SLANG, itself originally a slang word, is akin to sling (compare “to sling off at”—to jeer or taunt) and to such Norwegian terms as slenja-ord, “a slang word,” and slenja-keften, “to sling the jaw”—that is, to speak abusively.

俚语，它本身就是一个俚语单词，类似于sling（比较“对…喋喋不休”—嘲笑或奚落）也类似于挪威语的“俚语”slenja-ord，和slenja-keften“饶舌”---换言之，说脏话。

To define slang is not easy. It ranks below colloquialism yet above cant (the language of the underworld). Carl Sandburg’s definition, “language which takes off its coat, spits on its hands—and goes to work,” describes the spirit but over-praises the merit of slang: much Standard English and Standard American acts precisely as Sandburg recommends. A good definition is that of the Oxford English dictionary: “language of a highly colloquial type, considered as below the level of standard educated speech, and consisting either of new words or of current words employed in some special sense.” A better definition is that of Webster’s Third New International Dictionary: “a nonstandard vocabulary composed of words and sense characterized primarily by connotations of extreme informality and usually a currency not limited to a particular region and composed typically of coinage or arbitrarily changed words, clipped or shortened forms, extravagant, forced, or facetious figures of speech, or verbal novelties usually experiencing quick popularity and relatively rapid decline into disuse.”

    想要给俚语下定义并不容易。其地位低于口语，但高于黑话（下层社会的语言）。卡尔·桑德伯格的定义是“脱下外套，朝手上吐痰---然后去干活的语言”，描述了俚语的精神，但过分赞扬了俚语的长处：许多标准英语和标准美语的行为正如桑德伯格描述的那样。一个不错的定义是《牛律英语词典》的定义：“一类高度口语化的语言，被认为是低于标准教育水准的说话方式，而且既有新词，又有在某种特殊意义上使用的流行词汇组成”。一个更好的定义是《韦伯第三版新国际词典》的定义：“一种由单词和意义组成的非标准词汇，主要以极端随意的隐含意义为特征，通常不限定在某一特定区域流行，而且由典型的新造的词或随意改变的单词、省略或缩短的形式，夸张、强迫的或滑稽的形象化比喻，或通常经历迅速的流行以及相对快速地衰落至废弃的一些东西所构成”。

It is well to remember that in addition to standard slang—current among users of Standard English or Standard American—there are many class slangs and vocational slangs, the latter including, for instance, the slang employed by players of games and sportsmen and by those who watch them. The philologists Henry Bradley (1848—1923) and George P. Krapp (1872-1934) have told us that “slang develops most freely in groups with a strong realization of group activity and interest, and groups without this sense of unity, e.g., farmers, rarely invent slang terms.”

最好记住，除了在标准英语或标准美语的使用者中流行的标准俚语外---有许多阶层的俚语和职业俚语，例如，后者包括游戏玩家和运动员以及观众们使用的俚语。语言学家亨利·布拉德利（1848年至1923年）和乔治·P. 克拉普（1872年至1934年）曾告诉我们，“俚语在带有强烈团体活动意识和兴趣的群体中发展的最为自由，而没有这种团结感的群体，例如农民，很难发明俚语术语”。

                                      ERIC PARTRIDGE,

Author of “A Dictionary of Slang and Unconventional English”

                                            埃里克·帕特里奇

                                   “俚语与非常规英语词典”的作者

                                                   2022年7月19日译

（译者注：该词条位列《大美百科全书》1985年版，第25卷，第16页至17页）