Green's Dictionary of Slang

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Cover of the first volume of the print edition (2010) of Green's Dictionary of Slang. Green's Dictionary of Slang cover.png
Cover of the first volume of the print edition (2010) of Green's Dictionary of Slang.

Green's Dictionary of Slang (GDoS) is a multivolume dictionary defining and giving the history of English slang from around the Early Modern English period to the present day written by Jonathon Green. As a historical dictionary it covers not only slang words in use in the present day but also those from the past which are no longer used, and illustrates its definitions with quotations. It is thus comparable in method to the Oxford English Dictionary (OED) though with a narrower scope, since it includes only slang words; nonetheless it is more comprehensive within its scope, containing 125,000 items of slang while the OED has only 7,700 terms carrying a slang label. [1]

Contents

History

Jonathon Green, the dictionary's author, considers the work to be in the lineage of English slang dictionaries going back to Francis Grose's 18th-century Classical Dictionary of the Vulgar Tongue and further to the 1566 glossary Caveat for Common Cursetours by Thomas Harman. [2] The dictionary's direct ancestor is Eric Partridge's Dictionary of Slang and Unconventional English (1937–84) which originally inspired Green to write his own dictionary of slang, published as The Dictionary of Contemporary Slang in 1984. [3] [4]

In 1993 Cassell commissioned Green to create a new dictionary, this time broadening the focus to include slang terms from approximately 1500 onwards, but without citations. The first edition of the single-volume Cassell's Dictionary of Slang appeared in 1998. [5] Cassell immediately commissioned a sequel with full historical quotations as in the OED. Green turned down an offer from Routledge to revise Partridge's dictionary in order to embark on his own work of far greater magnitude, helped by the bequest of his deceased uncle which allowed Green to spend much more money on the necessary lexicographical research than his publisher was able to provide. [2] [3]

Work on the dictionary continued throughout the 2000s, with a second edition of Cassell's Dictionary of Slang appearing as an interim work in 2005 [6] and, after the acquisition of Cassell by Chambers, a third edition under the new title of the Chambers Slang Dictionary in 2008. [7]

In 2009 the dictionary was ready to be published in its first edition, [3] and was released in 2010 in Great Britain by Hachette (the new owners of Chambers Harrap) and in 2011 in North America by the Oxford University Press. [8] [9] Though Green hoped to release a full and regularly updated online edition shortly thereafter, [2] due to a legal dispute with the dictionary's new publishers, only a limited release as an Oxford Reference ebook was possible, with no updates made. [3]

However, having found a suitable partner through an appeal posted on the website Language Log , an updated and fully searchable online edition of the dictionary was launched in 2016 as an independent publication. [3] [10]

Reception

Upon release of the first print edition, critical reception was broadly positive. The Guardian , [11] the Financial Times , [12] The Daily Telegraph , [13] the New Statesman , [14] and The New York Times [15] among others praised the dictionary for its breadth and the quality of the research. It received the 2012 Dartmouth Medal of the American Library Association as a reference work of outstanding quality and significance. [16] Michael Quinion of the website World Wide Words wrote of the dictionary's approach that "In its historical approach, GDoS matches the Oxford English Dictionary and it’s not hyperbolic to suggest that it’s the OED of slang." [17]

Academic reviews of the print edition also generally praised the dictionary, [18] though there were some points of criticism. Michael Adams wrote in the journal Dictionaries that, though the dictionary was good overall, there were problems with the clarity and focus of definitions and the accuracy of etymology which he felt left him unable to unequivocally recommend GDoS to the exclusion of previous similar dictionaries (such as the Historical Dictionary of American Slang (HDAS) of Jonathan Lighter) as others had done. [19]

A similar comparison to HDAS was made by Simon Winchester in the New York Review of Books . [20] Unlike Adams, Winchester wrote that GDoS scored strongly against HDAS in almost every regard, but his view was disputed in a response by Geoffrey Nunberg of Language Log , who claimed that Lighter's dictionary was better organized and often had earlier citations which GDoS missed. [21] Green responded to Nunberg pointing out that HDAS often used a hypothetical date of composition of texts in its citations where GDoS consistently uses the more certain, but inevitably later date of first publication instead, and also defending GDoS against some of Nunberg's other claims. [21]

Upon launch of the online edition in 2016, the new version also garnered praise in the International Journal of Lexicography [22] and positive news coverage in publications including Time , [23] Qz.com, [24] and Slate . [25]

Related Research Articles

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<i>Oxford English Dictionary</i> Historical dictionary of the English language began in 1857

The Oxford English Dictionary (OED) is the principal historical dictionary of the English language, published by Oxford University Press (OUP). It traces the historical development of the English language, providing a comprehensive resource to scholars and academic researchers, as well as describing usage in its many variations throughout the world.

