Argot

An argot is a specialized and secret language used by individuals to communicate in such a way as to hide their activities from outsiders. The term argot is derived from French, and some of the first research regarding argots involved the language used by a group of thieves actively involved in criminal activities. Argots are unique in that they provide a way to conceal activities from others and also help communicate the norms and values of a given subculture to its members. Those who correctly use the argot, when speaking to others, may indicate their membership and status within the subculture. In addition, the use of an argot helps communicate individual identity and integration into a subculture based on the user's depth of knowledge and skill in communicating with others.

An argot, then, is a language wherein users communicate with others through words and phrases with unique meanings focused around a specific activity or interest. An argot consists of neosematicisms and neologisms that are unique to a specific group. A neosemanticism is an existing word that takes on a specialized meaning for a given group. For instance, in drug argots, a “blunt” refers to a tobacco-based cigar that has been hollowed out, filled with marijuana, and then rerolled to be smoked. The word is derived from the name of a cigar called Phillies Blunts, but the use of the single word blunt identifies the unique application of the product for drug users. In contrast, neologisms are words that did not exist previously and are created to express a particular need or value of a group. For instance, the term phreaking was created in the 1970s by computer hackers to refer to the manipulation and exploration of telephony to make these systems work in ways that they were not originally designed. This term combines the “ph” from phone and the word freak together to create a new word referencing their tremendous interest in telephony.

It is important to note that an argot is typically distinct from jargon, which consists of the technical terminology and specialized words that are commonly found in textbooks, manuals, and scientific articles available to the general public. Though phrases in a jargon may be accessible by the larger population, they may not be understood by subcultural participants, and thereby they limit their overall use. In addition, an argot is different from slang terms that may emerge for a specific behavior. Slang constitutes unique casual phrases and figures of speech that can be deliberately used for humor or other effect in conversation. For example, there are myriad terms for marijuana that are part of common slang in American culture that were once part of the distinct argot of users, such as weed, pot, or grass. As these terms became known and frequently used outside of the argot, their use began to serve as a bridge between casual users and the uninitiated. Eventually, these phrases were abandoned by more serious members of the subculture in favor of terms that are less well-known and therefore more difficult for outsiders to identify or understand.

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