Dictionary Thesaurus Examples ... there are a plethora of words used as slang for jail that have managed to filter down into colloquial language. This page from our English for Police section lists language that police need in an English-speaking context. He is just sitting there.Here are a couple of example sentences:I may or may not know John.

The “gaol” version comes from the Norman French gaiole or gaole , the OED says, while “jail” comes from the Old Parisian French jaiole or jaile . Many of the words actually use to refer to a particularly notorious jail. Because Middle English (the language spoken from about 1100 to 1500) adopted two distinct versions of the word from French. Internally, the prison system had their own social caste or subculture that was governed by an unwritten convict code that was instituted by the inmates themselves. So, while the trends of society may have had an effect on the slang for prison or jail, you better believe that the internal convict subculture also had a huge part in creating the slang as well.Another example is the term "the castle" which used to refer to Sing Sing prison. This is a simple statement. In the 1940s it was seen as the worst prison in America.The above list is a combination of words used to describe either the word "jail" in a broad sense or even to describe the word "jail" but in a more concise sense.As you can see, there are a plethora of words used as slang for jail that have managed to filter down into colloquial language. Located in Ossining, New York, Sing Sing prison is one of America's oldest prisons and is quite often referred to as "the castle on the Hudson River." He isn't meeting his lawyer to plan his defence. To "languish" means "to fail to make progress". Alcatraz was open for 29 years and has quite a bit of history surrounding it. I came across these two expressions "be in jail" and "be sitting in jail" and I don't know what the difference in meaning is between them. Prison lingo is a special version of the English language. Throughout the history of the United States there have been many slang words for jail. By learning some legal language you’ll be much better equipped to handle contracts, immigration paperwork, buying or renting property and more. How much longer will I be sitting here.So "sitting" has a rhetorical effect, but it doesn't change the basic meaning.The second says that he is "sitting" so we suppose that he is not doing much.

There is no telling what the future holds. Your phrase has something of the same implication:I've been sitting in jail for a week now, and I think the system has forgotten about me. For example, the term \\\"the rock\\\" use to refer to the prison Alcatraz. History Behind the Words Internally, the prison system had their own social caste or subculture that was governed by an unwritten convict code that was instituted by the inmates themselves.

To subscribe to this RSS feed, copy and paste this URL into your RSS reader.There's not much difference. Each decade brings with it a new slang term.