# Tracing Semantic Variation in Slang

arXiv: https://arxiv.org/abs/2210.08635 · HTML: https://mlsanity.com/paper/2210.08635/

## Key facts

- Cited by 3 papers in the map (data through 14 Oct 2026).
- Builds on 17 of its 47 references that are in the map.
- First posted on arXiv 16 Oct 2022.

## Builds on (most cited first, 17 of 17)

- [BERT: Pre-training of Deep Bidirectional Transformers for Language Understanding](https://mlsanity.com/paper/1810.04805/) (2018)
- [Sentence-BERT: Sentence Embeddings using Siamese BERT-Networks](https://mlsanity.com/paper/1908.10084/) (2019)
- [Computational Sociolinguistics: A Survey](https://mlsanity.com/paper/1508.07544/) (2015)
- [Overcoming Language Variation in Sentiment Analysis with Social Attention](https://mlsanity.com/paper/1511.06052/) (2015)
- [Learning to Explain Non-Standard English Words and Phrases](https://mlsanity.com/paper/1709.09254/) (2017)
- [Characterizing English Variation across Social Media Communities with BERT](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2102.06820/) (2021)
- [Towards better substitution-based word sense induction](https://mlsanity.com/paper/1905.12598/) (2019)
- [Where New Words Are Born: Distributional Semantic Analysis of Neologisms and Their Semantic Neighborhoods](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2001.07740/) (2020)
- [Making "fetch" happen: The influence of social and linguistic context on nonstandard word growth and decline](https://mlsanity.com/paper/1802.04140/) (2018)
- [Slangvolution: A Causal Analysis of Semantic Change and Frequency Dynamics in Slang](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2203.04651/) (2022)
- [Conceptual similarity and communicative need shape colexification: an experimental study](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2103.11024/) (2021)
- [A Computational Framework for Slang Generation](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2102.01826/) (2021)
- [The Road to Success: Assessing the Fate of Linguistic Innovations in Online Communities](https://mlsanity.com/paper/1806.05838/) (2018)
- [Simple Models for Word Formation in English Slang](https://mlsanity.com/paper/1804.02596/) (2018)
- [Semantic Variation in Online Communities of Practice](https://mlsanity.com/paper/1806.05847/) (2018)
- [Semantically Informed Slang Interpretation](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2205.00616/) (2022)
- [Predicting emergent linguistic compositions through time: Syntactic frame extension via multimodal chaining](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2109.04652/) (2021)

## Built on by (most cited first, 3 of 3)

- [Culturally Aware and Adapted NLP: A Taxonomy and a Survey of the State of the Art](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2406.03930/) (2024)
- [Understanding Gen Alpha Digital Language: Evaluation of LLM Safety Systems for Content Moderation](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2505.10588/) (2025)
- [Probing Cultural Awareness in LLMs: A Case Study of Cross-Culture Aesthetic Stylistics](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2605.27296/) (2026)

## Abstract (arXiv)

The meaning of a slang term can vary in different communities. However, slang semantic variation is not well understood and under-explored in the natural language processing of slang. One existing view argues that slang semantic variation is driven by culture-dependent communicative needs. An alternative view focuses on slang's social functions suggesting that the desire to foster semantic distinction may have led to the historical emergence of community-specific slang senses. We explore these theories using computational models and test them against historical slang dictionary entries, with a focus on characterizing regularity in the geographical variation of slang usages attested in the US and the UK over the past two centuries. We show that our models are able to predict the regional identity of emerging slang word meanings from historical slang records. We offer empirical evidence that both communicative need and semantic distinction play a role in the variation of slang meaning yet their relative importance fluctuates over the course of history. Our work offers an opportunity for incorporating historical cultural elements into the natural language processing of slang.