Abstract:

English slang plays an important role in people's daily communication for its highly expressive character. Slang is vivid, humorous, concise and variable. There is diversity in the type and style of slang when it’s used in different situations. This paper will give an analysis of definition and stylistic features of English slang, exploring the reason why it is so popular and widely used. The paper also guides English learners to improve English learning and their expression ability of oral English.

Key words: English slang; Stylistic Features; Humorous

摘要：

英语俚语以其生动形象的特点成为英语语言中极富表现力的一种语言形式，它在人们的日常交际中发挥着越来越重要的作用。俚语具有形象生动、幽默、简洁易变的语体特征。由于其适用场合不同,俚语的风格类型呈现出多样化。本文将对英语俚语的定义以及语体特征进行分析，探究其受欢迎和被广泛使用的原因，提高英语学习者的英语学习及口语表达能力。

关键词：英语俚语；语体特征；幽默生动

1.    Introduction
As everyone knows, slang plays a very important role in human language and culture, but its definition is very vague and changeable. Slang is classified as a pejorative in its use early; the famous "Webster's Dictionary of English slang" in 1828 defined slang as "vulgar, vulgar and meaningless language"; J.P.Thomas(1829) said in "my ideal": "slang is a language that fool would say." But with people understanding deeply and using slang, people also changed theirs attitude. In the "Oxford English Dictionary"(1911), the "low" and "vulgar" and other dirty words in the definition of slang disappeared. With the publication of "modern Chinese Dictionary" in 1978, the definition of slang is "a vulgar dialect that can just be used in a very narrow range". But with the publication of the "Ci Hai" in 1980, the definition of slang has been changed---- "vulgar meaning of slang has been deleted". People began to treat slang more tolerantly and supportively. Today, slang is not only becoming more and more popular in film and television, newspapers and magazines, and even appears in the American presidential speeches. British poet and novelist Gilbert Keith Chesterton(1967), praised that “slang is profuse”. He concluded that slang is:"all are metaphor, and all are poetic metaphor."