Synopses & Reviews
Ever encountered a
blatherskite? How about a
darb? When was the last time you got the
straight skinny at a
rap session or told someone to
keep on truckin'? How many once-popular American words aren't you using these days? Quite a few, if you're like most people.
Thousands of words and expressions entered American English between 1900 and 1999. Every era 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 trendier trends and more current events demanded new terminology.
Giving yesterday's words another chance to sparkle before they retire to the archives for good, Dewdroppers, Waldos, and Slackers focuses on language that still resonates with the mood of its times. These are words that most Americans would once have recognized, if not actually used. Nothing says Sixties like groovy, even though this resilient piece of slang was heard as early as the 1940s, lingered into the 1970s, and amazingly, is making a twenty-first century comeback.
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: one-reelers, bulls, jet jockeys, keypunch operators, the bugged-out and the slackers. They all have a place in this book in engaging essays--arranged by decade--that put these words in their historical and sociological context. The twentieth century is over, but we can still appreciate the words we left behind.
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
Review
"Well documented and entertaining, this book...will appeal to all aficionados of language."--
Choice"Ostler's work is fun for browsing; it offers a unique presentation of recent cultural history."--Library Journal
"Ostler's inspired idea was to track the popular speech of the 20th century -- slang, colloquial terms, occupational lingo and notable buzzwords -- by the decade in which it was popular. Much more than just a glossary, this book is a fascinating peek into some long-forgotten corners of American culture."--Columbus Dispatch
"For Gram, Pops, Mom, Dad or any other loved one with a vintage vocab. There are tons of words in this book we all used to say, and thought we were pretty cool while doing it. So, to prevent the embarrassment of improper slang usage, fo-shizzle, buy this and gift it like crazy."--Boston Herald
"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
Synopsis
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.
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.