Customer Reviews

Black Talk: Words and Phrases from the Hood to the Amen Corner

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This is a great reference. As a working screenwriter and published novelist, I find I use this book almost every day. One nit, however: it would be a lot more helpful if the book were cross-referenced so that you could look up a common word and find the Black Talk "translation." Just a thought for those of us who aren't hip. BTW, this author is very good, a fine writer and her work is extremely well researched. Check out her other books.

In studying the language of African Americans, there is rich, historical tradition of oral communication that pre-dates our arrival to the shores of America. Each time an author braves the winds and waves of time to re-capture how we say things, and why we say the things that we say is a cause for not only for excitement, but a reason for celebration.

Geneva Smitherman has accurately captured the humor, wit, and wisdom of our language in her revised volume "Black Talk: Words and Phrases from the Hood to the Amen Corner (2000, Houghton Mifflin Publishers, 305 Pages)." With 300 additional new terms, phrases and definitions included, the book is quickly going to be a writer's companion, a teacher's dictionary and a journalist's friend. It covers a great deal of distance, and provides some explanations as to OUR language, our customs, and our traditions.

Now, the work was originally released in 1994. Smitherman has expanded this volume by including a little history behind our pronunciation patterns, the pros and cons of the great Ebonics debate of the 1990s, and brought forth explanations of terms that have found their way into the American mainstream from our people. One of the true beauties of this work is the inclusion of the Amen Corner--some of those terms and phrases that have emerged from the walls and pulpits of many a Black preacher, and Black church congregation.

This book will have young and old alike anxiously turning the pages to find out the meanings and the history behind such phrases as `Stuck On Stupid' (which is one of my personal favorites), and `Benjamins' (which has several sub-meanings coming from the Hip Hop language of today). No, it won't have the `exact' time and date of such word origins--but it does provide enough uncluttered background confirming whether or not a phrase or word which originated with us has/has not slipped into the American pool of daily conversation.

With all of the `fuss' being made over being bi-lingual because of the infusion of more and more of the Hispanic community into the American mainstream, Smitherman's work clearly shows that our language had long cleared the way for such inclusion. I would encourage any parent interested in teaching/reaching their youth concerning the historical origins of our language to invest in a copy of this book. Who knows? You, like I, may re-discover part of your childhood, as you can reflect on some of the sayings of your parents and grandparents around the dinner table, or on the porch during those summer evenings `Down Home'. I highly recommend it.

Mike Ramey

I read a review for this book and thought that I'd check it out. As an African American woman from the Midwest, I have to honestly say that there were a lot of words and phrases that I'd never heard before and some that I'd heard in passing and had no clue what their meanings were. Now you can call me informed. I enjoyed reading this book and actually laughed out loud when I read something that I hadn't heard in ages that brought back lots of memories. I recommend this book to anyone wanting to understand more about Black talk.

I laughed, I cried and, most importantly, I remembered many of these sayings as stated by my grandparents, parents and family from South Carolina and New York City. The history behind many of these words and phrases were of great interest to me. I am buying copies as holiday presents for family members.

I don't know if this book is racists or not, but I thought it was a good joke book to give to my friends very white girlfriend who liked to talk like a gangster. She seemed to enjoy it and had many new saying after I gave it to her.

There is a usefulness for this book, but remember this book dates from the years 1994 and 2000. Here is one example of where things are outdated. The definition of 'beast' is said to be a derogatory term for a white person. Now as of this writing, circa 2011-12 'beast' is a term for something or someone who is extremely good at something. Note these may be some outdated parts of this book but there is still useful parts of this.

Also this book is a dictionary, and I was expecting it more to be a study on Ebonics and information and less definitions. Oh well it is still good.

This review is on the 1994 edition of the book.

Smithermen's 'Black Talk' is a fairly thorough review of contemporary African-American slang. The material is remarkably current, though its usefulness is weakened by the lack of a pronunciation guide. Overall, Smitherman exhibits a strong appreciation of current black slang. It's too bad that she destroys her credibility as a linguist by pushing a leftist political stance in some of her definitions of the words. The most glaring example is her definition of the term 'rebellion', which she defines as an "African-Centered" term for "manifestations of a people in struggle, in contrast to the perception of European Americans in the media, who refer to these uprisings [she gives examples such as the upheaval following the Rodney King trial] as 'riots'" (page 192). Oh, puh-leeze! To skew the definition of a word in favor of your political views is unacceptable from a linguist. Be prepared for such polemic if you purchase this book.

This is a loving tribute to African-American language and phrases. If you love language and want to brush up (positively) on your "Ebonics", then this book is the one to have. I can't wait to read it to my toddler when he can mentally "break it down"!!! If you like being "in the mix", then hook it up!!!

Black Talk is a very well done work that includes many of the well known and a few of the unknown terms. Whenever a term has become part of Standard english, spoken by non-blacks, the word is indicated by, one that has "crossed over". this book is a definite work for any good black english library.

In this book, Dr. Smitherman provides us with a most needed gift. She manages to fit a vital part of the African-American experience, our language, into a clear and complete dictionary. Amazingly, she handles the daunting academic task of building a lexicon and the equally challenging task of "keeping it real", with ease. Instead of denying or distancing herself from her African-American roots, she embraces them and uses them to legitimate and fortalize this much needed work.