SLANG AS A LINGUISTIC MARKER OF GENERATIONS

Nowadays new words are added to the dictionary every year, but the problem is that sometimes the older generation do not accept it. As a result, people of different ages face misunderstandings. In this article the question of appearance and usage of modern slang is undertaken. The word “slang” first appeared in England, and it meant “the offence”. Slang is a type of language consisting of words and phrases that are regarded as very informal and is not usually used in official speech. Anyway, slang has become a big part of our daily conversation and it is used even by lawyers, medical workers and teachers. At the moment there are more than 10 types of slang (military, computer, gaming, LGBT, criminal etc.) It is mandatory to mention about four examined generations: babyboomers, gen X, gen Y, gen Z. Baby boomers were born between 19441966, gen X - between 1967-1984, gen Y - 1984-2000, gen Z - 20002015.The main difference among these four generations is the amount and varieties of the used technologies such as computers, smartphones and the appearance of the Internet. If we research of the first generation, we will find that baby-boomers are consumers of a traditional media (newspapers, television, radio), most of them are conservative that defines their attitude to the youngster's priorities. Gen X still consume traditional types of media, but they saw the appearance of the first phones and computers; they create accounts on social types of media. Gen Y (millennials) is comfortable with social types of media using their smartphones instead of computers. Gen Z was brought up during the period of postmodernism and globalisation, they are also called “a digital generation”. It is possible to carry out an investigation of the proximity and distinction among these generations to explore the difference in vocabulary and their attitude to slang. The study was intended to prove the differences in speech activity among four generations (boomers, X, Y, Z) and find an explanation of it. Attention is primarily given to slang as the main diversity of the speech. In order to observe slang as a phenomenon, a study was conducted using the following theoretical methods: survey (as the general method), content and statistical analysis.