Pulse en una miniatura para ir a Google Books.
Cargando... Vulgar Tongues: An Alternative History of English Slangpor Max Décharné
Ninguno Cargando...
Inscríbete en LibraryThing para averiguar si este libro te gustará. Actualmente no hay Conversaciones sobre este libro. sin reseñas | añadir una reseña
Décharné traces the colorful history of slang, from Elizabethan highwaymen to the rap and hip-hop of today. He shows how meanings change over years; introduces us to flying aces, pickpockets, and carnival geeks who have left their impression on our language; and shows how slang leaks into the mainstream to infuse language with vitality. No se han encontrado descripciones de biblioteca. |
Debates activosNingunoCubiertas populares
Google Books — Cargando... GénerosSistema Decimal Melvil (DDC)427Language English Historical and geographic variations, modern nongeographic variations of EnglishClasificación de la Biblioteca del CongresoValoraciónPromedio:
¿Eres tú?Conviértete en un Autor de LibraryThing. |
This seemed like a fun topic, and I was looking forward to learning more history about slang, but the book ultimately wasn't what I was hoping for.
For one thing, I was disappointed that almost half the book was about sex, body parts or intoxicants. I guess that's where a lot of slang comes from, but it felt like those sections went on a bit too long.
The other disappointment is that this was really written from a British point of view, so some of the words and references were, in a word, foreign to Americans. Luckily, I'm an Anglophile so I did get some of the references, but if you aren't familiar with, say, Cockney rhyming slang, you'll be lost. Some American slang is folded in, but not as much as compared with the rest of the book.
The one thing that stuck with me was a conclusion made at the end of the book, on the offensiveness of the best slang. Yes, slang does offend, that's a given. But in our touchy times, that may be the unpardonable sin:
"Ultimately, slang will have no place in this world, because the best of it is almost guaranteed to offend someone, somewhere."
Let's hope that conclusion is wrong, because slang is and should remain part of language, offensive or not.
I received this book through a Goodreads giveaway.
For more of my reviews, go to Ralphsbooks. ( )