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49-669: (Redirected from Cants ) [REDACTED] Look up cant in Wiktionary, the free dictionary. Cant , CANT , canting , or canted may refer to: Language [ edit ] Cant (language) , a secret language Beurla Reagaird , a language of the Scottish Highland Travellers Scottish Cant , a language of the Scottish Lowland Travellers Shelta or

98-414: A suffix to coin names for modern-day jargons such as "medicant", a term used to refer to the type of language employed by members of the medical profession that is largely unintelligible to lay people. The thieves' cant was a feature of popular pamphlets and plays, particularly between 1590 and 1615, but continued to feature in literature through the 18th century. There are questions about how genuinely

147-538: A broad, empirical window into the motivating forces behind slang. While many forms of lexicon may be considered low-register or "sub-standard", slang remains distinct from colloquial and jargon terms because of its specific social contexts . While viewed as inappropriate in formal usage, colloquial terms are typically considered acceptable in speech across a wide range of contexts, whereas slang tends to be perceived as inappropriate in many common communication situations. Jargon refers to language used by personnel in

196-608: A commune in Ariège, France Canter (disambiguation) Canticle Kant (disambiguation) Kante (disambiguation) Topics referred to by the same term [REDACTED] This disambiguation page lists articles associated with the title Cant . If an internal link led you here, you may wish to change the link to point directly to the intended article. Retrieved from " https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Cant&oldid=1259749501 " Category : Disambiguation pages Hidden categories: Short description

245-399: A language over time. The 1941 film, Ball of Fire , portrays a professor played by Gary Cooper who is researching and writing an encyclopedia article about slang. The 2006 film, Idiocracy , portrays a less intelligent society in the year 2505 that has people who use all various sorts of aggressive slang. These slangs sound very foreign and alienating to the protagonist of the movie,

294-895: A means to prevent outsiders from understanding their communication and as a manner of establishing a subculture that meets the needs of their alternative social structure. Anti-languages differ from slang and jargon in that they are used solely among ostracized social groups, including prisoners, criminals, homosexuals, and teenagers. Anti-languages use the same basic vocabulary and grammar as their native language in an unorthodox fashion. For example, anti-languages borrow words from other languages, create unconventional compounds, or utilize new suffixes for existing words. Anti-languages may also change words using metathesis , reversal of sounds or letters (e.g., apple to elppa ), or substituting their consonants. Therefore, anti-languages are distinct and unique and are not simply dialects of existing languages. In his essay "Anti-Language", Halliday synthesized

343-465: A particular field or to language used to represent specific terms within a field to those with a particular interest. Although jargon and slang can both be used to exclude non-group members from the conversation, slang tends to emphasize social and contextual understanding whereas the main purpose of jargon is to optimize communication using terms that imply technical understanding. While colloquialisms and jargon may seem like slang because they reference

392-425: A particular group, they do not necessarily fit the same definition because they do not represent a particular effort to replace the general lexicon of a standard language . Colloquialisms are considered more acceptable and more expected in standard usage than slang is, and jargon is often created to talk about aspects of a particular field that are not accounted for in the general lexicon. However, this differentiation

441-608: A particular language, with a part of its vocabulary replaced by words unknown to the larger public; argot used in this sense is synonymous with cant . For example, argot in this sense is used for systems such as verlan and louchébem , which retain French syntax and apply transformations only to individual words (and often only to a certain subset of words, such as nouns, or semantic content words). Such systems are examples of argots à clef , or "coded argots". Specific words can go from argot into everyday speech or

490-564: A road or track Cant (shooting) , referring to a gun being tilted around the longitudinal axis, rather than being horizontally levelled Cant (surname) , a family name and persons with it Canting , a tool used in making batik Chris Taylor (Grizzly Bear musician) , an American performer University of Canterbury , a New Zealand university which uses Cantuar or Cant as an abbreviation for their name in post-nominal letters See also [ edit ] CANT (disambiguation) All pages with titles containing Cant Canté ,

539-403: A role in constructing identity. While slang outlines social space, attitudes about slang partly construct group identity and identify individuals as members of groups. Therefore, using the slang of a particular group associates an individual with that group. Michael Silverstein 's orders of indexicality can be employed to assign a slang term as a second-order index to that particular group. Using

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588-477: A slang term removes its status as true slang because it is then accepted by the media and is thus no longer the special insider speech of a particular group. For example, Black American music frequently uses slang, and many of its frequently used terms have therefore become part of vernacular English. Some say that a general test for whether a word is slang or not is whether or not it would be acceptable in an academic or legal setting, but that would consider slang to be

