When I use a word . . . Medical slang
When I use a word . . . Medical slang
J. Aronson
TLDR
The word “slang” has been thought to be derived from “sling,” which itself comes from an IndoEuropean root SLENG, meaning to slide or sling, to hurl or throw, as it were language that is hurled, but the evidence that supports this contention is tenuous and the true origin is not known.
Abstract
The word “slang,” defined in the Oxford English Dictionary as “The special vocabulary used by any set of persons of a low or disreputable character; language of a low and vulgar type,” and first recorded in 1756, has been thought to be derived from “sling,” which itself comes from an IndoEuropean root SLENG, meaning to slide or sling, to hurl or throw, as it were language that is hurled. However, the evidence that supports this contention is tenuous and the true origin of the word is not known.