New Releases by Jonathon Green

''In terms of a non-fiction account of how historical and contemporary language has been shaped by women, I really recommend lexicographer Jonathon Green''s Sounds and Furies'' ELEY WILIAMS, author of The Liar''s Dictionary ''When it comes to distaff dirtiness, mainstream males such as Dickens and Dekker make easy pickings, but Green finds the greatest treasures when he mudlarks on the margins. In Sounds & Furies, he has dredged up some gems.'' EMMA BYRNE, Spectator ''From fishwives to flappers and from music hall performers to Mumsnetters, women have indeed made contributions to the slang vocabulary of English; by bringing together so much fascinating material about their words and their worlds, this book makes its own contribution to the history of both women and language.'' PROFESSOR DEBORAH CAMERON, Professor of Language and Communication, Worcester College, University of Oxford ''Green comprehensively disproves that slang is inherently masculine. Mumsnetters and bulldaggers, flappers and slappers, shicksters and hash-slingers all put in their claims as slang-users in their own right in this entertaining and thought-provoking book. Any writer venturing into the contentious area of women as users, creators or objects of slang from now on will look to Green for guidance or for arguments.'' JULIE COLEMAN, author of The Life of Slang Slang. The ultimate in man-made languages. The male gaze made verbal. A world where words for intercourse mean ''man hits woman'', the penis is a gun, a knife or club and the vagina a terrifying tunnel. Possibly with teeth. Two thousand words for woman and every one a put-down. Even ''mother'' is simply short for the grossest of obscenities. Thus the story, now and for several hundred years. But stories are just that and perhaps there''s an alternative. In this book Jonathon Green, the leading collector of English-language slang and drawing on forty years of research in the field, asks whether women have another role to play. As slang''s active, positive, rebellious subject, rather than its endlessly derided, submissive object. Sounds & Furies represents a quest to overturn a long-established, but far from invulnerable belief system. To show that throughout a recorded history that starts with Chaucer''s bawdy, mouthy and magnificently self-willed Wife of Bath and carries on through a cast of working girls and villainesses, playwrights and bestselling authors, shop-girls and fish-wives and through to the modern, on-line worlds of Mumsnet and Tinder, women have always made slang their own. If slang has always been the language of the margins, then women, for all their numbers, have also been consigned to the margins. Those days, it is ever more clear, are over. If slang has a role then it is to represent us at our most human. That may not mean ''admirable'' but it surely means ''true''. And humanity is on offer to everyone, whatever gender they may claim. That goes for language, whatever its variety, too. From the foreword by sex historian Kate Lister: ''Patriarchal cultures have understood women, controlled women, and marginalised women. But, this book also reveals that it is the rebellious women who used slang: the fishwives, the scolds, the whores, and the harridans. Long may they continue to do so.''

''If you''re up for an adventure through the back alleys of English, The Stories of Slang will not disappoint.'' Kory Stamper, Times Literary Supplement ''Few lexicographers are lucky enough to have both endlessly pleasurable work and the talent to write amusingly about [slang]. Jonathon Green is one . . . Lovers of language should be grateful to those who create slang, and to those few like Mr Green who make it their work to open this window into the psyche for the benefit of all.'' - The Economist ''By turns bawdy, sweary and irreverent, this book . . . is a fascinating look at how centuries of slang came to inform all aspects of social life, how it was used, and how much of it still lingers.'' History Revealed Like the flesh-and-blood humans whose uncensored emotions it represents, slang''s obsessions are sex, the body and its functions, and intoxication: drink and drugs. Slang does not do kind. It''s about hatreds - both intimate and and national - about the insults that follow on, the sneers and the put-downs. Caring, sharing and compassion? Not at this address. There are over 10,000 terms focusing on sex, but love? Not one. Jonathon Green, aka ''Mr Slang'', has drawn on the 600,000-plus citations that make up his magisterial Green''s Dictionary of Slang (published 2010, now online at www.greensdictofslang.com) to tell some of slang''s most entertaining stories. Categories range from The Body to Pulp Diction, via multi-cultural London English and pun-tastic gems. Mostly gazing up from the gutter, slang, perhaps surprisingly, also embraces the stars. These stories may look at drunken sailors, dubious doctors, and a shelf of dangerously potent cocktails, but slang does class acts as well. None more so than Shakespeare. Devotee of the double entendre, master of the pun, first to put nearly 300 slang terms in print. ''Shakespeare, uses, at my count, just over five hundred "slang" terms, of which 277 are currently the first recorded use of a given term. Among these are the beast with two backs, every mother''s son, fat-headed, heifer (for woman), pickers and stealers (hands), small beer (insignificant matters), what the dickens, and many more.'' http://jonathongreen.co.uk

The three volumes of Green''s Dictionary of Slang demonstrate the sheer scope of a lifetime of research by Jonathon Green, the leading slang lexicographer of our time. A remarkable collection of this often reviled but endlessly fascinating area of the English language, it covers slang from the past five centuries right up to the present day, from all the different English-speaking countries and regions. Totaling 10.3 million words and over 53,000 entries, the collection provides the definitions of 100,000 words and over 413,000 citations. Every word and phrase is authenticated by genuine and fully-referenced citations of its use, giving the work a level of authority and scholarship unmatched by any other publication in this field. Winner of the Dartmouth Medal RUSA/ALA Outstanding Reference Source 2011 Booklist Editors'' Choice Library Journal Best Reference 2011

