This rollercoaster ride through the colorful history of slang--from
highwaymen to hip-hop--is a fresh and exciting take on the subject:
entertaining and authoritative without being patronizing, out-of-touch
or voyeuristic.
Slang is the language of pop culture, low culture, street culture,
underground movements and secret societies; depending on your point of
view, it is a badge of honor, a sign of identity or a dangerous assault
on the values of polite society. Of all the vocabularies available to
us, slang is the most alive, constantly evolving and--as it leaks into
the mainstream and is taken up by all of us--infusing the language with
a healthy dose of vitality.
Witty, energetic and informative Vulgar Tongues traces the many routes
of slang, beginning with the thieves and prostitutes of Elizabethan
London and ending with the present day, where the centuries-old terms
rap and hip-hop still survive, though their meanings have changed. On
the way we will meet Dr. Johnson, World War II flying aces, pickpockets,
schoolchildren, hardboiled private eyes, carnival geeks and the many
eccentric characters who have tried to record slang throughout its
checkered past.
If you're curious about flapdragons and ale passion, the changing
meanings of punk and geek, or how fly originated on the streets of
eighteenth-century London and square in Masonic lodges, this is the
book for you.
