Semantic (metaphorical, metonymic) associations in slang lexicon Dott.ssa Elisa Mattiello elisa.mattiello@unipi.it What is slang? Most dictionaries agree that the word slang may be defined with at least two senses: First, slang is the restricted speech of marginal or distinct subgroups in society; Second, it is a quite temporary, unconventional vocabulary characterized primarily by connotations of informality and novelty. (Mattiello 2008: 31) Slang is not Jargon: i.e., the specialized vocabulary and phraseology of a set of people sharing a trade or profession. Cant: i.e., the specialized and usually secret language of thieves, professional beggars, vagabonds. Dialect: i.e., a geographically restricted variety. Accent: i.e., the mode of utterance peculiar to an individual, locality or nation. Colloquial language: i.e., informal or familiar language. The slang lexicon According to the OED definition, the slang lexicon consists of new words and current words employed in some special sense. Morphological peculiarities Familiarizing suffixes -ie/-y: e.g., shortie/-y a short person ; -er/-ers: e.g., leccer lecture, spaggers spaghetti ; -o: e.g., milko milkman ; -eroo: e.g., flopperoo flop. Infixes -bloody-/-fuckin(g)-: e.g., fan-bloody-tastic. Acronyms e.g., LOL < Laughing Out Loud. Clippings back-clipping: e.g., K < ketamine (also Special K); fore-clipping: e.g., za < pizza; edge-clipping: e.g., tec < detective; elliptic rhyming slang: e.g., apples < apples and pears stairs / apples and rice nice. Blends total/partial/intercalative blend: e.g., fantabulous; shagadelic < shag + psychedelic, ambisextrous < sex + ambidextrous. Reversed forms back-slang: e.g., yob < boy, neves < seven. Variations analogy: e.g., Bananaland after Queensland;
malapropism: e.g., basket < bastard, Mary Jane < marijuana; letter pronunciation: e.g., gee < guy, Beeb < B.B.C.; alteration: e.g., flick < film, Crickey! < Christ! Semantic peculiarities Regular associative patterns involving figurative language in the following sets of terms: drug addicts; homosexuals; foreign people; attractive women; drugs and narcotics; alcoholic drinks; body parts. Exercise: Find out the meaning of the slang words in the sentences below 1) There is more to looking happy than displaying a perfect row of pearly whites. 2) We ve nothing on him. But then we ve nothing on half the hooks in Eastport. 3) Get your hook off of my shoulder. 4) He sat there, with a smile all over his clock. 5) He might have a clock at him or a kick at him. 6) Bob punches Sam right in the bread basket. 7) Did you find me some wheels? Yep: a Renault 16TX. 8) His wife still had terrific wheels. 9) Shut your big ugly gate at once. 10) Shut your cake-hole. 11) Open that sweet little, lying little, kisser of yours, and start saying something that makes sense. 12) You wouldn t be so fat if you d quit jamming donuts into your pie hole. 13) They ll look down their sniffers at you. 14) Doreen was also a sniffer. 15) She gives me a very nice Thank you and a smile - she got very lovely white choppers. Semantic patterns set up correspondences and correlations between different conceptual domains via such cognitive phenomena as metaphor, metonymy, inference, etc. Hence, they may help us predict similar associations and identify slang meanings. More on slang Mattiello, Elisa (2008) An Introduction to English Slang: A Description of its Morphology, Semantics and Sociology. Monza: Polimetrica publisher.
