Types of Slang

Cockney rhyming slang

Cockney rhyming slang is a form of English slang which originated in the East End of London, and has been popularized by film, music, and literature. Anthony Burgess used rhyming slang as a part of the fictitious "Nadsat" dialect in his classic book A Clockwork Orange.

Traditional Cockney rhyming slang works by taking two words that are related through a short phrase and using the first word to stand for a word that rhymes with the second. For instance, "boat" means "face" as "boat race" rhymes with face. Similarly, "plates" means "feet" ("plates of meat"), and bread means "money" (bread and honey).

The origins of rhyming slang are disputed. It remains a matter of speculation as to whether rhyming slang evolved as a linguistic accident or whether it was developed intentionally to confuse non-locals. If deliberate, it might have simply been used to maintain a sense of community, or in the marketplace for vendors to talk amongst themselves without customers knowing what they were saying, or by criminals (similar to thieves' cant) to confuse the police.

The proliferation of rhyming slang has meant many of its traditional expressions have passed into common language, and the creation of new ones (often ironically) is no longer restricted to Cockneys. Some substitutions have become relatively widespread in Britain, such as "have a butcher's" (which means to have a look, from "butcher's hook"), and these are often now used without awareness of their origins.

Many English speakers are unaware that the term "use your loaf" is derived from "loaf of bread" meaning head. The extent of the use of rhyming slang is often exaggerated; only a very few phrases are in everyday use. Many examples are only used by people who are discussing rhyming slang, or by people who are being ironic or are making up a term on the spot for a joke, often at the expense of the tourist. In addition, since the original purpose was to encode or disguise speech from the comprehension of bystanders, terms that become too well-known still have a tendency to lose actual currency fairly quickly, putting whatever usage the slang enjoys into a constant flux.

Below are just a few of the most common examples of Cockney rhyming slang.
Apples = apples and pears = stairs
Barnet = Barnet Fair = hair
Brass = Brass Flute = Prostitute
Dog = dog and bone = telephone
Jam = Jam jar = Car
China = China plate = mate
Frog = frog and toad = road
Rosie = Rosie Lee = tea

Internet slang

The Internet has created an entire subculture of users, who have developed an extensive library of slang. Many internet slang terms originated with the purpose of saving keystrokes, and often appear in lower case. For example, "you" becomes "u" and "are" becomes "r." 
Web forums are often credited with helping popularize and spread forms of internet slang.
  
Leet (sometimes written as 1337 or l33t) uses various combinations of alphanumerics to replace letters of words. "E" is commonly replaced by "3," and "S" by "5." Leet commonly has its own sets of colloquialisms and jokes, and exists in a number of languages in addition to English, such as Greek, Russian, and Chinese. Excessive use of leet is often used to ridicule or satirize new members of an internet community, who are often referred to as n00bs (newbies or newcomers).

One of the most popular types of internet slang is the use of acronyms. For example, well-known acronyms include "LOL," which stands for "laughing out loud." "IMHO" for "in my humble opinion," and "TTYL" meaning "talk to you later." Instant messaging and texting over mobile phones have popularized a large amount of acronyms and abbreviations, as they are both quicker and easier to type than the full version. Numbers are sometimes incorporated into internet and text messaging slang. "L8r" uses the phonetic sound of "eight" to create the word "later." Similarly, "h8" means "hate."

"Emoticons" (smileys) are another popular form of internet slang. Emoticons are a form of ASCII art in which a short sequence of typed characters are used to resemble a facial expression and convey an emotion. They are viewed sideways, where a clockwise rotation of ninety degrees would orient them vertically. The most basic emoticon is :), where the colon represents the eyes and the parenthesis the mouth, forming a rough approximation of a "happy face." Other common emoticons or "smileys" are "sad face" :( and "shocked" 8-O. A great many variants of emoticons exist, such as 8D, =), =D, =>), >=D,:p, |=[, >8), >XD, and so forth. There is another variation of "smileys" resembling a wink by combining a semicolon and a parenthesis, such as ;), ;] or ;}. The differing use of parentheses can give the emoticon a slightly different slant; for example ;} can represent an evil or otherwise malicious wink.

Slang in popular culture

Many subcultures have numerous slang phrases unique to that specific subculture. Prison inmates have their own slang, as do musicians. Slang often originates within a group as a way to communicate without including outsiders, and thus is often found within groups of teenagers. 

The use of slang not only gives a group the ability to exclude outsiders, but serves as a means of bonding the group together through a shared vocabulary. Each culture generally has its own set of slang vocabulary, which can vary from region to region. In a large city, slang can even vary substantially from neighbourhood to neighbourhood.

Slang is often used in film and fiction. The proper use of slang can add a sense of realism to a work of fiction, as well as evoke a specific time period or point in history. Conversely, improper or forced use of slang can be the subject of ridicule. For example, teachers or other authority figures who attempt to use teenage slang are often made fun of by the teenagers they are trying to connect with.