Abstract Modern American slang is quite a special form of language; it has unique forms of language as well as a long story. With the development of our society, we use American slangs more and more widely. At the same time, it plays an important role in modern English communication. During the process of its development, the American slang has gradually formed its own features. There is no doubt that the emergence and development of the modern American slangs is the demands of the society and the times. Nowadays, the major trends of the modern American slang are to be concise and infiltrated with the standard language as well.69660

Keywords: American slang; major characteristics; social functions

摘要现代美国俚语是一种特殊的语言形式，具有独特的语言表现力和悠久的历史。随着 社会的发展，俚语的使用也日益广泛。同时，美国俚语在现代英语中起着重要交流作用。 在它的发展过程中，逐渐形成了自己的特征。不可否认，现代美国俚语的出现与发展是 社会和时代的要求。如今，变得简洁明了及与标准语互相渗透成了现代美国俚语的主要 发展趋势。

毕业论文关键词：美国俚语；主要特征；社会功能

Contents

1. Introduction 1

2. Literature Review 1

2.1 Definition of American slang 1

2.2 The predecessors’ researches of American slang 2

3. Provenance and features of the American slang 2

3.1 Provenance of the slang 2

3.2 Various features of the slang 5

4. Social functions of slangs 7

4.1 The effect on society and groups 7

4.2 The effect on speaker 8

5. Conclusions 10

Works cited 11

1. Introduction

When reading original English books, many English learners have troubles in understanding the meanings of the sentences correctly though they know each word; or when they appreciate American dramas, seeing the characters laugh or explode with rage for a sentence, but they cannot strike a chord. Why should be that? The reason is mainly that they are not familiar with American slangs, and then in the various kinds of language, what’s the meaning of slang? In recent years, with the improvement of American’s cultural quality, the contact of different strata has become more frequent, the way of American language has also become lively and vivid, and many slangs have been born at the right moment.

2. Literature Review

2.1 Definition of American slang

Slang is a nomenclature which is hard to define. The Concise Oxford Dictionary  has two definitions  about  it. The  first  one  is  “used  informally  and  is  often considered  as not

belonged to Standard English, which is often used in receiving the effect with vivid, novelty and depart from convention（The Concise Oxford Dictionary).” Merriam Webster’s Collegiate Thesaurus defined it as “ a kind of popular language consists of the word which full of论文网