Difficulty of slang translation: Semantic vs. pragmatic equivalent Some references Lexicon and lexical complexity - Bertuccelli Papi, M. and A. Lenci (2007) Lexical complexity and the texture of meaning. In M. Bertuccelli Papi, G. Cappelli and S. Masi (eds.), Lexical Complexity: Theoretical Assessment and Translational Perspectives. Pisa: Plus. 15-33. Translation - Baker, M. (1992), In Other Words: A Coursebook on Translation. London: Routledge. - House, J. (1997) Translation Quality Assessment. A Model Revisited. Tübingen: Gunter Narr Verlag. - Newmark, P. (1988) A Textbook of Translation. New York and London: Prentice Hall. Lexical complexity The LEXICON is a complex dynamic system: - it is dynamic in the sense that lexical items are fluctuating patterns of interacting systems which reach a state of equilibrium X at time Y as a consequence of multiple internal and external forces; - it is complex in the sense that its description requires much information; specifically, lexical complexity is a function of the number of cognitive dimensions necessary to describe the possible states of the lexicon, and of the degree of randomness vs. predictability of its dynamics. Slang is an innovative language which re-uses existing words giving them extra socio-pragmatic meanings and functions that depart from their ordinary ones. Complexity in the slang lexicon is first of all due to the complex polysemy and figurative meaning associated with slang items, which are ambiguous with the meaning(s) that the same items have in the standard language. (1) SWANNEY: You ll need one more hit. RENTON: No, I don t think so. SWANNEY: To see you through the night that lies ahead. (2) ALL: To Mark and his Natasha. BRIDGET: No! No! It s just that it s such a terrible pity f-for England to lose such a great legal brain. UNCLE GEOFFREY: Is she pissed? (1 ) SWANNEY: Hai bisogno di un altra pera? RENTON: No, non credo, no. SWANNEY: Hai davanti una lunga notte. (2 ) TUTTI: A Mark e la sua Natasha. BRIDGET: No! No! È solo che è davvero un peccato tremendo c-che l Inghilterra ora perda un avvocato tanto brillante. UNCLE GEOFFREY: È ubriaca?
The translation of slang: Strategy of functional equivalence Some main effects/functions of slang Group-identification and Creativity (3) DOODY: Watch out! SONNY: Putzie, move it out! It s like a meat-ball in here! PUTZIE: Okay, let s go to find the chicks. (Grease) (3 ) DOODY: Sta attento! SONNY: E tu muoviti! Sto diventando una polpetta! PUTZIE: Coraggio, andiamo a caccia di pollastre. Privacy and Secrecy (4) SICK BOY: There s a mate of Swanney s. Mikey Forrester - you know the guy. He s come into some gear. A lot of gear. RENTON: How much? (Trainspotting) (4 ) SICK BOY: C è questo amico di Swanney. Conosci Mikey Forrester. Beh, ha rimediato della roba. Un sacco di roba. RENTON: Quanta roba è? Informality and Intimacy (5) SPIKE: There s something wrong with the goggles, though. WILLIAM: No, they were, um prescription. SPIKE: Groovy. (Notting Hill) (5 ) SPIKE: Però c è qualcosa che non va con la maschera. WILLIAM: No, quelle sono, uhm lenti da vista. SPIKE: Fico. Vulgarity and Offensiveness (6) HONEY: William s just turned down Anna Scott. SPIKE: (to William) You daft prick. (Notting Hill) (6 ) HONEY: William ha appena respinto Anna Scott. SPIKE: (a William) Brutto c***one avariato. Lexical complexity and metaphorical language should be kept when translating slang because, thanks to low transparency and ambiguity, slang words/phrases: - qualify the speaker as belonging to some distinct group within society (e.g. college students, drug addicts, intimates, etc.), - generate extra socio-pragmatic purposes/effects (e.g. identification with a group, creativity, privacy, secrecy, informality, intimacy, vulgarity, offensiveness, etc.).
