Overview

Know someone with an antwacky stem-winder? Heard the Band of Hope Street? Ever been on a vinegar trip? Do you jangle? Ever met a Cunard yank in the Dingle? Could you pay for a dodger with a joey? Have you heard a maccyowler in a jigger? The Liverpool English Dictionary records the rich vocabulary that has evolved over the past century and a half, as part of the complex, stratified, multi-faceted and changing culture of this singular city. With over 2,000 entries from ‘Abbadabba’ to ‘Z-Cars’, the roots/routes, meanings and histories of the words of Liverpool are presented in a concise, clear and accessible format. Born and bred in Liverpool, Professor Tony Crowley has spent over thirty years compiling this bold and innovative dictionary, investigating historical lexicons, sociological studies, works of history, local newspapers, popular cultural representations, and, most importantly, the extensive ‘lost’ literature of the city. Illuminating, often remarkable, and always enjoyable, this book transforms our understanding of the history of language in Liverpool.

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9781786940612

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Reviews

A serious and quietly affecting work of language study and social history. Tony Crowley has produced a fitting companion to his superb study Scouse. His research into and adventures with the Liverpool lexicon open up windows on to old and new worlds. A Liverpool of sectarian tribes, docks, alehouses, bizzies, jiggers, humour, family, sex, fights and insults gusts through these pages like wind off the river. Professor Michael O'Neill, Department of English Studies, Durham University -- Professor Michael O'Neill

A serious and quietly affecting work of language study and social history. Tony Crowley has produced a fitting companion to his superb study Scouse. His research into and adventures with the Liverpool lexicon open up windows on to old and new worlds. A Liverpool of sectarian tribes, docks, alehouses, bizzies, jiggers, humour, family, sex, fights and insults gusts through these pages like wind off the river. Professor Michael O'Neill, Department of English Studies, Durham University The language of Liverpool has long been recognised as being rather special. Now it has received special recognition in its own very special dictionary. This superb achievement is the result of decades of research by Tony Crowley, who has done a brilliant job of marrying scholarly linguistic erudition with a deep personal knowledge of the dialect. His affection for Scouse and the community which speaks it is obvious on every page; and this dictionary on historical principles is not only fascinating and immensely informative but also highly enjoyable. Peter Trudgill, Universite de Fribourg/ University of East Anglia A model of dialect lexicography. Scouse has never been more thoroughly explored. A fascinating introduction to Liverpool's colourful speech. Liverpudlians will be dead chuffed to read it. David Crystal, Honorary Professor of Linguistics, University of Bangor, and author of The Cambridge Encyclopedia of the English Language (Cambridge University Press, 1995, 2003) and The Disappearing Dictionary: A Treasury of Lost English Language Dialect Words (Macmillan, 2015).

Author Information

Tony Crowley is Professor of English at the University of Leeds. Born and bred in Liverpool, he has taught at Oxford, Southampton and Manchester Universities. He was the Hartley Burr Alexander Chair of the Humanities at Scripps College, California (2005–13), and is a Fellow of the English Association. His previous books include Scouse: A Social and Cultural History (Liverpool University Press, 2012), Wars of Words: The Politics of Language in Ireland 1537–2005 (Oxford University Press, 2005) and The Politics of Language: The Standard Language Question in Cultural Debates (Palgrave, 2003).

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