Talk the Talk: The Slang of 65 American Subcultures [Paperback]

Luc Reid (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: September 18, 2006

Do You Know Your Subculture Slang?

"If your house hasn't been looted yet, it will be, so put everything you can in the bank and make mule characters carry the rest."

"She will act as his beard when his parents come over and at office parties."

"Surely a duck kicker would not disturb ducks this old?"

Do you ever feel like people are talking, but you have no idea what they're saying? Do you ever feel like you don't belong? Then you need Talk the Talk. This handy little book is your guide to the unique vernacular of 65 subcultures from hip hop to punk rock, from surfers to construction workers and more. You'll learn 3,500 slang terms, many of which you've never heard of. Author Luc Reid introduces each group and its key characteristics to give you an informative insider's peek at culture and diversity in America–plus he includes warnings when certain terms should be used with caution so that you don't commit any faux pas.

Discover the meanings of:

• bleep (goths), page 155
  
  
• buildering (rock climbers), page 287
  
  
• contactee (UFO believers), page 373
  
  
• funnel (skydivers), page 333
  
  
• ground control (drug pushers and users), page 118
  
  
• mob (online gamers), page 236
  
  
• relaxicon (sci-fi and fantasy fans), page 312
  
  
• rules lawyer (role-playing gamers), page 296
  
  
• warlock (Wiccans, witches, and neo-pagans), page 384
  
  
• zombie gimmick (magicians), page 207

Editorial Reviews

About the Author

Luc Reid is a past winner of the Writers of the Future contest and the founder of the neo-pro writers' group Codex.

Product Details

• Paperback: 432 pages
• Publisher: Writers Digest Books; First Edition edition (September 18, 2006)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1582974233
• ISBN-13: 978-1582974231
• Product Dimensions: 7 x 5 x 0.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 14.4 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.1 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (8 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,126,771 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Luc Reid is a Writers of the Future winner whose fiction and nonfiction have also appeared in Clarkesworld, Strange Horizons, Abyss & Apex, and other venues. He's the founder of the Codex online neo-pro writers' group at www.codexwriters.com; author of Talk the Talk: The Slang of 65 American Subcultures (Writers Digest Books, 2006) at www.subculturetalk.com; a founding member of flash fiction group The Daily Cabal, on which site well over a hundred of his stories have appeared (www.dailycabal.com); a former radio commentator for Jacksonville, Florida NPR affiliate WJCT; and a columnist for Futurismic (www.futurismic.com) with his Brain Hacks for Writers series.

Reid blogs about writing, the psychology of habits, and much else at www.lucreid.com. You can find him on Twitter @lucreid.

Reid's latest book is Bam! 172 Hellaciously Quick Stories. Bam! follows normal people in strange and impossible situation, with stories of Cinderella's divorce, the Monkey God, the Robot Insurrection, the world ending at least 8 different ways, and much more.

A sampling of stories from Bam! and one bonus story are available in his 17 Stories About the End of the World.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

10 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Really Nice Resource for Writers and Word-lovers, February 24, 2007

By 

Cat Rambo (Redmond, WA USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Talk the Talk: The Slang of 65 American Subcultures (Paperback)

I used this book for a story, when I wanted to salt in just enough words for a culture to be real, and found it very useful. It's not a substitute for in-depth study of a culture, but if you want your surfer dude or goth chick to say something that sounds convincing, it's handy.

It's also a fun book just for those who love words and expressions - plenty of nifty little tidbits.

7 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars "Yuppie Larva", April 24, 2007

By 

Bart King (Portland, Oregon) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Talk the Talk: The Slang of 65 American Subcultures (Paperback)

Learning that "yuppie larva" is a term used to describe privileged kids acting snotty was reward enough for me to like this book.

While it is true that a few of the categories seem part of common knowledge (see the reader review complaining about the bodybuilder nomenclature), author Reid does a good job putting slang into context and keeping things moving along. It seems to me that most word lovers would enjoy taking a spin through this well-designed book.

One more example, from the bicycling chapter: "FDGB" is an acronym for "Fall Down, Go Boom." *smile*

Also recommended: Slang: The Topical Dictionary of Americanisms

8 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Well researched information in an attractive book, November 21, 2006

By 

James Maxey "James Maxey" (Hillsborough, NC United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Talk the Talk: The Slang of 65 American Subcultures (Paperback)

This book is being marketed as a resource for writers, but it's also an interesting book for anyone interested in odd or unusual facts. The attractive design of the book makes it a good coffee table item and conversation starter. As a published novelist myself, I don't know that this book would be my first choice to research a particular subculture I wanted to write about. The knowledge here can't substitute for actually getting out and talking to members of the subculture. It does, however, provide a terrific tool for browsing a wide range of subcultures in search of inspiration from some of the more poetic or intriguing phrases you will find within these pages. As a window into worlds most people never encounter, it's well worth the cover price.