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functions by its linguistic features, and illustrate its special value and profound significance
for American society.
Of course inevitably there would be some limitations in this paper. The number of social
functions analyzed here is limited. The examples are limited in quantity. But this study
carves out a new way on the study of social functions of American slang.
2 Literature Review
American slang is the use of informal words and expressions that are not considered
standard in the speaker’s language or dialect but are considered more acceptable when used
socially. Slang is often used as a euphemism and may use informal lexicon to identify with one’s peers. As American slang developed rapidly, people’s attitude has changed a lot. From
“lowbrow”, “vulgar” to “novel”, “vivid”, nowadays, American slang is widely accepted in
all strata of American society.
In the process of development, American slang gradually formed characteristics of its own
style: humorous, vivid, easy to express feelings and quickly updated. “Its stylistic features
can be broadly summarized as vividness, humor, conciseness and mutability” (Zhang Yan,
2007: 196). Peng Yuanfeng and Sun Peijie (2003) analyze the development and linguistic
features of American Slang. Xu Xiuzhen (2007) studies the rhetorical characteristics and
stylistic features of American English slang. “Social psychologist Harward Giles put
forward the theory of linguistic adaptation, which stressed the speaker’s language behavior
of emotions, values and motivation, and explained the words’ convergence or departure
from the listener in order to achieve the functional purpose of regulating the interpersonal
relationship” (Li Yuejian & Chen Yilong, 2010: 384). American slang can also strengthen
cohesion of internal groups, meet people’s willing to pursue freshness, reflect people’s
unique personalities, make language more vivid and expressive, advance a more rapid and
easy exchange of ideas and feelings between people, eliminate strangeness in everyday
communications and maintain people’s psychological balance (Wang Li, 2006: 157).
From the above review, it can be found that most of the studies on American slang purely
study its stylistic features or functions. This paper pays more attention to the relationship
between linguistic features of American slang and its social functions, that is, it studies the
social functions of American slang with its linguistic features. Based on the view of
language features, the paper analyzes the social functions of American slang and illustrates
the important roles it plays in human communication.
3 Social Functions of American Slang
3.1 To Lighten Tense Atmosphere and Adapt to Complex Environment by
Humor American people’s characters, such as humorous and outgoing, are well-known to the
whole world, which are also reflected in their expressions. Slang shows these characters
best. And the humor of language also plays an important role in the communication of daily
life and even some official occasions.
Humor is a specific effect of language, which has special speech manners in the expressions,
such as puns, hyperbole and metaphor. “Hudson believed that humor usually achieved
language effects through the following three aspects: (1) to provide a contrast between
uncoordinated ideas; (2) to produce a sense of superiority; (3) to ease the tense atmosphere
or adapt to the complex environment of the audience” (Li Qun, 2004: 109). Humor of
American slang reflects American people’s characters of innovation, pursuit of novelty,