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# slang

«slang» in Mova's school dictionary: **Very informal words and phrases used in casual talk…** — its meaning for a pupil, its sense in the lessons and examples, with 5 sentences of Mova's corpora that use it.

### part of speech

noun (uncountable; a slang word); verb (slang, slangs, slanged, slanging — UK, informal)

### meaning for a pupil

1) Very informal words and phrases used in casual talk, often by a group such as young people, and not used in formal writing. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/S/slang/#m1)

2) (verb, UK, informal) slanging match: an angry argument with insults. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/S/slang/#m2)

### sense in the lessons

In English lessons pupils learn the difference between slang and standard English. Examples: "cool", "gonna", "arvo" (Australia), "innit" (UK). Slang changes fast and differs between countries. Phrases: slang word, slang term, rhyming slang, slanging match.

### examples

- "Cool" is slang for "very good". [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/S/slang/#x1)
- Don't use slang in your essay. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/S/slang/#x2)
- In Australian slang, "arvo" means afternoon. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/S/slang/#x3)
- Cockney rhyming slang uses "apples and pears" for stairs. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/S/slang/#x4)
- My grandad doesn't understand our slang. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/S/slang/#x5)
- "Quid" is British slang for a pound. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/S/slang/#x6)
- The neighbours had a slanging match over the fence. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/S/slang/#x7)
- Real fairies never preach or talk slang. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/S/slang/#x8)

### note

Uncountable: "some slang", "a slang word". Slang is not wrong, just informal: fine with friends, not in tests. Slang money words (buck, quid) still mean real amounts in maths problems.

### In the corpora

- [In graffiti slang, bombing means spraying lots of tags quickly, usually illegally; it has nothing to do with real bombs.](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/arts/19-street-art-and-graffiti-legal-walls-vs-vandalism/12/)
- ["dǎ léi le" means "it's thundering"; in slang "léi rén" means shocking or cringe.](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/chinese-street/20-weather-and-what-granny-says-to-wear/13/)
- [Slang words follow the ordinary plural rules (arvo, arvos), but school writing uses the standard word (afternoons).](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/english/6-spelling-plurals/27/)
- [Slang can give an old word a new meaning.](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/english/11-homophones-and-near-homophones/17/)
- [In London youth slang «bare» means very or lots of: «That party was bare good».](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/english/11-homophones-and-near-homophones/18/)

### Trees and pragmatics

[Every meaning and example of «slang» parsed by Mova](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/S/slang/), each sentence with its dependency tree and frames.