(~s)
1.
People sometimes refer to a foreign language, especially one that they do not speak or understand, as a ~. (INFORMAL)
I don’t speak the ~.
N-COUNT: usu sing
2.
A ~ is a range of words or a style of language which is used in a particular situation or by a particular group of people. (INFORMAL)
In record-business ~, that means he wanted to buy the rights to the song and market it.
...an author who writes in a lurid ~, freely punctuated with crude expletives.
N-UNCOUNT: also a N, usu with supp