the characteristics of american slan
... black, stuff, mud, shooting gallery and so on. There are words for gamblers like dealer(以赌博为生的人), bet the rent(有把握赢而敢拿家产打赌), furnance(赌客下注很大的赌局), the army game(做了手脚的赌博), bet the farm(赌博时孤注一掷). (李泉安，1994，2) Slang is spoken rather than written. While slang has been forcing its way into standard language and written works, it, as a whole, is mainly employed in everyday, oral communication between friends and acquaintances or just within some special groups. On informal, private occasions, slang is the favorite means for oral communication. As slang is essentially not respectable, cautious writers try to avoid it, especially in serious writings unless they attempt to characterize their protagonists through their authentic language. It is undeniable that with the rise of naturalism, which demands realistic descriptions, slang began to creep into English literature. More and more writers make good use of slang for vivid characterization. One such writer is J.D. Salinger whose representative work THE CATCHER IN THE RYE provides us with a large number of contemporary American slang of teenagers. For example, to bag your faith (离开), chill your jets(镇静，放松), big time(严重地，严肃地), to suck face(亲吻), worms(丑陋的人), twisted(陶醉), wicked, unreal, golden(好的), pound the book(用功啃书), power tool(用功的学生), shark(天赋很高，但表面上并不用功的学生), big man on campus(大学里的男性领导人), bear(难读的课程), crib course(容易的课程), put one’s paper in(申请入学，注册), anchor man(班里成绩最差的学生), flush(旷课), crib(考试作弊用的试题答案), flunk(考试失败), goose egg(零分), bust out(因成绩不佳而被学校开除).(李泉安，1994，3) There are a lot of words refer to the people who the hate, such as flake, dweeb, nerd, head-banger, scuzz, sleazebag.(刘凯芳，1995，5) However, no matter how many slang words one can find in the novel, they are all used in the dialogues or conversations of its characters instead of in the narration or description. So they are still “spoken” though in writing. Ⅱ. abundant of synonyms To pursue novelty, slang users like to coin new words or use current words in new senses, the speakers may express one same meaning in many different ways, and that is, a slang word usually has quite a few synonyms. Slang is abundant of synonyms. By the phrase “abundant of synonyms”, we refer to two phenomena. One is that slang almost exists side by side with another more general term for the same thing. For example, some speakers in the meaning “girl” have used the slang word “girl” and “chick” can be stated only in reference to the people who use the word. Some say “this chick is my sister” others “this girl is my sister”, “chick” is slang and “girl” is not because “chick” is used by a limited part of the population, mostly young people whereas “girl” is used by everybody, including those who use “chick”. “Girl” is the general term for “chick” or other words bearing the same meaning such as “doll”. (陈荷荣，1997，2) Another phenomenon is that there is many slang words, which have the same meaning. As the slang users always search for novelty and freshness in their expression, they are always ready to drop the “clichés” and create new slang words. That’s why slang is abundant of synonyms. This characteristic of slang greatly helps enrich English vocabulary. In English slang, the ideas most fertile in synonyms are those of drinking, drunkenness, money, the sexual organs and sexual act. According to statistics, there are over 300 words referring to the concept “drunkenness”. Of them are “comfortable, elevated, merry, jolly, three sheets in the wind, boiled, glassy, stewed, tight, see snakes, knocked out, pigeon-eyed, blue-eyed, tanked, under the take, half-seas-over, fried, paralyzed, picked, stiff, stoned, stunned, half-shot”. Some of these slang words or phrases describe the intoxication, some the heaviness and stillness and others the lightness after drinking. They offer vivid images of a drunkard from different angles. Each synonym originates from and meanwhile reflects the emotion and individuality of different users. Humorous is a kind of specific effect ion of slang. It usually has the special means in expression, such as puns, exaggerations and metaphors. (李群，2003，1) Humorous can achieve its language effect from three aspects. (1) Producing contrast in uncoordinated minds (2) showing a kind of superiority (3) relaxing the tense atmosphere or dealing with the different audiences and circumstance. Humorous reflecting in American slang mirror the characters of American people, such as creative, pursing strange and new, despising authority, free and equal rights, ect. (Ayto, John, 2001，215) The reason of the easy understanding and learning by heart of plenty of American slang is that euphonies are being used in them. Especially, people who create them use the means of rhyme to express the effect of humorous and vividness. (吕志士，1996，47) For instance, cop shop(警察局)、funny money(钱的替代物)、the beeps knees(优秀的人或物)、razzle dazzle(狂欢，陶醉)、hurry scurry(慌慌张张)、huity toity(神气十足), fuddy-duddy(老古板) and so on.