New Dictionary of American Slang

In linguistics, where definitions at best are often imprecise, those of slang terms are notoriously hard to establish. Recorded slang emerged from the special languages of subcultures and never stops evolving. Since the publication of the classic Dictionary of American Slang, an which this new dictionary is partially based, many changes have taken place.
The creation of slang terms by hoboes, railroad workers, gypsies, and cowboys has very nearly ceased. Criminals, police, and gamblers. however. continue to give us zesty coinages. Teenagers and students can still be counted an for innovation and effrontery. Show business remains a fertile source. Railroad slang has been repiaced by that of airline workers and truck drivers. The jazz world does not contribute as much as it once did, but rock'n'roll and other music will probably make up for this loss in the future. Terms from the drug scene have multiplied astronomically. Sports makes a larger contribution than ever. The influx from Yiddish continues, but this has been far outstripped by increased borrowing from black America. Some sources of slang are new—the computer milieu and the hospital-medical-nursing complex, for example. Our period has also wKnessed a great increase of terms taken over from homosexuals, contributions not restricted to sex terms alone. Another large sector contributing to today's slang is the Washington—Los AngelesHouston—Wall Street—Madison Avenue nexus —the slang of the brass, of the execs, of middle management, of bureaucrats, of Yuppies, of talk shows and the "people" sort of columns and magazines.
The New Dictionary of American Slang records it all. Here are terms not found in most other dictionaries. Slang words and p--ases
are defined. Dating labels.    :-
where needed. and word and -as Z]ns are included along with thousands of usage examples taken from published sources. Its the only book of its kind.
DR. ROBERT L. CHAPMAN, an avid collector of slang as well as other words, has recently retired as Professor of English at Drew University. He was revising editor of the fourth edition of Roget's International Thesaurus and supervising editor of the Funk & Wagnalls Standard College Dictionary.
 

Buchschnitt etwas fleckig, sonst ordentlich und gut erhalten