English and its Lingua Flankas: Some systematic features of English-based cryptic anti-languages

Abstract

This article explores the dual nature of language as a tool for both inclusion and exclusion. It discusses the phenomenon of anti-languages distinguishing between incomprehensibility and crypticity, and highlighting how certain linguistic features can be decoded through systematic mechanisms. The study provides a comprehensive analysis of various forms of crypticity in English, including the use of cross linguistic borrowings (real or invented), reduction, transposition (e.g. backslang), and rhyming slang, illustrating how these features serve to obstruct comprehension while simultaneously offering access to the initiated few. Inevitably, given the nature of the subject matter, some of the lexis and the expressions discussed may be obscene in nature and offensive to some readers.