International
Browse Categories
|
The Oxford Dictionary of Slang (Oxford Paperback Reference)BUY FROM AMAZON.CO.UK
Price: £6.49
Usually dispatched within 24 hours RRP: Buy New: £6.49 You Save: £3.50 (35%) Availability: Usually dispatched within 24 hours EDITORIAL REVIEWIf your other reference books aren't funky enough for you, get a smattering of unorthodoxy with the Oxford Dictionary of Slang. This comprehensive look at informal English from around the world and across the centuries is organised thesaurus-style into sections for easy browsing by category. Look up underground terminology for drugs and sex and you'll be browsing for a month of Sundays. Of course, if you need to get the skinny on a particular term but have no idea what it could mean, there's an alphabetical index that'll take you right where you need to go. Each word or phrase is thoroughly documented, as you'd expect from an Oxford dictionary; its first print sighting, place of use, meanings and cross-contextual references are included, as well as illuminating usage quotes. The Dictionary is easy to use and the definitions are concise--you can get the information you need quickly with time left to linger over related terms. More than 10,000 entries yield plenty of insight into commonly used but still not quite kosher parts of our language. When your New Zealander buddy refers to someone as a cow-spanker, you won't have to wonder for long just who you're dealing with (don't worry, she's a dairy farmer); the Oxford Dictionary of Slang will give you the moxie to deal with a discombobulated world. --Rob Lightner PRODUCT DETAILSPublisher: OUP OxfordPub. Date: 9th October 2003 Catalog: Book Media: Paperback Number Of Pages: 480 Ean: 9780198607632 Isbn: 0198607636 ABOUT THIS BOOKUSER REVIEWS
It's a corker (an excellent person or thing; something that closes a discussion, from the notion of putting a cork in it), a cracker, a whizz, a snozzler (if you're a New Zealander), even a piss-cutter (North American, naturally) or any one of numerous alternatives, all dated, located and explained. It's also a must for anyone interested in the development of language. It covers everything, from The Body and its Parts (many, many words, some guaranteed to leave you gobsmacked (1985, British)) to Abstract Qualities and States. And it's well arranged by subject in the form of a thesaurus, with a convenient dictionary at the back. But a word of warning: start to browse, and you'll find it unputdownable.
I was hoping to find a dictionary that explains in simple language what the slang means. This one definitely doesn't. It mainly gives the origin of the word and an old example from sixties or something. Also there are no definitions. Not very useful really, because it doesn't help to understand what the slang means. SIMILAR ITEMS:
|

The Oxford Dictionary of Slang's a corker .....
not very useful