Idioms Are Greater Than the Sum of Their Parts. Idioms are phrases that cannot be understood by the literal meanings of their separate words. The more familiar a person is with a language, the more difficult it is to explain an idiom to someone not brought up in that language. Jargon limits Access to Messages. A linguistic community is any distinct group of language users, such as members of a profession.
Many professions have a specialized vocabulary, or jargon .
Almost everyone does code-switching to meet different situations. Slang Frequently Changes Meanings. Some slang quickly goes out of fashion. Slang limits the inclusion of people who are unfamiliar with it. According to the Sapir-Whorf hypothesis , cultures develop language in ways that reflect the priorities they set on experiences relevant to them.