Communication of adolescents in their own special "language" has been celebrated for more than a century, but the older generation of parents does not cease to bother this fact. Strange words and expressions warp and worry - what if the children never learn to speak normally, like all other people? Why do they need their own jargon or slang, why do they persistently strive to get away from the linguistic norms and standards of adult society, what do they achieve by this?
Adult language incomprehensible to adults
In the description of the studied subject, philologists use both terms - "jargon" and "slang", this duality describes different aspects of the process of creating adolescents and young people their own language. The concept of "jargon" more often reflects that part of the vocabulary of adolescents, which obviously should not be understood by elders, this is a kind of encrypted transmission of information, as well as a manifesto of alienation from the adult world. Any jargon is created for a limited group and is aimed at ensuring that the rest, the uninitiated, do not understand it. This is consistent with the psychological characteristics of adolescence. After a period of childhood, when the parents were the main authorities for the child, it is time to leave the home world outside the world, to join youth groups and communities. At school, on the street, in sections and clubs of interest, a teenager realizes himself, striving to be "his own among his own." But is teen slang or slang really terrible?
Writers use slang to portray the psychology of the young. From "Essays on a Bursa" by N. Pomyalovsky, "A Clockwork Orange" by E. Burgess to "Geographer Drunk a Globe" by A. Ivanov, the speech of the heroes emphasizes their disorder and vulnerability.
Often, the creation of new designations for already familiar objects and phenomena arises in protest against the authority of elders. Teenage jargon is heterogeneous and very different among different groups, for example, among representatives of various subcultures, fans of various sports, and musical styles.
This riot, for the most part, is temporary. Its severity is smoothed out by good mutual understanding with parents and other representatives of the older generation, and the ability to communicate — developed speech skills acquired at an earlier age. Jargon games are also less common for well-read children. And, most importantly, the enthusiasm for jargon is much less pronounced among confident teenagers with high self-esteem, who do not have to gain the respect of their peers only by using special words.
The worst jargon used by teens is that they can forget how to express their thoughts in a literary language. It is alarming when, if necessary, to speak correctly, a teenager does not find words for this.
Teenagers have fun inventing new words
The concept of "slang" characterizes the other side of adolescent linguistics. It is due to the fact that young people often go ahead of other generations in mastering the phenomena associated with new technological and social realities. For many of them, simple and convenient notation has not yet developed in the linguistic tradition. Foreign names or technical terms are alien or heavy. And adolescents, for whom the game is very important as a way of exploring and mastering the world, begin to invent their own words. Teenage linguistics creates a new sphere of concepts, which is often followed by older generations. A lot of youthful words have enriched, for example, the sphere of computer games, communication on social networks, new musical trends and the world of fashion.
Not always these language experiments are successful, but sometimes the innovation is so successful that it gradually gains popularity and becomes common. An important factor here is often advertising targeted at young people as consumers, but not alien to elders. For example, now no one needs to explain the word “cool” or the call “don't slow down!”
Psychologists and sociologists believe that youth slang is almost completely replaced every five years. During this time, successful language experiments take root, and unsuccessful ones are forgotten and replaced by new ones.
