The Life of Slang [Paperback]

This book traces the development of English slang from the earliest records to the latest tweet and explores why and how slang is used. Based on inside information from real live slang users as well as the best scholarly sources, this book is guaranteed to teach you some new words that you shouldn't use in polite company.Bad-ass, bee's knees, and bomb-diffity - slang rulesTeachers, politicians, broadcasters, and parents complain of the slang-infested language of today's teenagers. But slang has been around for centuries, always troubling those who take a purist line on the English language. In this entertaining book, Julie Coleman traces the development of slang across the English-speaking world and explores why and how it flourishes. She makes use of a marvellous array of sources, including newly available online records of the Old Bailey, machine-searchable historical newspaper collections, slang users themselves, scholarly works, and the latest tweets. It is a book guaranteed to teach you some new words that you shold never use in polite company.1. What is Slang?2. Spawning3. Development4. Survival and Metamorphosis5. The Spread of Slang6. Prigs, Culls, and Blosses: Cant and Flash Language7. Jolly Good Show: British Slang to the Twentieth Century8. Whangdoodles and Fixings: Early American Slang9. Bludgers, Sooks and Moffies: English Slang around the World10. Top Bananas and Bunny-boilers: The Media and Entertainment Age11. Leet to Lols: The Digital Age12. EndsvilleAcknowledgementsExplanatory NotesBibliographyWord IndexIndexJulie Colemanwas born in Coventry and attended Finham Park Comprehensive. She studied at Manchester University and King's College London, taught at Lund University in Sweden, and is now a Professor in the School of English at the University of Leicester. She has written several books about dictionaries.