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OverviewHow do Americans really talk-what are their hometown, everyday expressions in the many regions and sections of this huge country? The Dictionary of American Regional English (DARE), twenty years in preparation, answers these questions. It gives visible proof of the diversity-and the vitality-of American folk language, past and present. DARE includes thousands of words and phrases not found in conventional dictionaries, and out-of-the-way meanings for common terms. Here are local names for familiar objects, from old cars to frying pans to dust-balls under the bed (176 names for these); for plants, animals, and critters real and imaginary; for rainstorms and heat waves; for foods, clothing, children's games and adults' pastimes; for illnesses and traditional remedies. Here are terms-salty, sarcastic, humorous-by which people describe each other, their physical appearance, characters, emotions, states of mind. Here are metaphors and similes galore. In Wisconsin a man whose motives are suspect has beans up his nose. In Georgia a conceited person is biggity ; someone important or self-important in the Northwest is bull of the woods. A close friend may be bobbasheely (Mississippi) or an ace boon coon (New York City). West of the Appalachians the old saw I wouldn't know him from Adam becomes I wouldn't know him from Adam's off-ox (or, in the South, from Adam's housecat ). These and some twelve thousand other expressions are identified and explained in the first volume of DARE. While DARE is the work of many dedicated people, it owes its existence to Frederic G. Cassidy, who in 1963 agreed to organize the project, raise funds for it, and serve as Editor-in-Chief. Cassidy trained teams of fieldworkers and equipped them with a carefully worded questionnaire: 1,847 questions grouped in 41 broad categories ranging over most aspects of everyday life and common human experience. From 1965 to 1970 the fieldworkers conducted week-long interviews with natives of 1,002 representative communities in all fifty states. The two and a half million items gleaned from the fieldwork, coded and computer-processed, are DARE's primary data base, a rich harvest of regional Americanisms current in the seventh decade of this century. Earlier collections have been drawn upon as well, notably the 40,000 expressions recorded by the American Dialect Society since 1889; and some 5,000 publications, including regional novels and diaries and small-town newspapers, have been combed for local idioms. A unique feature of the dictionary is the computer-generated maps that accompany many of the entries to show the geographical distribution of the term. The base map is schematic, distorting the areas of the states to reflect their population density. Volume I includes extensive introductory material on DARE itself and on American folk speech. Its entries, from Aaron's rod to czarnina, cover nearly a quarter of the total DARE corpus. Full Product DetailsAuthor: Frederic G. Cassidy , etc.Publisher: Harvard University Press Imprint: The Belknap Press Dimensions: Width: 21.60cm , Height: 5.30cm , Length: 27.90cm Weight: 2.449kg ISBN: 9780674205116ISBN 10: 0674205111 Pages: 1064 Publication Date: 01 January 1985 Audience: College/higher education , Professional and scholarly , Undergraduate , Postgraduate, Research & Scholarly Format: Hardback Publisher's Status: Active Availability: In Print  This item will be ordered in for you from one of our suppliers. Upon receipt, we will promptly dispatch it out to you. For in store availability, please contact us. Table of Contents* Acknowledgments * Introduction * The DARE Map and Regional Labels * Language Changes Especially Common in American Folk Speech * Guide to Pronunciation * Text of Questionnaire * List of Informants * List of Abbreviations *Dictionary of American Regional English, A--CReviewsThis long-awaited, definitive and fascinating Dictionary of American Regional English [ DARE ]...is all we had hoped for and more. It includes the regional and folk language, past and present, of the old and the young, men and women, white and black, the rural and the urban, from all walks of life...Although DARE will be one of the most scholarly, comprehensive and detailed dictionaries ever completed...it will also be one of the easiest and most enjoyable to use or browse in...This is an exciting, lasting work of useful scholarship accomplished with excellence, a work that scholars and laypeople alike will study, use and enjoy for generations. -- Stuart B. Flexner New York Times Book Review Author InformationFrederic G. Cassidy was Professor of English at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. Tab Content 6Author Website:Countries AvailableAll regions |
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