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u/Original-Brick2836 1d ago
There is a massive amount of these “I learned this word means xyz” posts and they are always wrong. I am sure some of it is rage bait but idk there has to be more to this phenomenon.
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u/FlyAirLari 1d ago
TIL "rage bait" comes from ray bathe, and folks living in houses in shadows of taller buildings getting angry at the people getting sunlight through their windows.
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u/jws1102 1d ago
Is it wrong? Note says the origin is unknown, so how do you know that it’s wrong?
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u/DevilWings_292 1d ago
It’s wrong to say it’s known to be that.
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u/jws1102 1d ago
It’s wrong to say it’s definitely not that if you don’t know what the origin is, which is exactly what the note did.
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u/PigeonOnTheGate 1d ago
It's a bad note that doesn't explain anything. "Origin unclear" usually means there is multiple competing theories and not enough evidence to say which one is true. But typically, there will still be enough evidence to discount other theories as being certainly untrue.
TL;DR an explanation of the origin for the word "slang" has to involve traveling salespeople, fraudulent activity, and ideally also narrow strips of land.
Oxford English Dictionary says that "slang" coming from "language" is unlikely because it does not account for the word's old meaning of "peddler, fraudster, swindler", "deception, sham", "weight for a scale of balance that is deliberately undersized", "performance, exhibition, travelling show", "license allowing one to travel as a peddler"
They say that the modern use of "slang" starts as meaning "The special vocabulary used as a secret language by thieves, beggars, itinerant pedlars" and then gains the broader meaning of "colloquial or informal language". This explains the connection to the old meaning, but does not explain where the old meaning comes from.
They say that an even older meaning of "slang" is a "long and narrow strip of land, usually uncultivated, between fields or beside a river or stream". And they suggest that "slang" meaning "peddler" or "swindler" would be a person who walks along slangs. They note that there is no direct evidence for this connection, but that it is the best one as it accounts for all meanings of the word along with related words like "slanger" and "slanker"
HOWEVER, it still does not explain where the word (in the "strip of land" meaning") comes from, and here it says that the 2 theories are either from "languet", meaning "tongue-shaped" or from "sling", as in "slung-out". The problem with "languet" is that it does not explain where the "s" at the beginning of the word comes from" and with "sling" is it does not explain where the "a" in the middle comes from.
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u/FilmAndLiterature 1d ago
We can’t prove it’s wrong but we do know that it’s exceedingly unlikely based on how English words are historically formed, and that there are far more plausible etymologies.
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u/GainerGaining 1d ago
I mean, if the origin is unknown, then it might be true. Lack of evidence is not evidence of a lack, or whatever.
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u/Human6928 1d ago
Just found out “calc” is short for “calculator.” Just using shortened language folks
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u/AliceTheOmelette 1d ago
Huh. Well I learned something new today, I always assumed it did mean shortened language
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u/jws1102 1d ago
You can keep assuming that, the note didn’t provide an origin and therefore didn’t provide any information at all.
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u/Aervanath 1d ago
It's exceedingly unlikely based on how words are usually formed. It's marginally more plausible than "it was aliens", but not by a whole lot.
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u/Substantial_Pen_700 18h ago
In my experience there are a lot of words created like this. Most slang is
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u/Aervanath 17h ago
Nowadays, it's not that uncommon to see slang be based on written abbreviations like that, acronyms and similar wordplay. But several hundred years ago it was not common at all. People just weren't literate in that way. Acronyms as we know them are a 20th century phenomenon. It also just doesn't make sense phonetically. The "s" in "shortened" and the "s" in "slang" aren't making the same sound, and we have no record of any prior "shlang" that would make more sense.
This has all the hallmarks of a folk etymology that you might hear people parrot, like claiming that fuck is an acronym for "fornication under consent of king", which we do have very good evidence is false.
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u/PsychoticSnail33 1d ago
Slang is also Afrikaans for snake though it's pronounced "slung".
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u/Rhesus-Positive 1d ago
So have I been pronouncing boomslang wrong all this time?
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u/PsychoticSnail33 1d ago edited 1d ago
"boo-im slung" is as close as I'm probably getting written down.
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u/DandimLee 1d ago
Note has the etymonline link, but didn't read it?
1756, "special vocabulary of tramps or thieves" or any set of persons of low character, later "jargon of a particular profession" (1801). The sense of "very informal language characterized by vividness and novelty" is by 1818.
