3. Slang language
Same as definition of translation, many experts have also tried to define the meaning of slang. Slang is a new language that developed by human needs to express
their feelings and the sense of belonging to a certain group. It can be assumed that every community has its own slang language. Another definition is stated by an
English professor Connie Eble 1996: 11. She presents her own definition of slang: “Slang is an ever changing set of colloquial words and phrases that speakers use to
establish or reinforce social identity or cohesiveness in society at large ”. According to
Eble, slang seems to serve a purpose which is the establishment of social identity for the speaker and the people with whom they are interacting. Moreover, Spolsky
1998:36 said slang is a feature of the speech of the young and powerness. Furthermore, according to Spolsky 1998:36 there are some characteristics of slang
language: 1
Slang is a kind of jargon marked by its rejection of formal rules. It is comparative freshness and its common ephemerality and its marked use to
claim solidarity. 2
Slang regularly transgresses other social norms, making free use of taboo expression.
3 Slang arises as vocabulary which is used by a particular social group with
specific purpose, for example as a device for familiarizing a conversation. 4
Slang comes in the form of new words with new meaning or old words with new meaning.
4. Slang translation
Fawcett 1997: 118 stated translating slang is an enormously difficult task due to the fact that not only does the translator need to know the slang, the translator
also needs to find out if the target language holds any concept that is similar to the slang term used in the ST. Slang, like idiom, cannot be translated literally. It needs a
particular strategy to make the readers understand what the slang words actually meant because it is mentioned above that slang is a particular language used by
particular community. It can be assumed that people outside the community will find it harder to understand the meaning of the slang word.
Example of slang is
Bob’s Your Uncle.
Bob‟s your Uncle generally means that something is simple or easy or a “job done”. It is most likely that this expression
came about as a result of nepotism family favoritism. In the late 1800s, Lord Salisbury was prime-minister of Great Britain. After his third term he was succeeded
by his nephew Arthur. Arthur had been made Chief Secretary of Ireland in 1886 which caused some scandal. Suspicions arose that Robert was favoring his nephew
Arthur. The term “Bob‟s your uncle” could be used at the time as a sly reference to this charge of nepotism.
It becomes the task for translator to transfer the meaning of slang language to the TL in the form that can be understood by readers. The translator also needs to
choose the strategies to translate the text, maintain the accuracy of the text, and also achieve naturalness in TL.
5. Accuracy
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