Review
If you'd rather be schmooping or gurgitating, then slangmeister Grant Barrett has the dictionary for you. ``The Official Dictionary of Unofficial English" (McGraw-Hill, $14.95) collects hundreds of ``undocumented and underdocumented" words like the ones in his subtitle: ``A Crunk Omnibus for Thrillionaires and Bampots for the Ecozoic Age." Barrett's entries are not mere barroom fancies, but terms you can find in print and on the Internet, scrabbling for a foothold in the mainstream lexicon. Will Trashcanistan, ``any poor Middle Eastern country or Central Asian republic," hang around in the slang lexicon? Will ridonkulous follow humongous into general usage? Barrett, who also tracks such usage on his website, Double-Tongued Word Wrester, (www.doubletongued.org), will be among the first to know. (
Boston Globe )
Product Description
More than 750 brand-new words that make "bling-bling" sound so five minutes ago
For readers who want to be on the cutting edge of the English lexicon or for dedicated word geeks, The Official Dictionary of Unofficial English presents more than 750 words that have unofficially joined the English language. These words are hot off the street, new even to cyberspace, and definitely not found in Webster's. Each entry features a definition, etymology, and at least three citations from print and the Internet that show the evolution of its meaning.
Entries include:
Bangalored (adj.) having been relocated to India; having lost business or employment due to such a relocation.
Paleoconservative (n.) a holder of outdated or old-fashioned conservative beliefs.
Barbecue Stopper (n.) a topic of constant and widespread conversation, especially a divisive political or social issue.
(20060709)