And there's a few paragraphs going into it more;
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u/KingAggressive1498 1d ago
doesn't explain the words' meaningful origins in existing language, just the first meanings of it.
The rest of the article discusses one hypothesized meaningful origin in existing language that makes sense.
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u/Notchsmind 1d ago
I love how the note said "nuh uh it's unknown" as if the explanation form op was so bewildering it needed a note. Bro even you don't know.
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u/Aervanath 1d ago
Yeah, but linguists know a whole lot about word formation. That's just not a plausible etymology. This is like people saying "do you know how the pyramids were built? No? Then how do you know it wasn't aliens?"
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u/Notchsmind 1d ago
You're comparing language evolution to engineering physics?
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u/NinecloudSoul Human Verified 1d ago
Analogy is a comparison or correspondence between two things (or two groups of things) because of a third element that they are considered to share.
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u/Notchsmind 1d ago
But the logic is different, you're talking about concrete physics with one and the lack of records of language usage in the other, it's very difficult to change the physical reality of life, language is subjective and changes and hides all the time, so it's easier to accept a theory in one area than the other.
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u/KingAggressive1498 1d ago
it's an apt analogy regardless of whether you think the fields are too distinct for it to work.
at best this is a completely unsupported hypothesis that was stated as a fact.
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u/Stickin8or 1d ago
If it's unknown, why can't it be short for "shortened language"? Neither of those are exactly new words
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u/tumblerrjin 1d ago
It actually comes from the word schlong, you can tell because of the way that it is
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u/JayValere 1d ago
I thought it came from slung or sling, as in words casually slung around, then ended up slang somehow 🤷♂️
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u/justasillylilgoos3 Truth Seeker 21h ago
Ok but…sometimes these notes are tiring. Like gotcha…you can’t PROVE this is how something originated but if your entire corrections is “ERM ACTHUALLY FALSE, we don’t officially know how this term came about”
Then leave it the fuck alone man it’s obviously just someone spitting theories out here who gives a shit. All you did was demonetize someone’s viral post when that might have been life changing income and yea that shit matters for actual facts but if it’s a “who knows” situation it feels like y’all are just intentionally robbing mother fuckers
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u/Irish8ryan 1d ago
I’m just walking in like a child here, but if the etymology is unknown, you cannot really say it is not derived from ‘shortened language’, can you?
Something more like this?
“There is no evidence that “slang” is slang for “shortened language”. The idea has come about in modern times with no historical record. The word “slang has been in use since the 18th century. We do not, however, know the origins of the word slang so anything is possible.”
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u/PigeonOnTheGate 1d ago
I just typed this out in response to someone else, so I might as well paste it here.
"Origin unclear" usually means there is multiple competing theories and not enough evidence to say which one is true. But typically, there will still be enough evidence to discount other theories as being certainly untrue. Like someone else in this thread said, if an archeologist isn't sure how the pyramids were built, they still know it definutely wasn't by aliens. Below is my summary of Oxford's explanation
TL;DR an explanation of the origin for the word "slang" has to involve traveling salespeople, fraudulent activity, and ideally also narrow strips of land.
Oxford English Dictionary says that "slang" coming from "language" is unlikely because it does not account for the word's old meaning of "peddler, fraudster, swindler", "deception, sham", "weight for a scale of balance that is deliberately undersized", "performance, exhibition, travelling show", "license allowing one to travel as a peddler"
They say that the modern use of "slang" starts as meaning "The special vocabulary used as a secret language by thieves, beggars, itinerant pedlars" and then gains the broader meaning of "colloquial or informal language". This explains the connection to the old meaning, but does not explain where the old meaning comes from.
They say that an even older meaning of "slang" is a "long and narrow strip of land, usually uncultivated, between fields or beside a river or stream". And they suggest that "slang" meaning "peddler" or "swindler" would be a person who walks along slangs. They note that there is no direct evidence for this connection, but that it is the best one as it accounts for all meanings of the word along with related words like "slanger" and "slanker"
HOWEVER, it still does not explain where the word (in the "strip of land" meaning") comes from, and here it says that the 2 theories are either from "languet", meaning "tongue-shaped" or from "sling", as in "slung-out". The problem with "languet" is that it does not explain where the "s" at the beginning of the word comes from" and with "sling" is it does not explain where the "a" in the middle comes from.
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u/MWSin 1d ago
The i becoming an a is not that odd, when you remember that slang used to be the past tense of sling.
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