Slang Dictionaries

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Current revision as of 19:38, 20 October 2010

This article originally appeared in Printed Sources: A Guide to Published Genealogical Records, edited by Kory L. Meyerink.

Slang dictionaries offer definitions for unconventional words. Two well-known examples are Dictionary of American Slang, by Harold Wentworth and Stuart Berg Flexner, and A Dictionary of Slang and Unconventional English, by Eric Partridge. Both dictionaries present definitions of slang and special terms from various vocations, geographical regions, and ethnic groups.

Partridge’s Dictionary of Slang and Unconventional English includes colloquialisms and catch phrases, fossilized jokes and puns, general nicknames, and vulgarisms. An appendix of items too unwieldy to fit comfortably into the main text includes occupational names, Cockney English catch-phrases, and “Railwaymen’s Slang and Nicknames.” The latter is illustrated in the attached image.

The Dictionary of American Slang is one of the best American slang dictionaries. It features a ten-page overview of American slang and its evolution. Also included is an interesting discussion of groups within American culture responsible for the proliferation of slang in everyday English. Flexner notes that the vocabulary of the average American is estimated at ten thousand to twenty thousand words. Of this amount, Flexner estimates that two thousand are slang words and that they are among the most frequently used (Wentworth and Flexner 1975, viii).

Slang dictionaries often list words that have a specific or cultural emphasis, such as Words of the Vietnam War, by Gregory R. Clark, and Dictionary of Afro-American Slang, by Clarence Major. There are also dialect and regional dictionaries for most areas within the United States. The attached figure shows an entry found in the regional dictionary Western Words: A Dictionary of the American West, by Ramon Frederick Adams.

Printed Sources: A Guide to Published Genealogical Records Publication Information:
	Introduction - By Kory L. Meyerink Origin of Information • Categories of Research Sources and Tools • Evaluation of Printed Sources • Documentation and Copyright • Learning What Printed Sources Exist • Publishers and Distributors • Repositories of Printed Sources • Effective Use of Libraries and Archives
	Chapter 1: General Reference - Martha L. Henderson Unique Resources in Public Libraries • Dewey Decimal Classification System • Reference Sources • Encyclopedias • General History Sources • Social History Sources • Almanacs, Chronologies, and Statistical Sources • Using Directories • Local Directories • Printed Professional Directories • Institutional Directories • Directories of Groups and Associations • Source Guides • General Language Dictionaries • Historical and Etymological Dictionaries • Slang Dictionaries • Subject Dictionaries • Surname Dictionaries • Government Documents • Using Bibliographies • Electronic Sources • References for Printed Sources: Chapter 1
	Chapter 2: Instructional Materials - Sandra Hargreaves Luebking Introduction to Instructional Matters • How-To Guides and Manuals for Adults • How-to Guides and Manuals for Young People • Genealogy Technologies and Refinement of Skills • Courses and Programs of Study • Periodical Articles • Identifying and Obtaining Instructional Materials • Evaluating Instructional Materials • Selecting Textbooks for Classroom Use • The Future of Instructional Materials • References for Printed Sources: Chapter 2
	Chapter 3 Introduction to Geographic Tools • Introduction to Maps and Gazetters • Mapping of a New Nation • Routes to the West • Canals and Waterways • Railroads • Political Maps • Nineteenth-Century Maps • USGS Topographic Maps • Ordering Topographic Map Names and Numbers • Ordering Topographic Maps • Digital Topographic Maps • Out-of-Print Topographic Maps • Fact Sheets and General Interest Publications • Other Types of USGS Maps • Nineteenth-Century National Gazetteers • Twentieth-Century National Gazetteers • Postal Guides and Shipping Guides • Maps, Gazetteers, and the Computer • Finding Geographic Tools • Using Geographic Tools • References for Printed Sources: Chapter 3
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