Exercise: Translate the slang words in the extracts below (1) MAX: Wine? TESSA: Oh, yes, please. Come on, Willie, let s get sloshed. MAX: Red or white? TESSA: Oh, red. (Notting Hill) (1 )MAX: Vino? TESSA: Oh, sì, per piacere. Coraggio, Willie,. MAX: Rosso o bianco? TESSA: Oh, rosso. (2) KENICKIE: Hey Danny, what s up, do you still think about that chick? DANNY: What are you, nuts? KENICKIE: Well, I m not! I just think DANNY: Go on, don t think so much. (Grease) (2 )KENICKIE: Ehi Danny, ma che hai, pensi ancora a quella? DANNY: Ma che sei,? KENICKIE: Ma non lo so! Stavo pensando DANNY: Dai, non pensare troppo. (3) WILLIAM: Um, I wouldn t go outside. SPIKE: Why not? WILLIAM: Just take my word for it. SPIKE: Oh. How did I look? Not bad. Not at all bad. Well-chosen briefs, I d say. Chicks love grey. (Notting Hill) (3 )WILLIAM: Uhm, fossi in te non uscirei così. SPIKE: Perché no? WILLIAM: Devi credermi sulla parola. SPIKE: Come stavo? Non male. Niente affatto male. Ottima scelta questi slip, direi. Le impazziscono per il grigio. (4) GAZ: Security guard in ere, no wonder he wants to kill himself. DAVE: Well, at least one bloke got a job out of this place being shut down. What d you tell him for, any road. Kid s a nutter. (Full Monty) (4 )GAZ: Fa la guardia giurata qui dentro, e certo che si voleva suicidare. DAVE: Beh, almeno qualcuno ha beccato un lavoro con la chiusura di questo posto. Ma si può sapere perché glielo hai detto? Quello è. (5) COLIN JONES: I don t know, Pam. I just don t know now. It s been very hard. PAMELA JONES: Oh, Colin. COLIN JONES: I m joking you daft cow. Pam, I just don t work without you. (Bridget Jones s Diary) (5 )COLIN JONES: Non lo so, Pam. Adesso proprio non lo so. È stata molto dura sai. PAMELA JONES: Oh, Colin. COLIN JONES: Ma sto scherzando. Io proprio non funziono senza te.
(6) GAZ: Dave. Oi, you deaf twat! DAVE: Oh, what d you want now? I ve told you, I m finished with it. (Full Monty) (6 )GAZ: Dave. Ehi,! DAVE: Oh, adesso che vuoi? Te l ho detto, ho chiuso con quella roba. (7) PERPETUA: Anyone going to introduce me? BRIDGET: Ah, introduce people with thoughtful details. Perpetua. This is Mark Darcy. Mark s a prematurely middle-aged prick with a cruel-raced ex-wife. Perpetua is a fart-arsed old bag who spends her time bossing me around. (Bridget Jones s Diary) (7 )PERPETUA: Qualcuno vuole presentarmi? BRIDGET: Ah, presentare la gente con particolari interessanti. Perpetua. Lui è Mark Darcy. Mark è un precocemente invecchiato con un ex-moglie di razza crudele. Perpetua è una puzzona che passa il tempo a torturarmi. (8) SONNY: Hey Marty, what s up? MARTY: Rizzo s pregnant, don t tell anybody. SONNY: Rizzo got a bun in the oven. BOY: Rizzo s been knocked up. (Grease) (8 )SONNY: Ehi Marty, che cosa succede? MARTY: Rizzo è incinta, ma non lo dire a nessuno. SONNY: Ehi, Rizzo. BOY: Rizzo è stata. (9) TED: Y-you and me? MARY: Yeah. Well, is that a yes or a no? TED: Sure. All right. MARY: Good. Cool. I m gonna take Warren back inside. Um, I ll see you at school. TED: Cool. Catch you at school. (There s Something about Mary) (9 )TED: Tu ed io dici? MARY: Sì. Beh, questo cos è un sì o un no? TED: Un sì grosso. D accordo. MARY: Bene. Allora faccio entrare in casa Warren. Ci vediamo a scuola. TED:. Ci vediamo a scuola. (10) RENTON: What do you want? DIANE: Are you clean? RENTON: Yes. DIANE: Is that a promise, then? (Trainspotting) (10 ) RENTON: Che cosa vuoi? DIANE: Sei? RENTON: Sì. DIANE: Me lo assicuri?