Cassell's Dictionary of Slang by Jonathon Green

From the Publisher

With its unparalleled coverage of everything from 18th-century cant to contemporary gay jargon, plus its uncluttered design, Cassell's Dictionary of Slang was warmly received when it first appeared in 1998.  And now the world's best single-volume dictionary of English slang is even better! Jonathon Green has spent the last seven years on a vast project, doing in-depth research on vernacular vocabulary, hunting down and recording written instances of as many of these words as possible. He not only uncovered many thousands of new expressions (12,000 of which will appear here), but he has also made myriad improvements to the existing text. The result is an entertaining, educational, and thoroughly enlightening look at the endless liveliness of the English language.

“Broadly entertaining resource…will delight readers.”—Library Journal.

Library Journal

This broadly entertaining resource "covers the waterfront" with "lingo" and "bits and bobs" from English-speaking countries, including Australia, New Zealand, South Africa, the United Kingdom, Ireland, Canada, parts of the Caribbean, and the United States. It features 70,000 words and phrases dating from the early 16th century to the present. Typical entries include parts of speech, etymology (Yiddish, Standard English, and Old English), approximate time periods, geography, brief definitions, some usage examples, and occasional cross references. Entries such as "nudnik" (an insignificant person), "New York minute" (in an instant), "La-La Land" (Los Angeles or a fantasy world), and "beam me up, Scotty" (a desire to be elsewhere, an illicit drug mixture, or a catchphrase from the Star Trek series) will delight some readers. Although by definition slang can be vulgar and coarse, scatological, derogatory, and sexual terms seem to predominate here. This paperback edition corresponds to the previous hardback edition (LJ 5/1/99). Libraries that already own NTC's Dictionary of American Slang and Colloquial Expressions (LJ 6/00) or Oxford Dictionary of Slang (LJ 3/1/99) will still want to purchase this resource because of its broader coverage and affordable price.--Elizabeth Connor, Medical Univ. of South Carolina Lib., Charleston Copyright 2000 Cahners Business Information.\

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