637-573: A slang term, however, can also give an individual the qualities associated with the term's group of origin, whether or not the individual is trying to identify as a member of the group. This allocation of qualities based on abstract group association is known as third-order indexicality. As outlined in Elisa Mattiello's book "An Introduction to English Slang", a slang term can assume several levels of meaning and can be used for many reasons connected with identity. For example, male adolescents use

686-508: Is a vocabulary (words, phrases , and linguistic usages ) of an informal register , common in everyday conversation but avoided in formal writing. It also often refers to the language exclusively used by the members of particular in-groups in order to establish group identity , exclude outsiders, or both. The word itself came about in the 18th century and has been defined in multiple ways since its conception, with no single technical usage in linguistics. In its earliest attested use (1756),

735-400: Is also used to refer to the informal specialized vocabulary from a particular field of study, occupation, or hobby, in which sense it overlaps with jargon . In his 1862 novel Les Misérables , Victor Hugo refers to that argot as both "the language of the dark" and "the language of misery". The earliest known record of the term argot in this context was in a 1628 document. The word

784-415: Is different from Wikidata All article disambiguation pages All disambiguation pages Cant (language) There are two main schools of thought on the origin of the word cant : An argot ( English: / ˈ ɑːr ɡ oʊ / ; from French argot [aʁɡo] ' slang ') is a language used by various groups to prevent outsiders from understanding their conversations. The term argot

833-455: Is especially awesome and "hype". Words and phrases from popular Hollywood films and television series frequently become slang. One early slang-like code, thieves' cant , was first used in England in around the year 1600 as a way of law-breakers to communicate without the authorities knowing of what they were saying. Slang is usually associated with a particular social group and plays

882-581: Is not consistently applied by linguists; the terms "slang" and "jargon" are sometimes treated as synonymous, and the scope of "jargon" is at times extended to mean all forms of socially-restricted language. It is often difficult to differentiate slang from colloquialisms and even high-register lexicon because slang generally becomes accepted into common vocabulary over time. Words such as "spurious" and "strenuous" were once perceived as slang, but they are now considered general, even high-register words. Some literature on slang even says that mainstream acceptance of

931-565: Is often referred to as an argot, but it has been argued that it is an anti-language because of the social structure it maintains through the social class of the droogs. In parts of Connacht , in Ireland, cant mainly refers to an auction , typically on fair day ("Cantmen and Cantwomen, some from as far away as Dublin, would converge on Mohill on a Fair Day, ... set up their stalls ... and immediately start auctioning off their merchandise") and secondly means talk ("very entertaining conversation

980-405: The grypsera of Polish prisons, thieves' cant , Polari , and Bangime . Anti-languages are sometimes created by authors and used by characters in novels. These anti-languages do not have complete lexicons, cannot be observed in use for linguistic description , and therefore cannot be studied in the same way a language spoken by an existing anti-society would. However, they are still used in

1029-574: The anti-language was first defined and studied by the linguist Michael Halliday , who used the term to describe the lingua franca of an anti-society . An anti-society is a small, separate community intentionally created within a larger society as an alternative to or resistance of it. For example, Adam Podgórecki studied one anti-society composed of Polish prisoners; Bhaktiprasad Mallik of Sanskrit College studied another composed of criminals in Calcutta. These societies develop anti-languages as

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1078-564: The Cant, a language of the Irish Travellers Thieves' cant , a language of criminals Canting arms , heraldic puns on the bearer's name Can't , contraction of cannot Other uses [ edit ] Cant (architecture) , part of a facade CANT (aviation) ( Cantieri Aeronautici e Navali Triestini ), an aircraft manufacturer Cant (log) , a log partially processed in a sawmill Cant (road/rail) , an angle of

1127-403: The early 2000s along with the rise in popularity of social networking services, including Facebook , Twitter , and Instagram . This has spawned new vocabularies associated with each new social media venue, such as the use of the term "friending" on Facebook, which is a verbification of "friend" used to describe the process of adding a new person to one's group of friends on the website, despite

1176-450: The existence of an analogous term "befriend". This term is much older than Facebook, but has only recently entered the popular lexicon. Other examples of slang in social media demonstrate a proclivity toward shortened words or acronyms. These are especially associated with services such as Twitter, which (as of November 2017 ) has a 280-character limit for each message and therefore requires a relatively brief mode of expression. This includes

1225-399: The first to report on the phenomenon of slang in a systematic and linguistic way, postulated that a term would likely be in circulation for a decade before it would be written down. Nevertheless, it seems that slang generally forms via deviation from a standard form. This "spawning" of slang occurs in much the same way that any general semantic change might occur. The difference here is that

