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Jonathon Green is an English lexicographer of slang and writer on the history of alternative cultures.
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Jonathon Green is an English lexicographer of slang and writer on the history of alternative cultures.
Of Jewish origin, Jonathon Green was educated at Bedford School (1961–1965) and Brasenose College, Oxford (1966–1969), where he read history. [1]
Green's published books have primarily focussed on sixties counterculture. After publishing All Dressed Up: The Sixties and the Counterculture (1998) he was taken to court for libel by both former Beatle George Harrison and artist Caroline Coon, and the book was withdrawn for 12 months. [1] In June 2000, Coon received damages of £40,000, plus £33,000 costs, from publisher Random House, and received an official apology from Green for making false claims. [2]
The book was later republished with the libellous passages removed. [3]
The single-volume Chambers Slang Dictionary (Chambers Harrap) was first published in 1998; a second edition appeared in October 2008.[ citation needed ]
Green's most substantial work in this field is Green's Dictionary of Slang : a three-volume slang work which traces, via examples and citations drawn from the last five centuries, the history of the slang vocabulary from the earliest use of every term.[ citation needed ] It was awarded the 2012 Dartmouth Medal, an annual award from the Reference and User Services Association recognising the most outstanding reference work of the year.[ citation needed ]
Green has been described as the English-speaking world's leading lexicographer of slang, [4] and has even been described as "the most acclaimed British lexicographer since Johnson".[ by whom? ] [5]
Lexicography is the study of lexicons and the art of compiling dictionaries. It is divided into two separate academic disciplines:
A slang is a vocabulary of an informal register, common in everyday conversation but avoided in formal writing and speech. It also often refers to the language exclusively used by the members of particular in-groups in order to establish group identity, exclude outsiders, or both. The word itself came about in the 18th century and has been defined in multiple ways since its conception, with no single technical usage in linguistics.
Colloquialism is the linguistic style used for casual and informal communication. It is the most common form of speech in conversation among persons in friendship, familial, intimate, and other informal contexts. Colloquialism is characterized by the usage of figurative language, contractions, filler words, interjections, and other informalities such as slang.
Chinook Jargon is a language originating as a pidgin trade language in the Pacific Northwest. It spread during the 19th century from the lower Columbia River, first to other areas in modern Oregon and Washington, then to British Columbia and parts of Alaska, Northern California, Idaho and Montana. It sometimes took on the characteristics of a creole language. The contact language Chinook Jargon should not be confused with the Indigenous language Chinook.
A media guide, historically also known as a dope book, is a sports-related press kit, distributed as a book or binder, and published by sports teams before the start of the sporting season. It features information relating to the team players, history, statistical records and other similar items. Media guides are usually distributed to sports journalists to assist in their broadcasting of the team game.
The Double-Tongued Dictionary is an online dictionary. It catalogs a growing lexicon of undocumented or under-documented words on the fringes of English, focusing on slang, jargon, and new words.
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.
Fruit, fruity, and fruitcake, as well as its many variations, are slang or even sexual slang terms which have various origins. These terms have often been used derogatorily to refer to LGBT people. Usually used as pejoratives, the terms have also been re-appropriated as insider terms of endearment within LGBT communities. Many modern pop culture references within the gay nightlife like "Fruit Machine" and "Fruit Packers" have been appropriated for reclaiming usage, similar to queer.
Troll and trolling are slang terms used almost exclusively among gay men to characterize gay, bisexual and questioning or bi-curious men who cruise or "wander about looking" for sex or potential sex partners or experiences "in a notably wanton manner and with lessened standards of what one will accept in a partner." The term can be used positively or negatively depending on the speaker, usage and intent and can describe the person or the activity. Although often referring to "an unattractive older gay man" and although troll as a slur "is primarily a visual, not a behavioral" judgment, the phrases can be used for anyone who is trolling, regardless of the putative troll's age or perceived attractiveness.
British slang is English-language slang originating from and used in the United Kingdom and also used to a limited extent in Anglophone countries such as India, Malaysia, Ireland, South Africa, Australia, Canada, and New Zealand, especially by British expatriates. It is also used in the United States to a limited extent. Slang is informal language sometimes peculiar to a particular social class or group and its use in Britain dates back to before the 15th century. The language of slang, in common with the English language, is changing all the time; new words and phrases are being added and some are used so frequently by so many, they almost become mainstream.
Sexual slang is a set of linguistic terms and phrases used to refer to sexual organs, processes, and activities; they are generally considered colloquial rather than formal or medical, and some may be seen as impolite or improper.
The Ancient Noble Order of the Gormogons was a short-lived 18th century secret society formed by expelled Freemason Philip Wharton. It left no records or accomplishments to indicate its true goal and purpose. From the group's few published articles it is thought that the society's primary objective was to hold up Freemasonry to ridicule. During its brief existence it was accused of being a Jacobite-leaning group, perhaps because the first known Grandmaster was Andrew Michael Ramsay of Ayr, Scotland, a Jacobite of strong convictions. It also appears to have been a charitable organization, at least according to its surviving bylaws. There are also some surviving pendant badges, bearing their sign.
Chambers is a reference publisher formerly based in Edinburgh, Scotland, which held the property rights of W. & R. Chambers Publishers.
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.
Tony Thorne is a British author, linguist and lexicographer specialising in slang, jargon and cultural history. He is a leading authority on language change and language usage in the UK and across the English-speaking world.
The Jargon File is a glossary and usage dictionary of slang used by computer programmers. The original Jargon File was a collection of terms from technical cultures such as the MIT AI Lab, the Stanford AI Lab (SAIL) and others of the old ARPANET AI/LISP/PDP-10 communities, including Bolt, Beranek and Newman (BBN), Carnegie Mellon University, and Worcester Polytechnic Institute. It was published in paperback form in 1983 as The Hacker's Dictionary and revised in 1991 as The New Hacker's Dictionary.
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.
A Dictionary of Modern Slang, Cant and Vulgar Words is a dictionary of slang originally compiled by publisher and lexicographer John Camden Hotten in 1859.
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.
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.
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