Abstract

Slang is widely used by people from all walks of life. American slang is formed and developed with American history. It has its unique characteristics and functions. American slang stands for American culture. American culture and society could be better understood by a sociolinguistic study of American slang. This thesis’s object is to study American slang from sociolinguistic perspective and analyze American slang in a descriptive approach. The first part of this thesis mainly demonstrates the standing features of American slang. The following two parts focus on the individual and social elements that influence American slang. The last part of this thesis dwells on the social function of American slang, that is, why people use slang and what functions slang plays in social activities. The study of American slang can enhance our culture-awareness in English teaching and learning so as to help us avoid pragmatic failure and misunderstanding in cross-cultural communication, and to improve our cross-cultural communication competence in international activities with foreign countries.  

Keyword: American slang; sociolinguistic; American culture

Contents

Abstract

摘  要

1. Introduction-1

2. Features of American slang-3

2.1 Humor-3

2.1.1 Phonetic Humor-3

2.1.2 Lexicon Humor-3

2.1.3 Rhetoric Humor-4

2.2 Conciseness-4

2.3 Originality-4

2.4 Instability-5

3. Individual Factors Influencing American Slang-6

3.1 American Slang and Gender-6

3.2 American Slang and Occupation-7

3.3 American Slang and Age-7

4. Social Factors Influencing American Slang-8

4.1 Drug Setting and American Slang-8

4.2 Homosexuality and American Slang-8

4.3 Rock and American Slang-9

5. The Social Functions of American Slang-10

5.1 The embodiment of speaker’s identity and social status-10

5.2 Reinforcement of the relationship between members in the social group-10

5.3 The fulfillment of freshness and the reflection of personality-11

5.4 Achieve politeness-11

6. Conclusion-12

References-13