1274-422: The floor laughing"), which are widely used in instant messaging on the internet. As subcultures are often forms of counterculture, which is understood to oppose the norm, it follows that slang has come to be associated with counterculture. Slang is often adopted from social media as a sign of social awareness and shared knowledge of popular culture . This type known as internet slang has become prevalent since

1323-531: The hippie slang of the 1960s. The word "gig" is now a widely accepted synonym for a concert, recital, or performance of any type. Generally, slang terms undergo the same processes of semantic change that words in the regular lexicon do. Slang often forms from words with previously differing meanings, one example is the often used and popular slang word "lit", which was created by a generation labeled "Generation Z". The word itself used to be associated with something being on fire or being "lit" up until 1988 when it

1372-456: The indexicalized social identifications the former convey. In terms of first and second order indexicality, the usage of speaker-oriented terms by male adolescents indicated their membership to their age group, to reinforce connection to their peer group, and to exclude outsiders. In terms of higher order indexicality, anyone using these terms may desire to appear fresher, undoubtedly more playful, faddish, and colourful than someone who employs

1421-432: The lack of a clear definition, however, Bethany K. Dumas and Jonathan Lighter argue that an expression should be considered "true slang" if it meets at least two of the following criteria: Michael Adams remarks that "[Slang] is liminal language... it is often impossible to tell, even in context, which interests and motives it serves... slang is on the edge." Slang dictionaries, collecting thousands of slang entries, offer

1470-407: The literature reflected vernacular use in the criminal underworld. A thief in 1839 claimed that the cant he had seen in print was nothing like the cant then used by gypsies, thieves, and beggars. He also said that each of these used distinct vocabularies, which overlapped, the gypsies having a cant word for everything, and the beggars using a lower style than the thieves. Slang A slang

1519-730: The other way. For example, modern French loufoque 'crazy', 'goofy', now common usage, originated in the louchébem transformation of Fr. fou 'crazy'. In the field of medicine, physicians have been said to have their own spoken argot, cant, or slang, which incorporates commonly understood abbreviations and acronyms, frequently used technical colloquialisms , and much everyday professional slang (that may or may not be institutionally or geographically localized). While many of these colloquialisms may prove impenetrable to most lay people, few seem to be specifically designed to conceal meaning from patients (perhaps because standard medical terminology would usually suffice anyway). The concept of

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1568-517: The possibility of a Scandinavian origin, suggesting the same root as that of sling , which means "to throw", and noting that slang is thrown language – a quick and honest way to make your point. Linguists have no simple and clear definition of slang but agree that it is a constantly changing linguistic phenomenon present in every subculture worldwide. Some argue that slang exists because we must come up with ways to define new experiences that have surfaced with time and modernity. Attempting to remedy

1617-491: The research of Thomas Harman, Adam Podgórecki , and Bhaktiprasad Mallik to explore anti-languages and the connection between verbal communication and the maintenance of a social structure. For this reason, the study of anti-languages is both a study of sociology and linguistics. Halliday's findings can be compiled as a list of nine criteria that a language must meet to be considered an anti-language: Examples of anti-languages include Cockney rhyming slang , CB slang , verlan ,

1666-518: The same as normal, everyday, informal language. Others say that a general test is whether the word has been entered in the Oxford English Dictionary, which some scholars claim changes its status as slang. It is often difficult to collect etymologies for slang terms, largely because slang is a phenomenon of speech, rather than written language and etymologies which are typically traced via corpus . Eric Partridge , cited as

1715-588: The semantic point of view, slangy foxy is more loaded than neutral sexy in terms of information provided. That is, for young people foxy means having the quality of: (1) attracting interest, attention, affection, (2) causing desire, (3) excellent or admirable in appearance, and (4) sexually provocative, exciting, etc., whereas sexy only refers to the quality indicated in point (4). Matiello stresses that those agents who identify themselves as "young men" have "genuinely coined" these terms and choose to use them over "canonical" terms —like beautiful or sexy—because of

1764-458: The slang term's new meaning takes on a specific social significance having to do with the group the term indexes. Coleman also suggests that slang is differentiated within more general semantic change in that it typically has to do with a certain degree of "playfulness". The development of slang is considered to be a largely "spontaneous, lively, and creative" speech process. Still, while a great deal of slang takes off, even becoming accepted into

