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War Slang

Name: War Slang
Author: Paul Dickson
ISBN: 9780671750244

by Paul Dickson

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Overview

Dickson — the countrys foremost authority on American slang & author of the critically acclaimed Slang! — offers the first comprehensive collection of fighting words & phrases used by Americans at war. Arranged war by war, this definitive dictionary reveals military slang at its most colorful, innovative, brutal, & ironic — & shows how language mirrors the unique experience of each war. Dicksons brief but carefully thought-out informal introductions to each section help define the flavor of the period. An excellent compilation. An A-1 blockbuster of a book. Recommended by William Safire in his NY Times Magazine column.

The popular author of Slang! returns to explain American fighting words and phrases from the Civil War to the Gulf War. From the infantryman's foxhole to the fighter pilot's cockpit, Dickson explores the origins, meanings and context of a volatile and violent vocabulary.

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Editorials

Library Journal

Thousands of new words and phrases are created by soldiers in wartime, many of them becoming part of our everyday vocabulary. Dickson, the author of popular titles on subjects as diverse as American slang and ice cream, has collected the slang of American soldiers fighting in the Civil War, World Wars, Korean War, Vietnam War, Gulf War, and Cold War. A chapter is devoted to each (the World War II chapter alone contains over 3000 alphabetically arranged terms). Etymologies are given when available, and detailed sidebars explain the history of some of the most colorful expressions, e.g., "Kilroy was here." The research work of linguistic scholar Charles Hogue, an extensive study of the Peter Tamony collection at the University of Missouri, and a comprehensive bibliography at the end of each chapter contribute to the accuracy of the text. An earlier work to consult is John Elting and others' Dictionary of Soldier Talk (Scribner, 1984), although Dickson's work is the first to cover all our major wars. This text will become a standard reference work on war slang and is essential for public and academic libraries.-Richard Nowicki, Emerson Vocational H.S., Buffalo, N.Y.

From Barnes & Noble

The definitive collection of U.S. military slang, from "kick the bucket" to "carpet bombing," "humdinger," and more. Arranged by war, this colorful, innovative, and often brutal language mirrors each conflict.