Vulgar Words (Vulgarisms)

Vulgar words are expletives and swear words of abusive character.

e.g. damn, bloody, hell, goddam.

Vulgarisms are often used in conversation, out of habit. In modern fiction they can be found even in a good novel in direct speech of the characters (but not in other functional styles). Their function is to express strong emotions: annoyance, anger, vexation, etc. Not every coarse expression is a vulgarism. Coarseness may result from improper grammar, non-standard pronunciation, misuse of words and expressions or distortion of words.

Coarse words may simply lack refinement. Vulgar words are not simply coarse; they are rude and strongly emotionally charged.

Colloquial Coinages (Nonce-Words)

Colloquial coinages are spontaneous, elusive. Not all of them are found in dictionaries or even in writing. Colloquial coinages (unlike literary ones) are based on semantic changes in words (sometimes built with help of affixes). Most of them are newly minted words labelled ‘slang’ in dictionaries. Prof. Galperin refers them to «просторечье» (city vernacular bordering on non-literary speech).

e.g.: knave = boy / swindler

deer = beast (any kind)/ certain type of animal.

e.g. knave (O.E. knafa) Change of meaning because of collision with its synonym boy which now has negative evaluative connotation - “swindler, scoundrel”

e.g. deer (O.E. deor) = “any beast” collided with the borrowed “animal”.

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