Décharné traces the colorful history of slang, from Elizabethan highwaymen to the rap and hip-hop of today. He shows how meanings change over years; introduces us to flying aces, pickpockets, and carnival geeks who have left their impression on our language; and shows how slang leaks into the mainstream to infuse language with vitality.

With more than 15,000 definitions from aardvark to 'zup?, this is a guide to the use of slang today. It deals with drugs, sport and contemporary society, as well as favourite slang topics such as sex and bodily functions.

"The author of Reading the OED presents an eye-opening look at language "mistakes" and how they came to be accepted as correct-or not. English is a glorious mess of a language, cobbled together from a wide variety of sources and syntaxes, and changing over time with popular usage. Many of the words and usages we embrace as standard and correct today were at first considered slang, impolite, or just plain wrong. Whether you consider yourself a stickler,...

"SPLENDIFEROUS SPEECH explores the historical sources of the American vernacular, tracing our country's linguistic independence back to the expanding western frontier, the bumptious world of politics, and the sensation-filled pages of popular nineteenth-century newspapers"--

"Nigger" is arguably the most consequential social insult in American history. In this book, the author traces how the word has been used and by whom, while analyzing the controversies to which it has given rise. The author explores such topics as how "nigger" should be defined and whether blacks have a right to use "nigger" while others do not.

Making Out in Japanese is a fun, accessible and thorough Japanese phrase book and guide to the Japanese language as it's really spoken. Sugoku suki! Mata aeru? --(I'm crazy about you! Shall we meet again?) Answer this correctly in Japanese and you may be going on a hot date. Incorrectly, and you could be hurting someone's feelings or getting a slap! Japanese classes and textbooks tend to spend a lot of time rehearsing for the same fictitious scenarios...

Jomar greets his neighbors using slang, but his grandfather wants to hear some more traditional words.

"From Mental Floss, the premier destination for curious minds, comes a deep dive into the the world of words! You'll discover the surprising (and sometimes very dark) origins of common terms, a guide to quirky old-timey words, a timeline of popular slang, tips & tricks to win at every word game, from Scrabble to Wordle, a collection of the best literary insults, and much more!"--

"Throw a Hail Mary! Pass the pigskin! Catch a pick six! This book presents wacky lingo and puzzling phrases from the football field. Explore the origins of these words and phrases - from 'touchdown' to 'red zone' - and discover how college and pro players use them on the gridiron."--