Slang Used by Young Iranians
The Times newspaper has an article about a book that has been recently published in Iran, the "Persian Dictionary of Argot". Apparently the book is selling very well and is in its 6th edition now. The article points out that many of the slangs used by young people revolves around the car because boys are girls are not freely allowed to mix on public. It also bring some examples such as "Zero Kilometer" - meaning a virgin girl - or "being in an accident" for a single girl who has become pregnant, etc.
However I am not sure that the reason mentioned by the paper - not being able to mix freely in public - is the reason why these slangs evolve around the automobile. As far as I remember, a lot of slangs in the Persian language originate from the language of taxi drivers and mechanics, such as "going on a trip", "changing to the rear gear" and "oil burning" (referring to an engine which is not working properly). There are also slangs driven from the terminology of druggies, such as "putting in vein" which is used when you want to eat or drink something and enjoy. All these slangs existed well before the revolution when the social conditions were relaxed and people could socialise easily in the public.
Moreover, using metonymic phrases and words instead of plain text is an old and popular tradition in Persian language and literature. In daily slang, these words make conversation funnier and sometimes more meaningful. Therefore unlike what Ms. Ramita Navai claims in her article, social restrictions are not the reason why young people use this slang, it's simply something that existed before.
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