Skip to main content Accessibility help

We use cookies to distinguish you from other users and to provide you with a better experience on our websites. Close this message to accept cookies or find out how to manage your cookie settings.

Close cookie message
×
Hostname: page-component-78c5997874-mlc7c Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-11-11T05:23:28.893Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false

Chapter 7 - English Slang Dictionaries

from Part I - Issues in English Lexicography

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  18 September 2020

By
Michael Adams
Edited by
Sarah Ogilvie
Sarah Ogilvie
Affiliation:
University of Oxford
Get access

Summary

In keeping with its character as evasive and subversive language, slang is hard to define. Some see it as urban masculine vocabulary focused on sex, intoxication, and excretion; others as instrumentally valuable in the construction of in- and out-groups, or as a matter of style to facilitate fitting in and standing out. This chapter traces the history of slang dictionaries from the first slang dictionary of 1699, written by the semi-anonymous ‘B. E.’, to the work of other slang lexicographers throughout the centuries: Francis Grose, John Camden Hotten, John Stephen Farmer, William Ernest Henley, Eric Partridge, Jonathan Lighter, and Jonathan Green.

Keywords

slangcantB. E.Francis GroseEric Partridgeflash languageJohn Camden HottenJohn Stephen FarmerWilliam Ernest HenleyJonathan GreenJonathan Lighter
Type
Chapter
Information
The Cambridge Companion to English Dictionaries , pp. 75 - 86
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Print publication year: 2020

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

Save book to Kindle

To save this book to your Kindle, first ensure coreplatform@cambridge.org is added to your Approved Personal Document E-mail List under your Personal Document Settings on the Manage Your Content and Devices page of your Amazon account. Then enter the ‘name’ part of your Kindle email address below. Find out more about saving to your Kindle.

Note you can select to save to either the @free.kindle.com or @kindle.com variations. ‘@free.kindle.com’ emails are free but can only be saved to your device when it is connected to wi-fi. ‘@kindle.com’ emails can be delivered even when you are not connected to wi-fi, but note that service fees apply.

Find out more about the Kindle Personal Document Service.

Available formats
×

Save book to Dropbox

To save content items to your account, please confirm that you agree to abide by our usage policies. If this is the first time you use this feature, you will be asked to authorise Cambridge Core to connect with your account. Find out more about saving content to Dropbox.

Available formats
×

Save book to Google Drive

To save content items to your account, please confirm that you agree to abide by our usage policies. If this is the first time you use this feature, you will be asked to authorise Cambridge Core to connect with your account. Find out more about saving content to Google Drive.

Available formats
×