The Dictionary of American Slang

I had seen this book at a friends and wanted to own it. It is the type of book that you can open at any page and find an interesting subject. It is also helpful for researching the origins of phrases and words that have long been used without really knowing how they originated. It is a worthwhile book to have at your bedside.

I've been using Chapman's slang dictionary for years and I definitely couldn't do without it. It's comprehensive, contains sample sentences, and spans a wide area from black slang and youth slang to business, politics, computers, you name it. This book has almost never failed. By now, a lot of expressions and words can also be found in the best English dictionary around: Merriam-Webster's Collegiate Dictionary, 11th Edition, with much more current examples of usage. But looking for words in Chapmans book also takes some getting used to, but once you've figured it out you're all set. For example: "to be in the driver's seat" cannot be found under "driver" or "seat", but under "in the ...", which is awkward. Although there's a cross-reference under "driver's seat" to "in the driver's seat", in a whole lot of other cases there's no such reference. And "All over the ballpark" is listed under "all over ...", not "ballpark". For this reason, you sometimes have to take each word of a longer expression and go on a wild goose chase to find the whole expression in the book. Yet, once you've gotten the hang of it, it's ok. Still, great dictionary of slang.

Ends: Money.

1960: C.L. Cooper(Scene 62) His woman is making some ends for him.

1964: B. Jackson: Swim Like Me(106) My ends was pretty low.

1968: Andrews & Dickens: Big House(15) I'll get you a piece, on a short term lease/And you don't have to put up no ends.

1970: Horman & Fox: Drug Awareness(466) Ends--money.

1971: Goines: Dopefiend(143) If Porky can support that oilburner Smokey got, we should have no problem taking care of ours, plus making a few ends.

This is from Volume 1 of the Random House dictionary of American Slang by J.E. Lighter, a 3 volume set that was not completed due to Random House's decision to pull the plug on the project after the first two were released. Thus making this book a neccessity for anyone using that set (or wishing to avoid it altogther).

I have a "New Dictionary of American Slang" written by this author in 1986. I didn't like the book from day one, but at the time I couldn't find a different one. No example in the dictionary is from the author himself. This is something I don't like at all. Moreover, many words are not included in the dictionary. I'm now looking for a better slang dictionary definitely NOT BY THIS AUTHOR.

If you're into words, slang, and idioms like I am, then you probably already own a reference book like this and realize that you need at least 2-3 similar books to find the real nuances of meaning that you want.

This book definitely qualifies to be one of them. The definitions are thoughtful and precise, and there are significantly fewer 'disappointments' (at lousy or omitted definitions/terms) than with other books of it's kind.