Why can the same slang term have different meanings for different groups?

Slang terms often carry different meanings across groups because slang is fundamentally a product of social forces, reflecting the specific values, attitudes, and experiences of the subculture that creates it.12

When a term originates within an "in-group"—such as a professional, criminal, or social subculture—it is often designed to express solidarity, satirize internal values, or project emotional reactions toward the dominant culture. Because these groups operate within different social matrices, a term may be highly specific to their internal reality.1324

Differences in meaning arise through several processes:

• Diffusion and Semantic Shift: As slang spreads from a subculture into the dominant culture, it may undergo a change in meaning. For example, the term "uptight" originated among narcotic addicts to describe withdrawal distress but was later adopted by the general public to mean general anxiety or tension.5
• Incongruity of Values: Slang often gains its power by superimposing images that are incongruous with the values of the dominant culture. A term used as a neutral descriptor within one group may be perceived as offensive or satirical by another if it clashes with their social standards.4
• Retention of Original Usage: While the dominant culture may adopt a term and alter its definition, the original group often retains the term's traditional, specialized meaning.5