Dictionary of Slang

by Jonathon Green

Over 10,000 copies sold in hardback Over 1.5 million words of text and 75,000 entries, covering slang from every part of the English-speaking world from the sixteenth century to the present day Each entry records the date when a slang word appeared, whether it is still in use, and in what countries it is used Detailed etymologies throughout, showing how slang usages evolved and how they relate to one another Coverage of every area of drugs words, criminal terms, swear words, humorous expressions, sex etc.

Genres: Reference, Nonfiction, Language, Writing, Dictionaries, Words

1316 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 1999

About the author

Librarian Note: There is more than one author in the GoodReads database with this name. See this thread for more information.

I am a lexicographer, that is a dictionary maker, specialising in slang, about which I have been compiling dictionaries, writing and broadcasting since 1984. I have also written a history of lexicography. After working on my university newspaper I joined the London ‘underground press’ in 1969, working for most of the then available titles, such as Friends, IT and Oz. I have been publishing books since the mid-1970s, spending the next decade putting together a number of dictionaries of quotations, before I moved into what remains my primary interest, slang. I have also published three oral histories: one on the hippie Sixties, one on first generation immigrants to the UK and one on the sexual revolution and its development. Among other non-slang titles have been three dictionaries of occupational jargon, a narrative history of the Sixties, a book on cannabis, and an encyclopedia of censorship. As a freelancer I have broadcast regularly on the radio, made appearances on TV, including a 30-minute study of slang in 1996, and and written columns both for academic journals and for the Erotic Review.

My slang work has reached its climax, but I trust not its end, with the publication in 2010 of Green’s Dictionary of Slang, a three volume, 6,200-page dictionary ‘on historical principles’ offering some 110,000 words and phrases, backed up by around 410,000 citations or usage examples. The book covers all anglophone countries and its timeline stretches from around 1500 up to the present day. For those who prefer something less academic, I published the Chambers Slang Dictionary, a single volume book, in 2008. Given that I am in no doubt that the future of reference publishing lies in digital form, it is my intention to place both these books on line in the near future.

Reviews

[Laini · Rating 5 out of 5]

I write historical fiction, and when I'm hard at it, this book never leaves my side. It is utterly perfect in every way. And if you aren't using it, it makes a helluva doorstop.

[Patcholi1961 · Rating 5 out of 5]

https://greensdictofslang.com/
The website will have to do until I can afford a hard copy.

[Todd Cox · Rating 4 out of 5]

Interesting overall, but useful to me in particular right now because of the novel I'm currently writing. One of the characters, an odd-duck for sure, lapses into ancient slang now and then.

[Richard Humphrey · Rating 5 out of 5]

Obviously I haven't read this dictionary cover to cover, I'm not that geeky! (Have thought about it, but it would take forever!) Possibly the definitive slang dictionary.

[RUSA CODES]

Winner of the 2012 Outstanding Reference Sources Award.

For a complete list of winners, please visit http://www.ala.org/rusa/awards/outsta...

[Diane · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is the "true marmalade" Has and will provide many more happy hours of browsing.