Definitions

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.

  • noun linguistics A secretive language form used by a subculture; an arcane cant.

Etymologies

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License

crypt- ("concealed”, “hidden”, “secret") (from Ancient Greek κρυπτός (kruptos)) + -o- + -lect ("form of speech") (from Ancient Greek λέκτος (lektos))

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Examples

  • But don't go off giving your lil 'scholars detention slips or bad grades - indeed, congratulate them on practicing grammatical sleight of mouth, what linguists call a cryptolect, a secret language used by a subgroup to communicate with each other while keeping outsiders clueless.

    Westword | Complete Issue 2009

  • But don't go off giving your lil 'scholars detention slips or bad grades - indeed, congratulate them on practicing grammatical sleight of mouth, what linguists call a cryptolect, a secret language used by a subgroup to communicate with each other while keeping outsiders clueless.

    Westword | Complete Issue 2009

  • They practiced a form of what linguists call a cryptolect, a secret language used by a subgroup to communicate with each other while keeping outsiders clueless.

    Dallas Observer | Complete Issue 2009

  • And I gar-on-tee you, Lushootseed is as cryptic a cryptolect as anyone is likely to need.

    languagehat.com: WHEN A LANGUAGE DIES. 2005

  • - Practicing a form of what linguists call a cryptolect.

    Tucson Weekly 2009

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