<i>The Surgeon of Crowthorne</i> 1998 non-fiction history book by Simon Winchester

The Surgeon of Crowthorne: A Tale of Murder, Madness and the Love of Words is a non-fiction history book by British writer Simon Winchester, first published in England in 1998. It was retitled The Professor and the Madman: A Tale of Murder, Insanity, and the Making of the Oxford English Dictionary in the United States and Canada.

Beard is a slang term, American in origin, describing a person who is used, knowingly or unknowingly, as a date, romantic partner, or spouse either to conceal infidelity or to conceal one's sexual orientation. The term also refers, in some areas, to anyone who acted on behalf of another, in any transaction, to conceal a person's true identity. The term can be used in heterosexual and non-heterosexual contexts but is especially used within LGBTQ+ culture. References to beards are seen in mainstream television and films, and other entertainment.

In morphology and lexicography, a lemma is the canonical form, dictionary form, or citation form of a set of word forms. In English, for example, break, breaks, broke, broken and breaking are forms of the same lexeme, with break as the lemma by which they are indexed. Lexeme, in this context, refers to the set of all the inflected or alternating forms in the paradigm of a single word, and lemma refers to the particular form that is chosen by convention to represent the lexeme. Lemmas have special significance in highly inflected languages such as Arabic, Turkish, and Russian. The process of determining the lemma for a given lexeme is called lemmatisation. The lemma can be viewed as the chief of the principal parts, although lemmatisation is at least partly arbitrary.

<i>Lexico</i> Dictionary website

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A slang dictionary is a reference book containing an alphabetical list of slang, which is vernacular vocabulary not generally acceptable in formal usage, usually including information given for each word, including meaning, pronunciation, and etymology. It can provide definitions on a range of slang from more mundane terms to obscure sexual practices. Such works also can include words and phrases arising from different dialects and argots, which may or may not have passed into more common usage. They can also track the changing meaning of the terms over time and space, as they migrate and mutate.

<i>Historical Dictionary of American Slang</i>

The Historical Dictionary of American Slang, often abbreviated HDAS, is a dictionary of American slang. The first two volumes, Volume 1, A – G (1994), and Volume 2, H – O (1997), were published by Random House, and the work then was known as the Random House Historical Dictionary of American Slang, sometimes abbreviated as RHHDAS. Both volumes used the same ISBN, ISBN 0-394-54427-7; the paperback editions are ISBN 978-0-394-54427-4 for Volume 1 and ISBN 978-0-679-43464-1 for Volume 2.

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Twat is an English-language vulgarism which means the vulva or vagina, and is used figuratively as a derogatory epithet. In British English, and Irish English it is a common insult referring to an obnoxious or stupid person regardless of gender; in American English, it is rarer and usually used to insult a woman. In Britain and Ireland, the usual pronunciation rhymes with "hat", while Americans most often use the older pronunciation that rhymes with "squat". This is reflected in the former variant spelling of "twot".

Jonathon Green is an English lexicographer of slang and writer on the history of alternative cultures. Jonathon Green is often referred to as the English-speaking world's leading lexicographer of slang, and has even been described as "the most acclaimed British lexicographer since Johnson".

Eighty-six or 86 is American English slang used to indicate that an item is no longer available, traditionally from a food or drinks establishment, or referring to a person or people who are not welcome on the premises. Its etymology is unknown, but seems to have been coined in the 1920s or 1930s.

<i>A Dictionary of Slang and Unconventional English</i> 1937 dictionary by Eric Partridge

A Dictionary of Slang and Unconventional English is a dictionary of slang originally compiled by the noted lexicographer of the English language Eric Partridge. The first edition was published in 1937 and seven editions were eventually published by Partridge. An eighth edition was published in 1984, after Partridge's death, by editor Paul Beale; in 1990 Beale published an abridged version, Partridge's Concise Dictionary of Slang and Unconventional English.

Dick is a common English slang word for the human penis. It is also used by extension for a variety of slang purposes, generally considered vulgar, including: as a verb to describe sexual activity; and as a pejorative term for individuals who are considered to be rude, abrasive, inconsiderate, or otherwise contemptible. In this context, it can be used interchangeably with jerk, and can also be used as a verb to describe rude or deceitful actions. Variants include dickhead, which literally refers to the glans. The offensiveness of the word dick is complicated by the continued use of the word in inoffensive contexts, including as both a given name and a surname, the popular British dessert spotted dick, the novel Moby-Dick, the Dick and Jane series of children's books, and the American retailer Dick's Sporting Goods. Uses such as these have provided a basis for comedy writers to exploit this juxtaposition through double entendre.

