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The Official Dictionary of Unofficial English
 
 
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The Official Dictionary of Unofficial English (Paperback)
by Grant Barrett (Author)
Key Phrases: mahogany reef, princess disease, rosh katan, Washington Post, New York, San Francisco (more...)
  5.0 out of 5 stars 2 customer reviews (2 customer reviews)  

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Editorial Reviews
Review
Boston Globe : If you'd rather be schmooping or gurgitating, then slangmeister Grant Barrett has the dictionary for you. ``The Official Dictionary of Unofficial English" (McGraw-Hill, $14.95) collects hundreds of ``undocumented and underdocumented" words like the ones in his subtitle: ``A Crunk Omnibus for Thrillionaires and Bampots for the Ecozoic Age." Barrett's entries are not mere barroom fancies, but terms you can find in print and on the Internet, scrabbling for a foothold in the mainstream lexicon. Will Trashcanistan, ``any poor Middle Eastern country or Central Asian republic," hang around in the slang lexicon? Will ridonkulous follow humongous into general usage? Barrett, who also tracks such usage on his website, Double-Tongued Word Wrester, (www.doubletongued.org), will be among the first to know.

Product Description

More than 750 brand-new words that make "bling-bling" sound so five minutes ago

For readers who want to be on the cutting edge of the English lexicon or for dedicated word geeks, The Official Dictionary of Unofficial English presents more than 750 words that have unofficially joined the English language. These words are hot off the street, new even to cyberspace, and definitely not found in Webster's. Each entry features a definition, etymology, and at least three citations from print and the Internet that show the evolution of its meaning.

Entries include:

Bangalored (adj.) having been relocated to India; having lost business or employment due to such a relocation.

Paleoconservative (n.) a holder of outdated or old-fashioned conservative beliefs.

Barbecue Stopper (n.) a topic of constant and widespread conversation, especially a divisive political or social issue.



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Product Details
  • Paperback: 288 pages
  • Publisher: McGraw-Hill; 1 edition (May 23, 2006)
  • Language: English
  • ISBN-10: 0071458042
  • ISBN-13: 978-0071458047
  • Product Dimensions: 7.5 x 5 x 1 inches
  • Shipping Weight: 14.4 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
  • Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars 2 customer reviews (2 customer reviews)
  • Amazon.com Sales Rank: #699,357 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)
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Grant Barrett "word-wrester"'s latest blog posts
       
 
Grant Barrett "word-wrester" sent the following posts to customers who purchased The Official Dictionary of Unofficial English
 
6:13 AM PST, January 17, 2007

I’m happy to announce that a lot of hard work goes out for public consumption starting this Saturday, January 20th, when the first shows of the new season of the radio show A Way With Words begin broadcasting.

My lovely cohost Martha Barnette and I have been recording since October, trying a bunch of new ideas and perfecting our shotgunning technique for the call-in questions and answers. Our listeners’ quest for knowledge about words and language is limitless—I feel like I’ve been digging in every book in my library.

Besides a huge world-wide listenership that tunes in via streaming and podcast (which means questions from places like Singapore, India, and Afghanistan!), the show is broadcast by electromagnetic over-the-air sure-fire wireless radio. Tune in!

 
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10:49 AM PST, January 30, 2006
You can check out my personal blog, The Lexicographer's Rules, as well as Double-Tongued Word Wrester Dictionary, my growing dictionary of words from the fringes of English.
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