EN
The aim of this article is to exhibit prison vocabulary and phraseology included in Praktyczny słownik współczesnej polszczyzny [The Practical dictionary of modern Polish language], ed. H. Zgółkowa as well as present the semantic analysis of the lexis. On the basis of the collected materials, it has been concluded that the basic characteristic of prison lexis is a substantial narrowing of the world view. However, thematic vocabulary related to living conditions – taking into account the poverty of designata – is very rich. Many vocabulary items used in prison jargon are emotionally loaded, which testifies to subjective and evaluative character. The language of prisoners is abundant in expressive vocabulary, which in fact is already known in the general language, but here, it receives new, usually metaphorical, meaning.