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References

  1. ↑ "ongoing by Tim Bray · The Oxford English Dictionary". www.tbray.org. Retrieved 2017-10-10.
  2. 1 2 3 "Introduction (print edition) — Green's Dictionary of Slang". greensdictofslang.com. Retrieved 2017-10-10.
  3. 1 2 3 4 5 Green, Jonathon; Kendal, D. P. (2017). "Writing and Publishing Green's Dictionary of Slang". Dictionaries: Journal of the Dictionary Society of North America. 38 (1): 82–95. doi:10.1353/dic.2017.0003. S2CID   149390891.
  4. ↑ Green, Jonathon (1984). The Dictionary of Contemporary Slang. London: Pan Books.
  5. ↑ Green, Jonathon (1998). Cassell's Dictionary of Slang. London: Cassell.
  6. ↑ Green, Jonathon (2005). Cassell's Dictionary of Slang (2nd ed.). London: Cassell.
  7. ↑ Green, Jonathon (2008). Chambers Slang Dictionary. Edinburgh: Chambers.
  8. ↑ "Introduction to the Digital Edition — Green's Dictionary of Slang". greensdictofslang.com. Retrieved 2017-11-06.
  9. ↑ Green, Jonathon (2010). Green's Dictionary of Slang. London: Chambers. ISBN   978-0550104403.
  10. ↑ "GDoS News — Welcome to GDoS Online". blog.greensdictofslang.com. Retrieved 2017-11-06.
  11. ↑ Poole, Steven (2010-12-18). "Green's Dictionary of Slang by Jonathon Green and Guardian Style by David Marsh & Amelia Hodsdon – review". The Guardian. ISSN   0261-3077 . Retrieved 2017-10-11.
  12. ↑ Hitchings, Henry (2010). "Old slang's time". Financial Times. Retrieved 6 November 2017.
  13. ↑ Noel-Tod, Jeremy (2010-10-25). "Dictionary of slang: 'Everything went off A1, he said'". Daily Telegraph. ISSN   0307-1235 . Retrieved 2017-11-06.
  14. ↑ "Green's Dictionary of Slang". www.newstatesman.com. Retrieved 2017-11-06.
  15. ↑ Zimmer, Ben (2011-04-01). "Slanguage - Books - Review". The New York Times. ISSN   0362-4331 . Retrieved 2017-10-11.
  16. ↑ "Green's Dictionary of Slang | Awards & Grants". www.ala.org. Retrieved 2017-11-06.
  17. ↑ "World Wide Words: Green's Dictionary of Slang". World Wide Words. Retrieved 2017-11-06.
  18. ↑ Coleman, Julie (March 2012). "Jonathon Green, Green's dictionary of slang. Edinburgh: Chambers, 2010, 3 vols. pp. xxxi + 6085. ISBN 9-7805-5010-4403. £295.00". English Language and Linguistics . 16 (1): 193–9. doi:10.1017/S1360674311000360. S2CID   122019613.
  19. ↑ Adams, Michael (2012). "Green's Dictionary of Slang (review)". Dictionaries: Journal of the Dictionary Society of North America. 33: 208–244. doi:10.1353/dic.2012.0013. S2CID   161197710.
  20. ↑ Winchester, Simon (2012-03-08). "The Mongrel Speech of the Streets". The New York Review of Books. ISSN   0028-7504 . Retrieved 2017-10-11.
  21. 1 2 "Language Log » Winchester on Green and Lighter in NYRB". languagelog.ldc.upenn.edu. Retrieved 2017-10-11.
  22. ↑ Hanks, Patrick (8 February 2017). "Jonathon Green. 2016. Green's Dictionary of Slang". International Journal of Lexicography . 31 (3): 358–363. doi:10.1093/ijl/ecx001.
  23. ↑ "Green's, the Biggest Slang Dictionary Ever, Just Went Online". Time. Retrieved 2017-11-06.
  24. ↑ Cooper, Marta. "This man has spent 35 years on a 132,000-word slang dictionary that you can search online for free". Quartz. Retrieved 2017-11-06.
  25. ↑ Green, Jonathon (2016-10-13). "Green's Dictionary of Slang Comes Online". Slate. ISSN   1091-2339 . Retrieved 2017-11-06.
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