The Slang Dictionary

With its unparalleled coverage of English slang of all types (from 18th-century cant to contemporary gay slang), and its uncluttered editorial apparatus, Cassell's Dictionary of Slang was warmly received when its first edition appeared in 1998. 'Brilliant.' said Mark Lawson on BBC2's The Late Review; 'This is a terrific piece of work - learned, entertaining, funny, stimulating' said Jonathan Meades in The Evening Standard.But now the world's best single-volume dictionary of English slang is about to get even better. Jonathon Green has spent the last seven years on a vast project: to research in depth the English slang vocabulary and to hunt down and record written instances of the use of as many slang words as possible. This has entailed trawling through more than 4000 books - plus song lyrics, TV and movie scripts, and many newspapers and magazines - for relevant material. The research has thrown up some fascinating results

The creator of Urban Dictionary shares a compendium of the site’s funniest, weirdest, and truest entries. Since 1999, UrbanDictionary.com has become the undisputed authority on contemporary slang. The site’s creator, Aaron Peckham, invites its ever-expanding fanbase to submit new words and definitions. For Urban Dictionary: Fularious Street Slang Defined, Peckham has curated a choice selection of terms that will definitely earn you street cred, and help newbies avoid confusing shank with skank.

Written originally for the education of the polite London classes in 'canting' - the language of thieves and ruffians - should they be so unlucky as to wander into the 'wrong' parts of town, A New Dictionary of Terms, Ancient and Modern, of the Canting Crew by 'B.E. Gent' is the first work dedicated solely to the subject of slang words and their meanings. It is also the first text which attempts to show the overlap and integration between canting words and common slang. In its refusal to distinguish between criminal vocabulary and the more ordinary everyday English of the period, it sets canting words side by side with terms used by sailors, labourers, and those in the common currency of domestic culture. With an introduction by John Simpson, chief editor of the Oxford English Dictionary, describing the history and culture of canting in the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries, as well as the evolution of English slang, this is a fascinating volume for anyone with a curiosity about language, or wishing to reintroduce 'Dandyprat' or 'Fizzle' into their everyday conversation. Anglers, c Cheats, petty Thievs, who have a Stick with a hook at the end, with which they pluck things out of Windows, Grates, &c. also those that draw in People to be cheated. Dandyprat, a little puny Fellow. Grumbletonians, Malecontents, out of Humour with the Government, for want of a Place, or having lost one. Strum, c. a Periwig. Rum-Strum, c. a long Wig; also a handsom Wench, or Strumpet.

From the popular website UrbanDictionary.com, this new edition features the freshest definitions for the words that define our world.

A dictionary of modern slang draws on the resources of the "Oxford English Dictionary" to cover over five thousand slang words and phrases from throughout the English-speaking world.

"All ridiculous words make their first entry into a language by familiar phrases; I dare not answer for these that they will not in time be looked upon as a part of our tongue."—SPECTATOR. "Rabble-charming words, which carry so much wild fire wrapt up in them."—SOUTH. "Slang derivations are generally indirect, turning upon metaphor and fanciful allusions, and other than direct etymological connexion. Such allusions and fancies are essentially temporary or local; they rapidly pass out of the public mind: the word remains, while the key to its origin is lost." "Many of these [slang] words and phrases are but serving their apprenticeship, and will eventually become the active strength of our language."—H. T. BUCKLE.