Dictionary of American Slang

by Robert L. Chapman

Originally published in 1960, The Dictionary of American Slang is widely regarded as the standard in its field. Expanded and completely updated, this third edition contains more than 19,000 terms of representing the variety and vigor of American slang, from the most widely acceptable to the taboo, and covering all periods of American history -- from the gypsies, soldiers, railroad workers and cowboys of the 19th century to more modern spawning grounds such as the rock 'n' roll world, the corporate sector, African-Americans, gays and lesbians and many more. Intimately connected with the fringes of our culture and responding with vigilance to new developments in technology, slang is the fastest changing part of our language. This new edition considers the subcultures that have emerged in the wake of the past decade's technological and communication advances, including the advent of computer usage at home and in the workplace and the explosion of the Internet and the World Wide Web. With more than 2,000 new terms, the Lexicon of the '90s is recorded here in definitive detail. Like previous editions, this edition features pronunciation guides, word origins, examples of appropriate usage as well as a helpful highlighting system that lets you know which terms should be used with caution, and never in polite company. Both as important archive of the way America is really talking and a lot of fun to read, The Dictionary of American Slang   will prove to be an invaluable companion in keeping up with the dauntingly jargon-filled, quickly evolving language of today.

Genres: Reference, Nonfiction, Linguistics

640 pages, Hardcover

First published February 17, 1998

Reviews

[Ron Law · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great reference book! Thorough and interesting.

[Yaaresse · Rating 3 out of 5]

Rating: Reading enjoyment = 2, Depth of content= 3, Functionality = 3

For advanced ESL students who can function well in English but are sometimes puzzled by a turn of phrase or reference that just makes no sense in translation, this dictionary would be a definite asset. For native speakers, there's probably not that much in it that you don't already know.

I admit to skimming the second half. I love stuff about how language evolves and idioms, but I'm not enough of a language nerd that I can sit down and read lists and dictionaries for very long. After a while, it becomes as exciting as reading the ingredients list for shampoo.

Most of the charm of idioms for me comes from learning how a phrase developed and where it began and was adopted. While this book does a good job of explaining the meanings of slang phrases, it fell short for me in the etymology and linguistic geography departments. I would have been happier with more depth even had it meant less breadth. Also, I'm shelving this as dated content because the only thing that gets outdated faster than slang is technology.

[Charity · Rating 4 out of 5]

I haven't heard some of these in ages. A nice trip down the late seventies-early eighties lane. I particularly enjoyed the swear words. Yes, I'm twelve apparently. Loads of phrases originated in 1940, which I found fascinating for some reason. As a high school English teacher, I think this is highly valuable. My AP Lang students are getting a lesson in slang next semester.
One star off for the overly-lengthy beginning, and the simplistic navigation.