Slang, however one judges it, shows us at our most human. It is used widely and often, typically associated with the writers of noir fiction, teenagers, and rappers, but also found in the ...
MoreSlang, however one judges it, shows us at our most human. It is used widely and often, typically associated with the writers of noir fiction, teenagers, and rappers, but also found in the works of Shakespeare and Dickens. It has been recorded since at least 1500
AD, and today’s vocabulary, taken from every major English-speaking country, runs to over 125,000 slang words and phrases.
Slang: A Very Short Introduction explores this fascinating subset of the English language. It considers the meaning and origins of the word ‘slang’ itself, the ideas that make a word ‘slang’, the long-running themes that run through slang, and the history of slang’s many dictionaries.
Less
