Product Description

Every era of the twentieth century from the "Roaring Twenties" to the "Me Decade" brought its own fads and trends and the language to go with them: fresh youth slang, up-to-the-minute buzzwords, and colorful catch phrases. Most of this new vocabulary exploded into the vernacular, only to fizzle a few years later as newer trends and more current events demanded their own terminology. Giving yesterday's words another chance to sparkle before they retire for good, Dewdroppers, Waldos, and Slackers focuses on language that still resonates with the mood of its times. A nostalgic word trip through the highs and lows of American English from the last century, this book pays special attention to words that enjoyed a brief vogue only to end up abandoned and nearly forgotten: jet jockeys, keypunch operators, the bugged-out and the slackers. All these words have a place here in engaging essays, arranged by decade, that put them in their historical and sociological context. While the twentieth century is over, this book will help us appreciate the words that were left behind.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #922532 in Books
• Published on: 2005-09-15
• Released on: 2005-09-29
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Paperback
• 256 pages

From Publishers Weekly
According to linguist and librarian Ostler, "thousands of slang words and expressions entered American English between 1900 and 1999." Among these, some expressions-like "groovy," "straight skinny" and "Okie"-grew dated and fell out of use. Others-such as "cakewalk" and "motor court"-metamorphosed and entered the general lexicon. Organized by decade and ingeniously presented both in lists and in short historical essays, Ostler's definitions are clear and amusing. For any lexiphile curious to know what Depression-era hobos called the local jail or how the term "go ballistic" emerged in the 1980s, this guide will be a pleasure. B&w photos.
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Review

"Worthwhile.... Engaging. A nice light accurate skimming of the vocabulary of particular eras of the twentieth century." --Allan Metcalf, secretary of the American Dialect Society and author of America in So Many Words
"Well documented and entertaining, this book...will appeal to all aficionados of language."--Choice

About the Author

Rosemarie Ostler, a linguist and librarian, has written on this topic for The Saturday Evening Post, and her work has also appeared in The Futurist, Oregon Quarterly, Whole Earth, and Writers' Journal.

Customer Reviews

Entertaining and great for writers!
I picked this book up for fun, but halfway through it realized that it would give a lot of authenticity to my writing, especially dialog. (I am an aspiring writer.) I didn't enjoy it any less after figuring that out -- if anything, I enjoyed it more! It's very readable, not at all like a dictionary. It's more like a popular history.

I am planning on using this with my fifth-graders and asking them to pick a chapter and write dialog based on the words from one decade.

I'm also planning on ordering a couple as Christmas presents!

The Vocabulary of The Past -- or Where that Strange Phrase Comes From
Oddly enough I also bought this book as a gift. I must be cheap though because I picked it up as a remaindered book for $1.00 (In all fairness it wasn't my only gift)

I picked it up for my mother, who is now into her early 70s and has been reading more and more about events from the 30s and 40s.

However, I started reading the book first, and I must say I was impressed by the detail that was present -- especially the sections on the earlier decades, the turn of the century, the 20s and the 30s.

Some of those words still reside with us still, either in period literature, or as somewhat dated catchphrases -- and bits like the origin of "23 skidoo" were quite interesting.

The book does falter in the slang of the 80s and 90s, since its a bit too close in time for that to be "nostalgia"

A good book for anyone wishing to relive a time period, get a quick life snapshot of a certain decade, creating appropriate period dialog or scenarios, or even looking up an obscure catchphrase.

Excellent resource for writers
I got this book as a writing reference, and it hasn't disappointed. I really enjoyed reading it through the first time (so much great history!), and now it remains a handy resource. A must for any fiction writer.