"slang" and "informal" as dict labels [WAS: shirty?]

[Gerald Cohen]

At 5:25 AM -0500 2/13/03, Frank Abate wrote:
>However, I like "slang" as a label, as long as it is understood to mean
>'term/phrase that originated in speech, is never formal, and that serves as
>a substitute for a formal or regular term for a thing'.
>
>The "substitute" bit is the KEY. ...

Yes. I often think of "Molotov cocktail" in this regard.  By all
rights this should be a slang term; but there's no substitute for it,
and it can therefore be spoken in the most serious of conversations.

Gerald Cohen