| Summary: The slang dictionary may seem like a recent phenomena, but the slang dictionary has been around for at least forty years. |
Slang dictionaries have existed since the early 1960s, and as slang usage has increased and changed over the years, various forms of slang dictionaries have evolved with it. Today, multiple printed slang dictionaries exist in English, covering everything from country-specific slang to complete dictionaries of swear words. In addition, multiple resources abound on the Internet, covering topics as diverse as Internet slang, Singaporean slang, and even “dead” slang languages such as Polari (a mish-mash of languages used primarily by the gay male subculture in Britain in the 1950s and 1960s.)
The Dictionary of American Slang by Robert L. Chapman, first published in 1960, is considered to be the standard printed work for American slang. Now in its third edition, it boasts 19,000 entries covering the history of American slang through the 1990s. It also lists examples of slang usage and often gives information about the groups from which each piece of slang originated.
For people needing greater slang coverage, Cassell’s Dictionary of Slang by Jonathon Green offers over 65,000 entries taken from British and American slang. This dictionary also provides information about slang origins, but has relatively few examples of usage. Published in 2000, this dictionary also covers terms through the 1990s.
Publishing houses known for their standard English dictionaries have also offered slang dictionaries, with less success. Random House, in particular, embarked on the ambitious project of making a three-volume American slang dictionary, with much of the content provided by J.E. Lighter, a linguist from the University of Tennessee. However, due to a disagreement about royalties, Random House pulled the plug on the project after volume two. After several years of limbo, the National Endowment for the Humanities and Oxford University Press stepped up to complete the project, and expects to publish two additional volumes by 2008.
Since 2000, hundreds of new slang terms have come into common usage, among them “blog,” “hollaback girl,” and “random.” Obviously, tracking these mercurial changes in slang is not cost-effective for publishing houses, so online slang dictionaries are the best resources for researching these terms. Most online slang dictionaries are available for editing by anyone, which has both advantages and disadvantages. One advantage is that the slang presented is often authentic, though occasionally differing definitions of the same term appear, reflecting nuances of use. The disadvantage is that many of the entries are less than academic in their treatment of the slang term in question. Some don’t even give a true definition, choosing instead to simply deride users of that term. At first glance, these entries might appear useless, but they do offer something of value in the form of a barometer for which words have fallen out of current usage. See the online Urban Dictionary for examples (http://www.urbandictionary.com/).
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