A History of Cant and Slang Dictionaries: Volume II: 1785-1858

Author:   Julie Coleman (University of Leicester)
Publisher:   Oxford University Press
ISBN:  

9780199557103


Pages:   354
Publication Date:   20 November 2008
Format:   Paperback
Availability:   To order   Availability explained
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A History of Cant and Slang Dictionaries: Volume II: 1785-1858


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Overview

The second volume of Julie Coleman's entertaining and revealing history of the recording and uses of slang and criminal cant takes the story from 1785 to 1858, and explores their manifestations in the United States of America and Australia. During this period glossaries of cant were thrown into the shade by dictionaries of slang, which now covered a broad spectrum of non-standard English, including the language of thieves. Julie Coleman shows how Francis Grose's Dictionary of the Vulgar Tongue revolutionized the lexicography of the underworld. She explores the compilation and content of the earliest Australian and American slang glossaries, whose authors included the thrice-transported James Hardy Vaux and the legendary George Matsell, New York City's first chief of police, whose The Secret Language of Crime: The Rogue's Lexicon informed the script of Martin Scorcese's film Gangs of New York.Cant represented a tangible danger to life and property, but slang threatened to undermine good behaviour and social morality. Julie Coleman shows how and why they were at once repellent and seductive. Her fascinating account casts fresh light on language and life in some of the darker regions of Great Britain and the English-speaking world.

Full Product Details

Author:   Julie Coleman (University of Leicester)
Publisher:   Oxford University Press
Imprint:   Oxford University Press
Dimensions:   Width: 15.60cm , Height: 2.00cm , Length: 23.30cm
Weight:   0.533kg
ISBN:  

9780199557103


ISBN 10:   0199557101
Pages:   354
Publication Date:   20 November 2008
Audience:   Professional and scholarly ,  Professional & Vocational
Format:   Paperback
Publisher's Status:   Active
Availability:   To order   Availability explained
Stock availability from the supplier is unknown. We will order it for you and ship this item to you once it is received by us.

Table of Contents

1: Francis Grose's Classical Dictionary of the Vulgar Tongue 2: Dictionaries Based on Grose's 3: Humphry Tristram Potter 4: James Hardy Vaux 5: Pierce Egan 6: John Bee 7: Minor British Cant and Slang Lists 8: Some American Cant and Slang Lists 9: College Dictionaries 10: Conclusions Appendix Bibliography Word Index Subject Index

Reviews

<br> A fascinating glimpse into a world in which a secret language was at once menacing and thrilling. --Times Literary Supplement<br>


Author Information

Julie Coleman is Reader in English at the University of Leicester and founder of the International Society for Historical Lexicography and Lexicology. Her research interests lie in the history of the English language, particularly the history of the lexis. She is the author of A Thesaurus of Love, Sex, and Marriage (Rodopi 1999). The first two volumes of her history of cant and slang dictionaries, on the periods 1567-1784 and 1785-1858, were published by OUP in 2004. A third volume is being published in 2008 and a fourth volume, taking the history to 1984, is in preparation. She is the joint editor with Anne McDermott of Historical Lexicography and Lexicology: Papers from the first ICHLL, which is to be published by Niemeyer in Tübingen.

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