1813-492: The socially preferable or "correct" ways to speak, according to a language's normative grammar and syntactical words, descriptivists focus on studying language to further understand the subconscious rules of how individuals speak, which makes slang important in understanding such rules. Noam Chomsky , a founder of anthropological linguistic thought, challenged structural and prescriptive grammar and began to study sounds and morphemes functionally, as well as their changes within

1862-436: The standard English term "beautiful". This appearance relies heavily on the hearer's third-order understanding of the term's associated social nuances and presupposed use-cases. Often, distinct subcultures will create slang that members will use in order to associate themselves with the group, or to delineate outsiders. Slang terms are often known only within a clique or ingroup . For example, Leet ("Leetspeak" or "1337")

1911-401: The standard lexicon, much slang dies out, sometimes only referencing a group. An example of this is the term "groovy" which is a relic of 1960s and 70s American hippie slang. Nevertheless, for a slang term to become a slang term, people must use it, at some point in time, as a way to flout standard language. Additionally, slang terms may be borrowed between groups, such as the term "gig" which

1960-464: The study of anti-languages. Roger Fowler's "Anti-Languages in Fiction" analyzes Anthony Burgess 's A Clockwork Orange and William S. Burroughs ' Naked Lunch to redefine the nature of the anti-language and to describe its ideological purpose. A Clockwork Orange is a popular example of a novel where the main character is a teenage boy who speaks an anti-language called Nadsat . This language

2009-412: The terms "foxy" and "shagadelic" to "show their belonging to a band, to stress their virility or their age, to reinforce connection with their peer group and to exclude outsiders, to show off, etc." These two examples use both traditional and nontraditional methods of word formation to create words with more meaning and expressiveness than the more direct and traditional words "sexy" and "beautiful": From

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2058-450: The use of hashtags which explicitly state the main content of a message or image, such as #food or #photography. Some critics believe that when slang becomes more commonplace it effectively eradicates the "proper" use of a certain language. However, academic (descriptive) linguists believe that language is not static but ever-changing and that slang terms are valid words within a language's lexicon. While prescriptivists study and promote

2107-493: The word slang referred to the vocabulary of "low" or "disreputable" people. By the early nineteenth century, it was no longer exclusively associated with disreputable people, but continued to be applied to usages below the level of standard educated speech. In Scots dialect it meant "talk, chat, gossip", as used by Aberdeen poet William Scott in 1832: "The slang gaed on aboot their war'ly care." In northern English dialect it meant "impertinence, abusive language". The origin of

2156-568: The word "slang" is unclear. It was first used in print around 1800 to refer to the language of the disreputable and criminal classes in London, though its usage likely dates back further. A Scandinavian origin has been proposed (compare, for example, Norwegian slengenavn , which means "nickname"), but based on "date and early associations" is discounted by the Oxford English Dictionary . Jonathon Green , however, agrees with

2205-410: Was first used in writing to indicate a person who was drunk in the book "Warbirds: Diary of an Unknown Aviator". Since this time "lit" has gained popularity through Rap songs such as ASAP Rocky's "Get Lit" in 2011. As the popularity of the word has increased so too has the number of different meanings associated with the word. Now "lit" describes a person who is drunk and/or high, as well as an event that

2254-541: Was often described as 'great cant'" or "crosstalk"). In Scotland, two unrelated creole languages are termed cant . Scottish Cant (a mixed language, primarily Scots and Romani with Scottish Gaelic influences) is spoken by lowland Roma groups. Highland Traveller's Cant (or Beurla Reagaird ) is a Gaelic -based cant of the Indigenous Highland Traveller population. The cants are mutually unintelligible. The word has also been used as

2303-445: Was originally coined by jazz musicians in the 1930s and then borrowed into the same hippie slang of the 1960s. 'The word "groovy" has remained a part of subculture lexicon since its popularization. It is still in common use today by a significant population. The word "gig" to refer to a performance very likely originated well before the 1930s, and remained a common term throughout the 1940s and 1950s before becoming vaguely associated with

2352-494: Was originally popular only among certain internet subcultures such as software crackers and online video gamers. During the 1990s, and into the early 21st century, however, Leet became increasingly commonplace on the internet, and it has spread outside internet-based communication and into spoken languages. Other types of slang include SMS language used on mobile phones, and "chatspeak", (e.g., " LOL ", an acronym meaning "laughing out loud" or "laugh out loud" or ROFL , "rolling on

2401-402: Was probably derived from the contemporary name les argotiers , given to a group of thieves at that time. Under the strictest definition, an argot is a proper language with its own grammatical system. Such complete secret languages are rare because the speakers usually have some public language in common, on which the argot is largely based. Such argots are lexically divergent forms of

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