（马振国，1997，3） These kinds of rhymes which help slang to spread extensively and help people communicate with each other easily can produce the tempo that can let people feel the sweet and vividness. S. B. Flexner, one of the chief editors of American Slang Dictionary wrote in preface that the estimate vocabulary of a common American people is between 100,00 and 200,000, among which 2,000 are slang, which is a part of common vocabulary. (S. B. Flexner, 1975, 2) Most American slang are using acronym. As all know, NATO is the short term of North Atlantic Treaty Organization, but the American people who are rich in creativity and humorous changed it into a slang which has the totally different meaning from a name of a well-known organization: No Action, Talk Only (光说不做). Group against smokers pollution were shorten into GASP(大口喘气), which makes clear that the serious pollution that caused by the smokers make people gasp.（王金杰，2001，30） Another kind of slang, like no no(禁忌), so so（极其普通）, dum dum（傻瓜，笨蛋）, huggy huggy（关系紧密，不同寻常）, is double a same word, which are visual and humorous. This way places a role in strengthening the manner of speaking and deepening the expression. American people do not create much slang now, but American people give them more new meanings. For example, good, great, excellence in common English are used fewer and fewer, because they could not express all kinds of stimulate and extremely exciting, in other words, some old words are endowed with new meanings. For example: ① Wow, Ken’s new ride is dope. ② The band that played at the party was totally tight! ③ You got a new car: cool! ④ That was a sweet play! ⑤ Look at those really bad shoes on that guy. ⑥ Your new jacket is really evil.（林玲帼，1994，64-67） The dope（麻醉剂）, tight（紧的）, cool（凉爽的）, sweet（甜蜜的） in the sentences above are all means good or excellence. Bad and evil changed their meanings completely, changing from derogatory words to commendatory words.（李群，2003：2） American slang use all kinds of rhetoric extensively, especially the using of metaphor. Couch potato, slang means a person’s passive and inactive life style. Lying in couch, eating all kinds of junk food, watching TV all day and night, just like a withered potato by couch. She is a real fox. Here, fox means attractive young woman(有魅力的年轻女子), however, without the Chinese traditional meaning of fox. Other examples are chicken（胆小鬼）, cooler（监狱）, flick（电影）, guts（勇气）, paw（手）, rat（可鄙的人）, ticker（心脏或表）, wheels（自行车）. If someone said he’d like to give you a knuckle sandwich, you should run away quickly. That means he’d like to beat you.（汪榕培，1997，4-7） In American slang, a lot of words about food are being used in metaphor. Foods take an important role in people’s mind, so that people often associated with words about food in many circumstance. For instance, cabbage、coffee and cake are refer to money; potato、meat hooks refer to one part of the body; pudding-head, peanut refer human being.(马振国，1997，3) All these metaphor with a great appeal are as vivid as life. The food words refer to drunk are more wonderful for words like boiled, fried stewed, bent, blind, bottle, canned, comfortable, happy, loaded. (刘金梅，徐宇，1997，1) There are more examples: chicken heart(视野狭隘的), lay an egg(投炸弹). (彭元锋，孙佩婕，2003，2) Exaggeration is a kind of rhetoric means, which exaggerate the face. It can deepen the expression of the reader. Also this way is the reason that slang can spread. For example, to have eyes bigger than the belly(贪婪), to have face as long as a fiddle(不高兴), bail and chain(禁锢犯人的锁链，爱束缚丈夫的妻子), face lace(皱纹), flat foot(警察). (张学忠，2001，59-60) As all known, language changes with the society. With the development of human society, language that serves the society is becoming more and more rich. As one part of the language, slang is growing with the society’s development, the developments of language is pushed by the need and change of the society. (吴丽兴，2002，1) The USA is the nation accepting the most immigrants and having the most complicated immigrants component in the world. Connection, effect and mixing together of the entire racial group constitute today’s American society. Now there are hundreds and thousands of new words which has the strange means that are not exists before bring about everyday. The word-formation of American slang never obeys the rules, but show its character of free style. (1) DINK is the short term of Double Income No Kids(丁克家庭，双薪无子)，B.F. = best friend(老友)，BS= bull shit(废话)，PDQ= pretty damn quick(立刻，很快). This is the first way of word-formation of American slang by acronym. (2) The second way is using part of the word as the short form of the word. For example, ID= identification (card)（身份证）; champ= champion（冠军）; flu= influenza（流感）; tec= detective（侦探）.(3) The third way is using the one part of the first word add one part of another word. For instance, B girl= bar girl, stagflation= stagnation+ inflation (滞胀)，mingy= mean+ stingy(小气)，sitcom=situation+ comedy(情景喜剧). Ⅲ. short life expectancy (transient) Slang is generally transient. Generally speaking, slang spreads very quickly yet it is unstable and temporary. Slang is the unstable element of English and its life expectancy is generally short. Usually a once used by one generation may sound Greek to the next. For example, the slang terms used in the second world wars sound quite strange and uni...