Akademik Məlumat İdarəetmə Sistemi
14th INTERNATIONAL MARDIN ARTUKLU SCIENTIFIC RESEARCHES CONFERENCE, no.14, pp.292-298, 2025 (Conference Book)
Colloquial words or colloquialisms add a shade of informality and conversational tone to a message. In addition to general colloquial words widely used by native speakers in their daily communication (such as dad, kid, crony, fan, folks, etc.), there are the following special groups of colloquial vocabulary: slang, jargon, vulgarisms, and dialectisms.
This is the largest group of special emotional and expressive colloquial vocabulary. Slang, often used in informal communication, quickly loses its originality and is therefore replaced by new, similar formations. This tendency to substitute slang words with synonyms leads to the creation of long chains of synonyms with varying degrees of intensity, all referring to the same concept. For example, the idea of a “pretty girl” is represented in slang by over a hundred words: cookie, tomato, Jane, sugar, bird, cutie, etc.
Due to frequent usage, some slang words become part of general colloquial vocabulary, such as pal, chum, crony, booze, dough, how’s tricks (how’s life), beat it (go away). Slang can be divided into two broad categories: a) Common slang, b) Special slang
Common Slang
These are words and expressions with a strongly marked emotional and expressive tone, lying outside the literary language but widely used in informal speech among educated people (especially youth). Examples of general slang include: buddy (friend), rot/trash/stuff (something bad), like a million dollars (very good), the cat’s pyjamas (just the right\suitable thing), rabbit heart (coward), crackers (crazy), mug/jerk (fool), ratted / under the influence (drunk), smash (a drink), juice (wine), black coat (clergyman), top dog (boss), cabbage (money), buck (dollar), bread-basket (stomach), the upper storey (head), hide (human skin), glued (arrested), give someone wings (teach someone to use drugs), grass/pot/dope/knock-out drops (narcotics), snout (tobacco), to nip (to steal), nipper (small child), to play chicken (to be afraid), skirt (girl), joker (man), killing (astonishing), cripes (Christ), yours truly (used instead of "I")
Special Slang
These are words and expressions that belong to the specialized social and professional vocabulary. This type of vocabulary reflects the speech characteristics of a particular social class or group—people united by shared interests, activities, occupations, or professions. This includes the speech of sailors, soldiers, railroad workers, doctors, students, schoolchildren, and so on. These are sometimes referred to as social dialects. For example, Student slang: shark (excellent student), to out a lecture (to skip a lecture), to swot (to study or memorize intensely). Military slang: sewing-machine (machine gun), tin-fish (submarine), blockbuster (bomb), to take felt (to retire from the army), fly boy (pilot), coffin (unreliable aircraft) Note: in show
business, block-buster means a very successful film; in cooking, piper is a person who decorates cakes using a piping bag) Slang is inherently informal and is typically used in casual conversations, not in formal or academic settings. Slang words often carry strong emotional and expressive connotations. They can emphasize attitudes, humor, sarcasm, or identity.
Slang is more than playful language—it is a rich, evolving reflection of human creativity, identity, and social change. While often dismissed as “non-standard,” slang captures the living pulse of language in use. To study slang is to observe how language adapts to the needs, moods, and values of the society that speaks it.