slang = "slang expression"

[Grant Barrett]

In Singapore, India, and other English-speaking parts of Asia "slang"
is a count noun, not simply a mass noun. I come across such uses by
the bucket-loads, even in edited, professional newspapers.

Grant Barrett
gbarrett at worldnewyork.org

> Arnold Zwicky wrote:
> these are innovations, and you might find them annoying, but the
> motivation for count "slang" and "folklore" is essentially the same as
> the motivation for count "e(-)mail" and "spam" (which began life as
> mass nouns only): brevity.  these "countifications" provide a single-
> word counterpart for the phrasal version "piece of Nmass".

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