Slang - статья на английском языке

Slang has been aptly described as "a peculiar kind of vagabond language, always hanging on the outskirts of legitimate speech, but continually straying or forcing its way into the most respectable company".1 Yet it is a part of language and cannot be ignored or dismissed with a contemptuous sneer. One of the developments which must certainly be credited to the nineteenth century is the growth of a more objective and scientific attitude toward this feature of language. <...>
In surveying contemporary English, not only do we have to consider the slang which has lifted itself into the level of educated speech but we must recognize the part played by slang in its own character. For there is hardly a person who does not make use of it upon occasion. Slang results from an instinctive desire for freshness and novelty of expression. Naturally the less a person is inclined to submit to the restraints imposed by a formal standard, the more ready he is to accept indiscriminately the newest slang locution. <...>
It can hardly be denied that some slang expressions, while they are current, express an idea that it would be difficult to convey by other means. Hassle, boob tube, vibes, clout, pizzazz, rip-off, laid-back, antsy, knee-jerk, trendy undoubtedly owe their popularity to some merit which is recognized by a sure instinct among the people. It is sometimes difficult to define the precise quality which makes an expression slang. It is often not in the word itself, but in the sense in which it is used. Put down is proper enough if we speak of soldiers who put down a rebellion, but it is slang when we speak of a remark which put someone down or refer to the remark as a put-down. So far as colloquial use is concerned it is impossible to shut our eyes to the prominent part which slang plays in the language.
(From "A History of the English Language" by Albert С Baugh and Thomas Cable)