34 because slang creates a strong, tough, and manly impression. According to
Mattiello 2008, young men tempt to use slang swearword to build their reputation, status, and to strengthen group bound.
dd. Technicality
Slang explains the technical terms in particular realm based on the activity. Mattiello 2008, p.55 states,
“slang can sometimes be viewed as a „technolect‟ as it behaves a
s terminology in terms of restricted use.” She adds that the technicality feature is exemplified by sloth
which means „to kill or to injure someone‟.
ee. Spontaneity
Since slang is uttered spontaneously by the speakers, spontaneity becomes one of slang characteristics. Mattiello 2008 reveals
slang is a free natural speech, associated with cities and modern society.” Allen 1998 noted that many slang
words are used in spontaneous conversation and prompted by the media cited in Mattiello, 2008.
5. Rhyming Slang
Rhyming slang is one of slang types that are popular in East London. It calls Cockney rhyming slang because it consist of two word which the second
word is rhyme with the actual meaning. In 2008, Mattiello proposes rhyming slang as “the process whereby an item is replaced by one or more words that
35 rhyme with it” p.42. Trouble and strive for „wife‟, apple and pears for „stairs,
and ham and beef for „chief‟ are the examples of rhyming slang.
6. Specific and General Slang
Slang is classified into specific and general slang Mattiello, 2008. Specific slang is a restricted slang that is only used by the particular group.
According to Mattiello 2008, the use of specific slang conveys the users‟ identity, for examples their social group, and origins. Usually, it is used by people
who share the same age, interests, lifestyle, and origins. Thus, slang can be specified into university students‟ slang, drug users‟ slang, adolescents‟ slang,
homosexuals‟ slang, British slang, Australian slang, etc. Matiello,2008. Each group has their own slang vocabularies which strengthens group solidarity Eble,
1996. Moreover, Mattiello 2008 reveals specific slang is also limited by the topic. It can be classified into topic that relates to sex, drugs, criminal, or others.
Meanwhile, Mattiello 2008 reveals general slang is applied to break the standard language and to change the formal speech into the informal speech. It
does not show the group and subjects boundaries. Therefore, it spreads widely Mattiello, 2008. General slang is not only used by people from particular social
group. It is used widely in some social groups; for example, the slang word shit is not only used by teenagers but also applied by young adult.
Mattiello 2008 states that, the classification of slang into specific type or general is depends on the context. Thus, slang vocabulary is possibly to have
more than one different meaning. It is exemplified by the word rock or rocks.
36 According to Thorne 2007, rocks
means „cocaine‟ and the meaning exists among the drug dealers or users‟. However, it means „mistakes‟ in baseball Ayto,
1998.
7. Morphology
