and 80s gave rise to various informal movements. One of these movements that came to Russia from abroad was the hippie movement. Many foreign words (especially English) have penetrated into the Russian language and have become part of the slang of young people: truzera - trousers, khairat - a long-haired young man, shuznyak - any shoes, session - a party, hippie - to behave independently.
Russian youth slang is being studied very actively. True, we would like to note one feature of the works devoted to this topic: some linguists, as if ashamed that they took on the study of the “low” layer of the national language, call for a fight against it, for its eradication from speech. This approach seems to us unscientific: a linguist should not struggle with language, he should explore its diversity, including non-normative manifestations.
It is simply impossible to remain indifferent to what you observe and hear around you, especially since I heard so many opposing opinions about the language of teenagers that I wanted to express my own.
Slang is a bright, expressive layer of non-literary vocabulary, a style of language that occupies a place directly opposite to extremely formal speech (not “wonderful”, but “cool”, not “good”, but “cool”). First of all, with its expressiveness, mischievous and cheerful play with words, youth slang attracts attention, which the adult part of the population began to become familiar with by reading youth prose writers and poets, the youth press and listening to their children.
The main thing in slang is a departure from everyday life, irony, a mask. Unforced youth slang seeks to escape the boring world of adults, parents, and teachers. This is a living language that keeps up with the times and responds to any changes in the life of the country and society.
The rapid development of life explains the rapid emergence of new words in youth slang. In the conditions of such a technological revolution, each new phenomenon must receive its own verbal designation, its own name. And since almost all of them (with rare exceptions) appear in America and Europe, then, naturally, we get it on the dominant English language. When they learn about this in Russia after some time, then for the vast majority of them, of course, there is no equivalent in the Russian language. And therefore Russians have to use original terms. The development of computer technology also affects the appearance of new words in the lexicon of young people. The source of slang formations are, for example, computer games. More and more often the words “arcade” and “adventure” are heard around us, characterizing one or another genre of the program. The rapid variability of youth slang is also characterized by the continuous “arrival” of growing children into youth and the “departure” of young people from it into adulthood. Together with the last generation of youth, such words as “chicks”, “dudes”, “girls” have become history. Young people now call girls “aunts” or “bees,” and girls call guys “uncles” accordingly.
It is impossible to find a young man who does not use slang expressions. When pronouncing them, the speaker feels that he has chosen not an ordinary word, but a sharper, more expressive, humorous or rude word. Sometimes, in order to get into a company, you need to show off your knowledge of youth slang, then you will show yourself as an “advanced person” and become “one of our own.” Such expressions usually reveal vulgarity and disregard for literary norms.
The possibility of using slang phrases depends on the situation. It would be inappropriate to use them in a conversation with an adult, with a teacher. And will they fully perceive the information that the young man wants to convey to them using the words of youth slang? Not always. Most often, young people use slang expressions when communicating with each other. Here it can be noted that the words used by boys are almost no different from the words spoken by girls. This confirms that slang is part of the Russian language. After all, in everyday life we do not divide words into “female” and “male”, but use them equally.
At home, young people also use slang expressions. But the words sound not rude, but quite decent. Parents gradually “learn” from their children, and more and more often slang expressions can be heard in their speech.
Researchers have noticed that speech culture depends on the general culture, development and literacy of its speakers. The presence or absence of slang expressions in speech is directly related to their academic performance. The more developed a school student or university student is, the less “extra” words are present in his speech. Having conducted a study among high school students at one of the city schools, we found out that 25-30% of all words are slang expressions. Among ninth grade students, slang dominates, mainly characterizing the school environment. Examples of such words can be: teacher - teacher, class - class teacher, couple - deuce, freebie - random five. This not yet fully grown-up group of young people has almost no access to the main sources of slang formations - nightclubs and discos. But already matured eleventh graders begin to actively learn everything new, previously forbidden. Therefore, new words related to their new lifestyle and range of interests and hobbies begin to appear in the speech of once-former teenagers.
Now let's turn our attention to students of institutes and universities. After graduating from school, there are no global changes in the speech of young people, but, gradually joining the new environment, young people absorb the basics of the “culture” that reigns in higher educational institutions.
It is impossible not to note the difference between urban and rural youth. As mentioned above, the source of slang innovations are clubs and discos, which, as everyone knows, predominate in large numbers in cities. Consequently, city dwellers are considered the most “advanced” young people. It cannot be said that rural youth are “backward,” but their stock of “cool words” is noticeably poorer. They strive for an active perception of urban style, they strive to be “cooler”.
But there is a group of expressions that are used by young people more often than others, always, in any situation: cool, cool - excellent; you persecute, you treat, you lie; in shock, in a vacuum - strong surprise; don’t show off, don’t show off - don’t try to seem better than you really are; on your own wavelength - think about your own things, disconnect from the outside world, be strange. Young people do not clog their speech; they express their thoughts as their condition requires, and not in accordance with literary norms. Moreover, they don’t even think about the choice of words; everything happens spontaneously.
Slang remains with young people, as an island of naturalness and freedom from the adult world. Slang was, is and will be. Is it good or bad? The question appears to be illegitimate. Slang can neither be banned nor abolished. It changes over time, some words die, others appear, just like in any other language. Of course, it’s bad if slang completely replaces a person’s normal speech, but it’s impossible to imagine a modern young person without slang at all. The main advantages here are expressiveness and brevity. It is no coincidence that slang is currently used in the press and even in literature to add liveliness to speech.