The dictionary embraced “English, American, and Anglo-Indian slang, Pidgin English, tinkers’ jargon and other irregular phraseology.” In 1890, the first volume of John Stephen Farmer and William Ernest Henley’s Slang and Its Analogues was published volume 2 came the following year and the subsequent five volumes through 1904. Barrere’s collaborator was Charles Godfrey Leland, the first American to figure prominently in general slang lexicography. Barrere published Argot and Slang: A New French and English Dictionary at his own expense until Ballantyne Press offered the 956 pages by subscription two years later as A Dictionary of Slang, Jargon, & Cant. Hotten’s A Dictionary of Modern Slang, Cant, and Vulgar Words, which had new editions through 1874.
Grose’s work held on until it was superseded in 1859 by John C. Grose’s book and its successor include the slang of the so-called balatrones, “jesters, buffoons, contemptible persons literally babblers,” and of learned humorists, those of the universities, as well as of thieves. After two further editions, the book became the basis of an 1811 updating and expansion called Lexicon Balatronicum: Aĭictionary of Buckish Slang, University Wit, and Pickpocket Eloquence, with nearly 5,000 defined entries. Credit as founder of general slang lexicography (as distinct from those who dealt in specialized lexicons of the vocabularies of thieves and tramps) goes to the distinguished British antiquarian Francis Grose, who published A Classical Dictionary of the Vulgar Tongue in 1785. History of Slang Lexicography In historical justification, this book joins itself to an Anglo-American tradition going back a little more than 200 years. These terms are no longer kept quietly in books, but at least in a book such as this, the words are explained, their usage offered, and histories described when available. Yes, children may sneak off into corners with this book and find dirty words-but the printed book is now challenged and often superseded as a source of these terms by films, television programs, and the Internet. It is up to the reader to also be careful and responsible in using these powerful and provocative words. As a lexicographer, I collect and record slang because it is there-but this has been done carefully and responsibly.
Lexicography is a science in that it values accuracy, completeness, and demonstrability. Theoretically in linguistics, any corpus or body of vocabulary is worth recording. A dictionary like this, which specializes in terms not to be lightly used in polite society, may therefore be thought of as teaching and advocating these terms.
Why This Book Was Made Why devote a book to this sort of uncouth language? Dictionaries are popularly thought to have strong influence, giving validity and authority to the entries and therefore having social and moral impact. Also, the editor must attempt to explain what slang is and the history of slang lexicography.
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PREFACE To the Fourth Edition T HE EDITOR OF A DICTIONARY OF SLANG owes explanations to the general reader about why such a book is made, how it was made, and how to use it. Y Z APPENDIX A: Words for “Drunk,” “Intoxicated,” and “Intoxicated by Drugs” APPENDIX B: Guide to Text Messaging Abbreviations Copyright About the Publisher Founding EditorĬONTENTS PREFACE to the Fourth Edition GUIDE to the Dictionary A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X DICTIONARY OF American Slang FOURTH EDITIONīARBARA ANN KIPFER Ph.D.
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