War Slang: American Fighting Words and Phrases from the Cival War to the Gulf War [Hardcover]

Paul Dickson (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: June 1, 1994

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.

Editorial Reviews

From 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.
Copyright 1994 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From Booklist

Dickson's popular dictionaries include The Congress Dictionary [RBB De 1 93], The Ways and Meanings of Capitol Hill (Wiley, 1993), and Dickson's Word Treasury (Wiley, 1992). This latest work is organized by conflict, beginning with the Civil War and including the Spanish American War, World Wars I and II, Korea, Vietnam, and the Gulf War. The work ends with a "Doomsday's Dictionary: Verbal Fallout from Nukes, the Cold War and the Puzzle Palace." The latter term is defined in this section as "(1) The Pentagon. (2) The National Security Agency." This brief explanation is typical of too many other definitions in this dictionary. Like most slang dictionaries, grammatical labels, etymological notes, usage notes, and example sentences are scarce. Such phrases as no-man's-land, brush-off club, topside from the top receive fuller treatment with definitions of 50 to 70 words and including quotations with works cited. Sources are listed at the end of each section; they will lead users to other war dictionaries, memoirs, and major secondary works. The author's brief but carefully thought-out informal introductions to each section help define the flavor of the period. The chronological arrangement of the dictionary leads users from a more romantic and, perhaps, patriotic time through the hardened and grim Korean and Vietnam conflicts. An index lists all the entries.

Elting's Dictionary of Soldier Talk (Scribner, 1984) is a comprehensive work, arranged in one alphabet, but it doesn't cover the most recent wars. The following works provide more extensive coverage of specific wars: Colby's classic work completed early in World War I, Army Talk: A Familiar Dictionary of Soldier Speech (Princeton, 1942); Reinberg's In the Field: The Language of the Vietnam War (Facts On File, 1991); and Clark's Words of the Vietnam War (McFarland, 1990). Librarians looking for a popular dictionary that will appeal to laypersons will want to consider War Slang; its arrangement helps users understand one aspect of our history.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 403 pages
• Publisher: Atria; 1ST edition (June 1, 1994)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0671750224
• ISBN-13: 978-0671750220
• Product Dimensions: 9 x 7.1 x 1.3 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.6 pounds
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #3,329,117 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Paul Dickson is the author of more than 45 nonfiction books and hundreds of magazine articles. Although he has written on a variety of subjects from ice cream to kite flying to electronic warfare, he now concentrates on writing about the American language, baseball and 20th century history. His most recent titles include Drunk: The Definitive Drinker's Dictionary, The Dickson Baseball Dictionary, Sputnik: The Shock of the Century and Slang: A Topical Dictionary of Americanisms.