Stone the Crows: Oxford Dictionary of Modern Slang

by John Andrew Simpson (Editor), John Ayto

Slang is language with its sleeves rolled up, colorful, pointed, brash, bristling with humor and sometimes with hostility. From "five-finger discount" to "buzz off," slang words add zest to everyday speech. Now, in the second edition of The Oxford Dictionary of Modern Slang , John Ayto and John
Simpson have gathered together a vibrant collection of over 6,000 slang terms, drawn from the vast Oxford English Dictionary database.
The volume is organized thematically. Within each section the words are listed chronologically, starting with the century's earliest words and progressing right through to the present, thus illuminating the development of slang and colloquial language over the last hundred years. Each entry
contains the headword, part of speech, and definition, and most also have illustrative examples of the term in context, often drawn from writers such as John Updike, John Lennon, and Woody Allen. Many entries contain labels indicating the social group or discipline from which a word derives--such as
theatrical, military, or nautical--as well as the place where it originated. In addition, when the term has had more than one meaning, the various senses are listed chronologically. The words have been gathered from all over the English-speaking world, including many from Australia and the United
Kingdom. Finally, the book contains a comprehensive thematic index, enabling users to home in on particular areas of interest, such as the body or food and drink, plus a comprehensive index of all words in the dictionary, so you can find a particular expression quickly.
Ultimately, this colorful and informative collection spans the English-speaking world and provides an accurate portrait of slang in the last one hundred years.

Genres: Nonfiction, Reference, Language, Dictionaries

432 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 1992

About the author

John Simpson joined the staff of the Oxford English Dictionary in the summer of 1976. He was appointed Chief Editor in 1993. He is a member of the English Faculty at Oxford and of the Philological Society (where the idea of the Dictionary was first mooted in the 1850s), and a Fellow of Kellogg College. He is a world expert on proverbs and slang, and has edited dictionaries on both these subjects for Oxford University Press; he regularly lectures and broadcasts on the English language and on the Dictionary.

--from the author's website

Reviews

[Lafcadio · Rating 3 out of 5]

Useful, but not nearly as complete as I would have hoped. For example, the entry for shitface:

noun coarse A dispicable person; esp. as a term of abusive address. 1937-. M. Amis 'Why,' I wondered, 'did old shitface come round? What was he after?' (1973).

It says nothing of the slang term "shitfaced," as in extremely drunk, which is much more common in my experience, and also requires more explanation. Clearly if you're calling someone shitface, it is meant as an abusive address, but if you're calling someone shitfaced, it actually means something not so obvious, so it would be nice if it were covered in this book.

[Steven · Rating 4 out of 5]

Has mostly the same terms as my other slang dictionaries, but it is the Oxford so what you get are dates of usage and example quotations. Good to have if you don't have other slang dictionaries, otherwise compare first.