Oxford Dictionary of Modern SlangSlang is language with its sleeves rolled up, colorful, pointed, brash, bristling with humor and sometimes with hostility. Now, in Oxford Dictionary of Modern Slang, John Ayto and John Simpson have gathered together a vibrant collection of over 6,000 slang terms, drawn from the vast Oxford English Dictionary database. The volume is organized thematically, under such general headings as the body and its functions; people and society; animals; sustenance and intoxication; money, commerce, and employment; and time and tide. Within each section the words are listed chronologically, starting with the earliest words and progressing right through to the present, thus illuminating the development of slang and colloquial language over the years. Each entry contains the headword, part of speech, and definition, and most also have illustrative examples of the term in context. Many entries contain labels indicating the social group or discipline from which a word derives--such as theatrical, military, or nautical--as well as the place where it originated. In addition, when the term has had more than one meaning, the various senses are listed chronologically. |
Common terms and phrases
adjective mainly adjective orig adjective þ adverb African-American alcoholic alteration Austral and NZ Back-formation bloke contemptible crazy criminals DAILY TELEGRAPH derog and offensive dialect drink drug drunk earlier sense euphemistic fool fuck G. F. NEWMAN German girl GUARDIAN Hence homosexual J. B. PRIESTLEY jazz jocular LISTENER look mainly Austral mainly Brit marijuana military naval noun 1 orig noun Abbreviation noun Austral noun Brit noun dated noun derog noun mainly noun N Amer noun orig noun pl noun þ one’s orig and mainly orig Austral orig USA Origin uncertain Origin unknown P. G. WODEHOUSE penis perh police prison Prob pronunciation prostitute Rhyming slang sexual intercourse shit Shortening someone someone’s spec stupid SUNDAY talk There’s thing variant verb 1 trans verb intr verb trans verb þ What’s woman Yiddish YORKER young þ ie