Slang, however one judges it, shows us at our most human. It is used widely and often, typically associated with the writers of noir fiction, teenagers, and rappers, but also found in the works of Shakespeare and Dickens. It has been recorded since at least 1500 AD, and today''s vocabulary, taken from every major English-speaking country, runs to over 125,000 slang words and phrases. This Very Short Introduction takes readers on a wide-ranging tour of this fascinating sub-set of the English language. It considers the meaning and origins of the word ''slang'' itself, the ideas that a make a word ''slang'', the long-running themes that run through slang, and the history of slang''s many dictionaries. ABOUT THE SERIES: The Very Short Introductions series from Oxford University Press contains hundreds of titles in almost every subject area. These pocket-sized books are the perfect way to get ahead in a new subject quickly. Our expert authors combine facts, analysis, perspective, new ideas, and enthusiasm to make interesting and challenging topics highly readable.

A riveting history and impassioned defense of slang

Articles examine the history and evolution of censorship, presented in A to Z format.

First published in 1986, the purpose of this dictionary is to clarify the technology behind nuclear jargon. The entries deal with all areas of nuclear warfare: its strategies and tactics, personnel and weapons systems, arms control and disarmament talks. The terminology of the nuclear age expands and changes as fast as the weapons and strategies it describes; the dictionary therefore covers a span ranging from the first tentative post-Hiroshima ideas and systems through to the near-fictions of the ‘Star Wars’ initiative. This fascinating reissue will be of particular value to those in need of a comprehensive guide to the vocabulary of nuclear warfare, as well as students of linguistics with a particular interest in slang and jargon.

In this work, Jonathon Green traces the development of slang and its trajectory through society, and offers an impassioned argument for its defence. Beginning, at least in recorded terms, in the gutter and the thieves'' tavern, and displayed only in a few criminological pamphlets, slang has made its way up and out: across social classes and into every medium.

George Orwell coined the term ‘Newspeak’ for his novel 1984, the purpose of which was designed to shrink vocabularies and eliminate subtlety and nuance. For this dictionary, first published to herald the year 1984, Jonathon Green compiled nearly 8, 000 entries – selected from the slangs and specific vocabularies of trades, professions and interests – covering such areas as the world of entertainment, the media, the military economics, and finance. This dictionary provides an accurate and useful linguistic guide for students of lexicography and an interesting compendium for the general inquisitive reader.

First published in 1987, the Dictionary of Jargon expands on its predecessor Newspeak (Routledge Revivals, 2014) as an authoritative reference guide to specialist occupational slang, or jargon. Containing around 21, 000 entries, the dictionary encompasses a truly eclectic range of fields and includes extensive coverage of both British and U.S. jargon. Areas dealt with range from marketing to medicine, from advertising to artificial intelligence and from skiing to sociology. This is a fascinating resource for students of lexicography and professional lexicographers, as well as the general inquisitive reader.

How do you cost a menu? What happens if everyone orders the sea bass? What happens if no one orders the sea bass? How do you deal with a complaint about food poisoning? How indeed can five people in a small hot kitchen produce great food for hundreds of people at twenty minutes'' notice? Leading chef Andrew Parkinson answers all the questions we have ever pondered, and reveals in telling detail each bit of the everyday magic involved in running a successful restaurant.

Jonothan Green offers a time trip from lat-fifties CND, beatniks and bop to the threshold of our own decade''s designer revolutionaries and style warriors. . . His chosen form is the oral history pioneered by Studs Terkel in which cross-cut voices recount a shared experience or epoch. . . what anecdotes!''Guardian. Green has collected 101 quintessential sixties groovers and lovingly teased out their memories, all of them refreshingly self-critical and remarkably sharpened by hindsight. ''Glasgow Herald. `This is the first publication I''ve seen on the 1960s to address all closely the question: how did it feel in that dawn to be alive?. . . An action packed tapestry of illuminating flashbacks. ''Spectator.

The language of crime has a long and venerable history - in fact, the first collection of words specifically used by criminals, Hye-Way to the Spittel House, dates from as early as 1531. Jonathon Green is our national expert on slang, and in Crooked Talk he looks at five hundred years of crooks and conmen - from the hedge-creepers and counterfeit cranks of the sixteenth century to the blaggers and burners of the twenty-first - as well as the swag, the hideouts, the getaway vehicles and the ''tools of the trade''. Not to mention a substantial detour into the world of prisons that faced those unlucky enough to be caught by the boys in blue. If you have ever wondered when the police were first referred to as pigs, why prison guards became known as redraws, or what precisely the subtle art of dipology involves, then this book has all the answers.

A collection of this often reviled but endlessly fascinating area of the English language, these volumes cover slang from the past five centuries right up to the present day, from all the different English-speaking countries and regions.

