Dictionary of Contemporary Slang

August 1, 2014

With a quick flip of these pages, freshi readers can avoid looking like clunks, and figure out if they should be pleased or insulted if told they're wearing a severe shirt. Thorne (innovations consultant, King's Coll., London) includes about 20 percent new material in this fourth edition. The approximately 7,000 entries were collected by monitoring broadcasts, printed material, and the Internet, as well as through personal research and Thorne's wide network of slang enthusiasts. Entries are heavily tilted toward British usage, though American and Australian slang appears, too. Insults, off-color expressions, and terms regarding sex, body parts, and bodily functions represent a significant percentage of the material. Scholars may find Thorne's 11-page preliminary discussion of the purpose and function of slang intriguing, and browsers can flip through the pages, stopping when a boldface word or boxed comment catches their eye. The definitions are clear and lively and the word usage itself is often quite humorous. VERDICT This book will attract readers who want to seem hep rather than hilljack with their nabes and BFFs. Most suitable for college libraries, or public libraries in large urban areas.--Maggie Knapp, Trinity Valley Sch., Fort Worth, TX

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August 1, 2014
Slanguage adds color to language and characterizes groups within society at large. Although some slang attains international currency in standard English, much of it is insular, reflecting and reinforcing groups' distinctive identities, thereby necessitating dictionaries explaining to the many the argot of the few, along with its origins. Thorne's emphasis on British slang, both enduring and recent, makes unfamiliar or puzzling words such as caffle, rozzer, and fantabuloso intelligible to outsiders. Given the transitory nature and currency of most slang terms, this complements existing slang dictionaries and is recommended for ready-reference and circulating collections.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2014, American Library Association.)