The language of children used in peer groups bears all the hallmarks of old,
practised, well-organised speech. The speech is not specially created by the
child, except by the innovators; rather the child's task is to learn when and
how to apply the sequence appropriately and adroitly. The knowledge of the
lexicon is, in itself, inadequate. What counts is the correct choice of
situation, tone and fitness of the term. The child when he acquires the
language learns to emit and answer a series of signals, both verbal and
expressive, which indicate to others his sensitivity to the norms of his
sub-culture. And this adequacy is revealed every time he speaks. The
appropriateness of the child's behaviour is thus conditioned to a wide variety
of situations by means of the vehicle of communication. It is a language
which continuously signals the normative arrangements of the group rather than
the individual experiences of its members.
There are lots of other interesting comments on relations between the specific
person and uses of subversive language.
Geoff Williams