Slang, writes Michael Adams, is poetry on the down low, and sometimes lowdown poetry on the down low, but rarely, if ever, merely lowdown. It is the poetry of everyday speech, the people's poetry, and it deserves attention as language playing on the cusp of art.

In Slang: The People's Poetry, Adams covers this perennially interesting subject in a serious but highly engaging way, illuminating the fundamental question "What is Slang" and defending slang--and all forms of nonstandard English--as integral parts of the American language. Why is an expression like "bed head" lost in a lexical limbo, found neither in slang nor standard dictionaries? Why are snow-boarding terms such as "fakie," "goofy foot," "ollie" and "nollie" not considered slang? As he addresses these and other lexical curiosities, Adams reveals that slang is used in part to define groups, distinguishing those who are "down with it" from those who are "out of it." Slang is also a rebellion against the mainstream. It often irritates those who color within the lines--indeed, slang is meant to irritate, sometimes even to shock. But slang is also inventive language, both fun to make and fun to use. Rather than complain about slang as "bad" language, Adams urges us to celebrate slang's playful resistance to the commonplace and to see it as the expression of an innate human capacity, not only for language, but for poetry.

A passionate defense of slang, jargon, argot and other forms of nonstandard English, this marvelous volume is full of amusing and even astonishing examples of all sorts of slang. It will be a must for students of language and a joy for word lovers everywhere.

"Adams' theories are brilliant, and he draws on a startlingly diverse universe to illustrate his points, leaping without apparent effort from Chaucer to stamp collectors; from snowboarders to UPS drivers; from T.S. Eliot to Charles Dickens; from Buffy the Vampire Slayer to The Simpsons. With a love of the subject matter and a glorious grasp of the language, he carries you effortlessly from one big idea to another. What a book!" --Tom Dalzell, editor of The Routledge Dictionary of Modern American Slang and Unconventional English

"Slang is the wink-wink, nudge-nudge of language. It gives the illusion (and creates the impression) that it is all, like, edgy and cazh, but Michael Adams shows it is much more than just flash and trash. This book puts slang near the center of human language, and our journey to it is, as Jo said in Little Women (1868) "fun, and no grubbage." -Richard W. Bailey, Professor of English Language and Literature, University of Michigan

" Slang: The People's Poetry takes the study of slang well beyond words and phrases and into the discursive functions as well as the cognitive underpinnings of slang. Adams' knowledge of high culture and low culture as well as his careful observation of contemporary language use make his analysis of slang fresh and appealing to twenty-first century readers." --Connie Eble, Professor of English, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill

Slang is often described but rarely explained. What is slang? What are its essential characteristics, and where does it figure in the landscape of English, or, more generally, in language?

As Slang: The People's Poetryr explains, slang is language that defines groups, by helping them to fulfill their social functions and goals, but also by distinguishing one group from another. Slang and jargon identify who belongs with whom doing what and those who are down with it from those who are out of it. Slang is everyday rebellion shared by those who feel the need to rebel against the mainstream. It often irritates those who color within the lines and cross at the lights; to be honest, slang is meant to irritate, sometimes even to shock. But slang is inventive language, both fun to make and fun to use; it organizes speech into particular rhythms, stretches meaning in metaphor, and asserts the unusual in the face of the usual; it is the poetry of everyday speech, the people's poetry, and it deserves attention as language play on the cusp of art. Rather than complain about slang as 'bad' language or worry about how it resists social and linguistic authority, we should celebrate slang's playful resistance to the commonplace as the expression of an innate human capacity, not only for language, but for poetry.

Michael Adams teaches English language and literature at Indiana University. He is the author of Slayer Slang: A Buffy the Vampire Slayer Lexicon and, with Anne Curzan, How English Works: A Linguistic Introduction. For several years, he was editor of Dictionaries: Journal of the Dictionary Society of North America. He is currently editor of the journal American Speech.