Ntc's Dictionary of American Slang and Colloquial Expressions (National Textbook Language Dictionaries) [Hardcover]

Richard A. Spears (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: September 1994 | ISBN-10: 0844208272 | ISBN-13: 978-0844208275 | Edition: 2nd

"NTC's Dictionary of American Slang and Colloquial Expressions," by lexicographer Richard A. Spears, Ph.D., contains more than 10,000 definitions of terms and expressions that are likely to be heard in movies, on television, in the streets, and on college campuses. In addition, the dictionary provides nearly 20,000 example sentences to illustrate common usage of these expressions in everyday American English.

Editorial Reviews

From Library Journal

This compact and well-formatted book features "more than 8500 contemporary slang and informal expressions." With 800 more entries than the previous edition, this third edition includes street slang, popular culture terms, and the telegraphic language peculiar to the Internet. Arranged alphabetically, entries include usage information, slang type or source, and additional information about whether the term is, e.g., objectionable, derogatory, or standard English. The entries for some "difficult or unpredictable" words may include pronunciation information. The alphabetic arrangement is augmented by a phrase-finder index and Go to/See also references. If you don't know the meaning of expressions such as "Baldwin" (a good-looking male), "Vietnik" (someone who opposed the Vietnam War), or "face time" (time spent face to face with someone), this book will explain. Some obvious terms such as "nervous Nellie" (any nervous person), "naw" (no), "what the heck" (it doesn't matter), and "square" (old-fashioned) seem out of place. Wordsmiths may find this resource more useful and entertaining than NTC's American Idioms Dictionary (LJ 5/15/00), also edited by Spears. Readers seeking etymological or historical information may wish to consult more comprehensive slang resources such as The Cassell Dictionary of Slang (LJ 5/1/99), The Oxford Dictionary of Slang (LJ 3/1/99), or Random House Historical Dictionary of Slang (LJ 11/15/97). In general, users will appreciate this work's ease of use and wealth of contemporary American terms. Libraries will want to purchase it for its currency, vibrancy of American language, and affordable price.DElizabeth Connor, Medical Univ. of South Carolina Lib., Charleston
Copyright 2000 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

From Booklist

This is the perfect slang dictionary for young adults. Many of the 800 new expressions come from the Internet and submissions from college students. It is a dictionary in the strictest sense of the word. The 10,000 words are simply defined, with at least one usage example and the part of speech of the word. Some entries include pronunciation, but there is no indication of derivation or date of first use. The author has included terms that he believes are currently in frequent use.

Because so much of slang is derived from crime and vice, it is not surprising that many of the slang words deal with criminals, drugs, alcohol, and sex--fink, doobie, kegger, hook shop. The worst (ethnic) slang has been omitted, but there are a number of words with the warning taboo or objectionable. Slang of the nineties is represented by examples such as kevork ("to kill someone," based on the name for Dr. Jack Kevorkian), SYSOP ("system operator"), and a quarter page on keyboard Smileys.

The Cassell Dictionary of Slang [RBB My 15 99] remains the most extensive one-volume slang dictionary, but NTC's Dictionary will be a popular purchase in public, high-school, and academic libraries.
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Hardcover: 555 pages
• Publisher: Natl Textbook Co Trade; 2nd edition (September 1994)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0844208272
• ISBN-13: 978-0844208275
• Product Dimensions: 9 x 6 x 1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.4 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (7 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #6,946,488 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Discover books, learn about writers, read author blogs, and more.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

29 of 31 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Good, But Consider Two Other Slang Dictionaries, February 27, 2000

By A Customer

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: NTC's Dictionary of American Slang and Colloquial Expressions (Hardcover)

In the library, I did a side-by-side comparison of this book (Spears: NTC's Dictionary..., 3rd ed., 2000) with: (a) Green, Jonathon: Cassell Dictionary of Slang, 1998, and (b) Chapman, Robert: Dictionary of American Slang, 3rd ed., 1995. The advantages of this dictionary over the other two are: (1) some words/phrases are in this book but not the other two (e.g., "kipe," "WYSIWYG"); (2) it has more examples of usage in context (usually two per entry); and (3) it is less expensive. On the other hand, this book has: (1) far fewer pages (xv+560) and entries (about 10,000) than the other two books; (2) only a rare indication of when a word/phrase was first in common usage; (3) little info on what sort of people (e.g., "students") originated or might use the word/phrase; (4) a "Phrase-Finder Index" (pp.485-560) whose entries should have been integrated in the body of the dictionary; and (5) wasted space in the "Phrase-Finder Index" when a given word is at the beginning of a phrase (e.g., under "aces" it's good to have "hold all the aces" but worthless to have "ace boom-boom," "ace boon-coon," and "ace in the hole" since these are on pp.2-3). Hey, buy all three from Amazon.com!

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars One of the better slang dictionaries., September 5, 1999

By A Customer

This review is from: NTC's Dictionary of American Slang and Colloquial Expressions (Paperback)

Neatly printed and easy to use. It has approximately90 per cent of the slangexpressions that I have"looked-up" and is a goodbuy for the price.

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars A neat and useful dictionary!, December 10, 1999

By 

Jay - See all my reviews

This review is from: NTC's Dictionary of American Slang and Colloquial Expressions (Paperback)

I like this little dictionary very much. It contains most of the up to dated slang or expressions that we heard from movies, co-workers and TV. I can find more than 95% of the expressions I want to know in this neat and useful dictionary. It is also made of good quality paper and won't wear out easily. I recommend it to all foreign students, new comers just arrive North America, or even to those who want to know our latest colloquial expressions.