A collection of this often reviled but endlessly fascinating area of the English language, these volumes cover slang from the past five centuries right up to the present day, from all the different English-speaking countries and regions.

A collection of this often reviled but endlessly fascinating area of the English language, these volumes cover slang from the past five centuries right up to the present day, from all the different English-speaking countries and regions.

Chambers Slang Dictionary is a brand-new edition of Jonathon Green''s magisterial slang dictionary, first published in 1998. Covering the full range of slang over five centuries and from all parts of the English-speaking world, this collection has won universal acclaim for its authority, comprehensiveness and browsability. This new edition, the first to be published by Chambers, retains all the verve and precision of the earlier work. The text has been completely overhauled and restructured to make it as accessible as possible. Anyone interested in the seamier side of language will have hours of sheer joy exploring the vast wealth of information this book contains and plumbing the depths of centuries of slang.

Where might it be advisable to bend your steps if you experienced an urgent need to bury a quaker? What would be your state of mind - or rather the state of your body - if someone described you as after your greens? How often does the average woman enjoy the pleasure of a visit from the cardinal? Under what circumstances would it be advisable to get out at Liverpool Edge Hill, rather than continuing all the way to Liverpool Lime Street? What is the exact nature of the complaint known as ''Irish toothache'', and why is a hot poultice - or, failing that, a consultation with the eminent physician Dr Jerkoff - generally considered to be the only reliable cure? How old is the ''F'' word and where does it come from? And has it always been verboten in polite society? Getting Off at Gateshead provides the answers to these, and to hundreds of other intriguing questions about words and phrases that are generally best avoided in job interviews, vicarage tea-parties, or when meeting your mother-in-law. The UK''s leading slang expert Jonathon Green here provides the unexpurgated low-down on the downest and dirtiest expressions in the English language, some of them current, some of them obsolete - all of them utterly filthy, relating as they do to every conceivable human bodily function, whether sexual, masturbatory, menstrual, defecatory or emetic. Getting out at Gateshead not only tells the intriguing but little-known stories behind some familiar profanities - from the ''F'' word to the ''C'' word - it also offers a cornu-copia of less familiar terms that readers will be itching to regale their friends with. A richly entertaining exploration of the endlessly inventive world of English slang, Getting Off at Gateshead is a must for every word buff''s 2008 Christmas stocking.

From more than 1,000 ways to call somebody a fool to politically incorrect zingers, this is true glee for the clever and catty. "Will delight language lovers with a high-tolerance for vulgarity, ethnic slurs, and all-around contempt."--"New York Daily News. "Enlightening and entertaining."--"New York Post.

"Dirt" cleans up! Jonathon Green''s previous compilation, The Big Book of Filth, sold more than 100,000 copies. Smuttier, ruder, and better than ever, with 5,000 richly humorous phrases. Drink and drugs, scatology, sex, insults, money: these are the main preoccupations of the delightfully dirty slang so colorfully defined and illustrated in this no-holds-barred follow-up to the bestselling "Big Book of Filth. Those with "politically correct" and delicate sensibilities can tune out; broad-minded readers will dig in to discover terms of affirmation, approbation, contempt, and dismissal, as well as oaths, acronyms, and abbreviations. No group is exempt in this equal-opportunity verbal abuser, from the criminal underworld to the upper classes, children to fat persons, and every ethnicity. Among the 100 titillating A-Z topics: Coitus Interruptus; Dazed and Confused; Doo-Doo (to be in deep); Frankly, My Dear, I Don''t Give a Damn; Harm, Trouble and Strife; Masturbation; and more.

With its unparalleled coverage of English slang of all types (from 18th-century cant to contemporary gay slang), and its uncluttered editorial apparatus, Cassell''s Dictionary of Slang was warmly received when its first edition appeared in 1998. ''Brilliant.'' said Mark Lawson on BBC2''s The Late Review; ''This is a terrific piece of work - learned, entertaining, funny, stimulating'' said Jonathan Meades in The Evening Standard.But now the world''s best single-volume dictionary of English slang is about to get even better. Jonathon Green has spent the last seven years on a vast project: to research in depth the English slang vocabulary and to hunt down and record written instances of the use of as many slang words as possible. This has entailed trawling through more than 4000 books - plus song lyrics, TV and movie scripts, and many newspapers and magazines - for relevant material. The research has thrown up some fascinating results

This sometimes funny, frequently poignant compilation offers a glimpse at the death-bed departures of kings, courtiers, poets, painters, saints, villains, murderers, and martyrs through the ages. Among the notable parting sentiments are Bing Crosby’s breezy sign-off: “That was a great game of golf, fellers,” Lawrence Oates’ farewell to Captain Scott on his mythically ill-fated expedition to the South Pole: “I’m just going out. I may be some time…,” and Civil War commander General Sedgewick’s final miscalculation: “They couldn’t hit an elephant at this dist—.” It is a fascinating record of our final thoughts at the brink of the unimaginable. Jonathan Green is a noted lexicographer and the author of many books, includingSlang Down the Ages.