argot
Noun
Meaning
A secret language or conventional slang peculiar to thieves, tramps, and vagabonds; flash.
Source: Webster's dictionarySynonyms
Antonyms
Show all antonymsHypernyms
Hyponyms
Phrases with the word
Anagrams
Examples
they don't speak our lingo
Author Victor Hugo was one of the first to research argot extensively. citation He describes it in his 1862 novel Les Misérables as the language of the dark; at one point, he says, "What is argot; properly speaking?
Specific words can go from argot into common speech or the other way.
Examples "Piaf" is a Parisian argot word for “bird, sparrow ”.
But such complete secret languages are rare because the speakers usually have some public language in common, on which the argot is largely based.
Examples include "same difference", "jumbo shrimp", and "hot ice" (where "hot" means "stolen" and "ice" means "diamonds", in criminal argot ).