''A Dictionary of Slang and Unconventional English'' is a
dictionary
A dictionary is a listing of lexemes from the lexicon of one or more specific languages, often arranged alphabetically (or by radical and stroke for ideographic languages), which may include information on definitions, usage, etymologies ...
of
slang
Slang is vocabulary (words, phrases, and linguistic usages) of an informal register, common in spoken conversation but avoided in formal writing. It also sometimes refers to the language generally exclusive to the members of particular in-gro ...
originally compiled by the noted lexicographer of the English language, Eric Partridge. The first edition was published in 1937 and seven editions were eventually published by Partridge. An eighth edition was published in 1984,
after Partridge's death, by editor Paul Beale; in 1990 Beale published an abridged version, ''Partridge's Concise Dictionary of Slang and Unconventional English''.
The dictionary was updated in 2005 by Tom Dalzell and Terry Victor as ''The New Partridge Dictionary of Slang and Unconventional English'',
["As Slang Changes More Rapidly, Expert Has to Watch His Language"]
Vauhini Vara, ''The Wall Street Journal'', May 27, 2011 and again in 2007 as ''The Concise New Partridge Dictionary of Slang and Unconventional English'',
which has additional entries compared to the 2005 edition, but omits the extensive citations.
Original publication
Partridge published seven editions of his "hugely influential" slang dictionary before his death in 1979.
["BOOKS OF THE TIMES: ''Dictionary of Slang and Unconventional English''"]
John Gross, ''The New York Times'', April 12, 1985 The dictionary was "regarded as filling a lexicographical gap"
[ in the English language because it contained entries on words that had long been omitted from other works, such as the ''Oxford English Dictionary''.][Tom McArthur]
"Dictionary of Slang and Unconventional English."
Concise Oxford Companion to the English Language. 1998. Retrieved July 31, 2011 from Encyclopedia.com[Review: A Dictionary of Slang and Unconventional English, 8th edition]
John Mullan (academic), John Mullan, ''The Guardian'', 7 December 2002 For the two editions published before the Second World War, obscenity laws prohibited full printing of vulgar words; Partridge therefore substituted asterisks for the vowels of words considered obscene.[
''The New York Times'' offered a "glowing" review]["The Definitive Slang Dictionary"]
Ben Zimmer, ''The New York Times'', April 1, 2011 of the 1937 first edition.["Eric Partridge's Dictionary of Slang"]
A. Dilworth Faber, ''The New York Times'', May 23, 1937 Literary critic Edmund Wilson praised the dictionary, stating that the work "ought to be acquired by every reader who wants his library to have a sound lexicographical foundation".[ In 1985, John Gross of ''The New York Times'' called ''A Dictionary of Slang and Unconventional English'' "the nearest thing to a standard work in its field".][ In a 2002 review of the eighth edition, University College London Professor of English John Mullan (academic), John Mullan argued that the "strength and weakness" of the dictionary was Partridge's "willingness to include his opinions [on word etymology] in what presented itself as a work of reference".][ However, Mullan also argued that by 2002 the dictionary entries were growing continually further out of date and out of touch with modern slang usages.][
In 1972, an abridgement (by Jacqueline Simpson) of the 1961 edition was published by Penguin Reference Books as ''A Dictionary of Historical Slang''.
]
Update following Partridge's death
Following the seventh published edition of ''A Dictionary of Slang and Unconventional English'' in 1969, Eric Partridge had collected new material for another edition until his 1979 death.[ Prior to his death, Partridge "designated a successor", librarian]["Would a hip, hip duck marry a gungy hunk?"]
Patrick Tivy, ''The Calgary Herald'', June 12, 1985 and former military intelligence officer Paul Beale (who had contributed military slang to Partridge's efforts since 1974),[ and the lexicographical work was continued. The Eighth edition of ''A Dictionary of Slang and Unconventional English'' was published by Macmillan Publishers, Macmillan as a single-volume work in 1984.][ Beale also published in 1990 a condensed version of the dictionary, titled ''Partridge's Concise Dictionary of Slang and Unconventional English''.][
]
Twenty-first century update
In 2004, editors Tom Dalzell and Terry Victor published ''The New Partridge Dictionary of Slang and Unconventional English'', a two-volume update of the dictionary. Dalzell and Victor were chosen by the publisher Routledge to update the Partridge dictionary;[ this edition is, however, completely new and unrelated to the previous versions.]
References
External links
The New Partridge Dictionary of Slang and Unconventional English
{{DEFAULTSORT:Dictionary of Slang and Unconventional English
English dictionaries
Slang dictionaries
1937 non-fiction books