A slang is a kind of dialect.
Jargon is a particular and familiar language used by members of a certain social group among themselves. This type of dialect can be difficult to understand for those who are not part of the aforementioned community.
Jargons are often created to hide the meaning of words. This is the case, for example, of prison jargon , used by prisoners to avoid their conversations being recorded by the authorities. This reason leads to the terms used in jargon being temporary : once they are adopted and their use becomes widespread, they are no longer used.
Jargon and sense of belonging
There are slangs that arise for geographical reasons and that, over time, can become part of a regional dialect. In this case, there is no intention to hide the meaning of the words, but rather they arise from a sense of belonging and the intention to differentiate oneself from other groups .
Specifically, we can establish that jargon can be classified into two large groups: social and professional.
Social slang, as their name suggests, is slang that can be created by different people with two different objectives: to stand out from the rest or to avoid being understood by others. Thus, by name, in this category we could establish those slangs that are used by urban tribes or groups of teenagers, for example.
Professional jargons , on the other hand, are developed to name certain procedures or instruments precisely. Given the importance of understanding these terms for the development of a profession, there are dictionaries about these jargons.
Slang can contribute to a sense of belonging.
The slang
It should be noted that it is common to confuse jargon with slang. In this case, the differences between the two concepts are not perfectly defined and they can be used interchangeably.
The term jargon is often used as a synonym for slang , which is a social jargon that is generally associated with vulgar expressions. In Argentina and Uruguay , lunfardo is the jargon that contributed numerous words to the lyrics of tangos and other popular genres.
“This kid is a bum, man, he plays it cool but always travels by bus” is an example of Argentine lunfardo that would be equivalent to something like “This kid is a liar, he says he has a lot of money but always travels by bus” .
A term that comes from jargon is gibberish, which is used to define any language that is difficult to understand.
Other uses of the concept of jargon
However, in addition to all of the above, we cannot overlook the fact that slang is also a term used with other meanings. Thus, this word defines a mattress that is made either with straw or grass.
Similarly, it is also used to refer to a type of fabric that is identified by being very thick and rough.
And all this without forgetting the expression “leave in jargon”. This is a colloquial verbal expression used to make it clear that something has only just begun and, therefore, has not been finished.