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SOC4850: Senior Seminar: Sociolinguistics (Slang)

Finding Modern Meanings of Slang Words

Slang

Slang allowed people to speak about taboo topics, but is often disguised to look like common words or phrases.  

To find definitions for slang terms, you may need to refer to different types of resources than you might be used to for academic research.

Below are some sources and techniques for finding meanings...

Dictionaries

Dictionaries

While dictionaries are more likely to refer to the original meaning of a word, rather than its slang counterpart, some slang terms have a long history and their meanings are well defined in standard sources.  Additionally, there are specialized slang dictionaries that focus on alternate meanings of words or phrases to provide a more current context. 

Web Resources

Web Resources

Because slang is constantly evolving, finding authoritative library resources with up to date definitions may not always be possible.  Therefore, there are some great online sources to check out.  Both of the following are crowdsourced, meaning that the definitions are likely to be more current and written by people with firsthand knowledge of these meanings.

Constructing Meaning

Using Multiple Sources to Construct Meaning

In some cases, you may not be able find a simple definition of a slang concept, or the meaning may be too complex to define in one place.  In these cases, you may need to refer to a combination of online resources and/or library resources.  By bringing together multiple sources, it is sometimes possible to tease out a hard to find definition using literature and context.

  • Websites, YouTube, Blogs, etc.
    Social media, blogs, or other informal websites can often provide real-life examples of slang terms and their usage.  Usually created by someone in the "in" group (the group that originates or uses the slang term), you may be able to learn more about the term than you could by simply reading the definition.  For instance, if there's a change in inflection or a movement/gesture that accompanies the use of slang.  

    Try searching for the term or phrase (use quotation marks around phrases) along with keywords like slang or euphemism.
     
  • Research Articles & Books
    Some terms or phrases have a long history or important social meaning and may be widely researched.  In these cases, you may be able to find research articles in relevant databases or entire books dedicated to understanding them.  Articles can be found in a variety of databases (start with Sociology databases) and books are searchable from the Library homepage (https://www.wpunj.edu/library)