An initial 4A N2...?

[James A. Landau]

In a message dated 7/1/02 12:31:05 PM Eastern Daylight Time,
slang at BLUEYONDER.CO.UK writes:

> If one defines jargon (the occupational/group variety rather than the
>  obfuscational sort, which I don't think has been brought into the
discussion
>  so far) as a language used by a specific 'occupational' group, then _all_
>  drug terminology could be labelled jargon.

Your definition is incorrect.  The language used by a specific "occupational"
group is its "lingo", or if a beyond-the-law group, its "argot" or "cant".
All drug terminology  could, in fact, should be labelled "argot."  Within the
drug argot there are jargon terms, there are slang terms, and there are terms
on which we could split hares until Australia runs out of rabbits.

Also, one should note that there are multiple illegal drug groups.  A person
who solely uses marijuana, for instance, is unlikely to need argot terms
specific to narcotics.

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In a message dated 7/1/02 11:40:16 AM Eastern Daylight Time, dave at WILTON.NET
writes:

> "Slang" and "jargon" are not mutually exclusive categories, even for a
>  single group. Both jargon and slang are categories of nonstandard language,
>  but there the similarity in categorization ends. Slang is categorized by
its
>  informality and while it is associated with a particular social grouping,
>  those groupings are often rather vaguely defined. "Jargon" on the other
hand
>  is language specific to a profession or discipline. Jargon can be either
>  formal (ventricular tachycardia) or informal/slang (bumsickle). The
>  definitions do not use the same criteria for categorization and have wide
>  room for overlap.

Bravo!  I agree.

>  But, a single sense of a word cannot be simultaneously standard and
>  jargon/slang.

I made no such claim.  I stated that DIFFERENT senses of the word "jazz" had
to be sorted differently.

     to jazz = to have sex ---- slang
     to jazz up (a piece of music) --- musicians' jargon, but widely enough
used, and widely enough recognizable,  to be considered standard
     to jazz (up) = to enliven or accelerate (MWCD10 definitions 1a and 1b)
---originally slang, but like the previous, widely enough used to be
considered standard

By the way, M-W says that senses 1a and 1b antedate the musician's technical
sense, which is the opposite of what I thought.

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In a message dated 7/1/02 12:31:05 PM Eastern Daylight Time,
slang at BLUEYONDER.CO.UK writes:

> One suggestion: perhaps the names of drugs tend to be
>  slang; the equipment and technique of administration remains jargon.

No.  Your suggestion is highly artificial and not useful.  If "smack" and
"horse" were used to distinguish between different grades of heroin, they
would obviously be jargon terms.  As far as I know, they don't, therefore
they are argot but not jargon by my definition.  On the other hand, if you
were to record half a dozen terms for an IV needle, and these terms were not
used to distinguish needles by bore, capacity, etc., then they would be slang.

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I still don't have a definition for slang, but I would like to point out one
frequent element:  slang terms are sometimes, though definitely NOT always,
poetic.  That is, they sometimes employ elements of poetry, such as imagery,
hyperbole, or understatement.

To stick with narcotics, uh, argot:

"horse" ---- alliterative with "heroin"
"smack" --- possibly (I'm guessing) hyperbole, referring to the fast onset of
a high
"mainline" ---- hyperbolic imagery, a blood vessel being awarded the metaphor
of a railroad track

         - Jim Landau