Customer Reviews

Talk the Talk: The Slang of 65 American Subcultures

5 star:		(4)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

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.

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

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.

Cross-cultural interpretations of meaning for language used by Goths, hackers, Trekkers and more are revealed in an unusual survey of modern slang and subcultures using it. Listings include each subculture and its key characteristics along with the meaning of words unique to that culture, allowing for an easy contrast and comparison between subcultures. More than just a simple terminology dictionary, TALK THE TALK offers a history of language's modern evolution.

Diane C. Donovan
California Bookwatch

"Talk the Talk; The Sland of 65 American Subcultures" is well worth the money that I paid. Do note that the slang of professional subcultures is not covered here. Also, general slang, regional idioms, religious groups, pop culture, instant messsaging, and MTV expressions are not covered.

I happen to be the sort of person who gets lost for hours, when looking up words in a dictionary or encyclopedia. So, it is possible that I am very easy to please when it comes to reading material. The lexicon of various subcultures has an entertainment power that is hard to resist. But, this book is quite useful as well as entertaining.

This book is not exhaustive. For instance, I saw nothing about the various types of slang that sports fans use nor about the various types of slang that sports players use. Bicyclists are covered, but runners do not seem to be covered. Gun enthusiasts are covered, but bow (archery) enthusiasts are not. I was left wishing for more. So, very good but not super.

Be forewarned: opening this book is a similar danger to trying to eat just one or two potato chips. You would expect that a reference book like this--it's a dictionary, after all--would be very dry, something you'd go to only to find very specific information, and would never be tempted to read cover to cover. You'd be wrong. Although there are plenty of just-what-you'd-expect dictionary style definitions, it seems almost every subculture or group covered in this book (okay, there are exceptions--cat fanciers seem a pretty humorless lot, for example) have one or more expressions that are laugh out loud funny. "Yard sale," for instance, to bicyclers means a major crash that results in the rider's gear being strewn widely, as if on display for sale.

I originally bought this book as a gift for an aspiring writer, and without question it's an excellent addition to any writer's personal library. So often it's the little details, such as dialogue that rings so true you'd think you were hearing it on the street, that transform a scene from being something you're merely reading into an experience so real you feel a part of it. Talk the Talk provides a handy source where writers can quickly acquire that kind of detail. But anyone can enjoy it, because its style makes the material so accessible. Each subculture topic area is only a few pages long and can be skimmed in a minute or two, and the entertaining nuggets crop up with such regularity that I couldn't resist reading just one more section, then another, then another. I've had to buy a copy to keep for myself, too.

P.S.: Don't skip the introduction. The author's tongue-in-cheek humor makes it a delight, and kept me wishing throughout the book that he'd sprinkled his asides (be sure and read, for example, his comment on the Greek name for male breasts in the Bodybuilders section) more liberally through the rest of the book

This book has just about all you'll need to understand what all kinds of different weirdos are talking about when they say what they say.

Unless you are going to be surprised that "pecs" are "pectoral muscles", that a "program" is a "series of exercises", "pump iron" is to lift weights, and a "posing routine" is the part of a body building contest when they pose. All of these examples are from the same page.