Slang: The People's Poetry [Englisch] [Gebundene Ausgabe]

Though this books is for linguists and scholars and written by one, it is also a comprehensive read for those lovers of language like myself who are always questioning the how and why of words. It will make you feel smarter and each section is very informative with tons of examples that will almost have you nodding your head in recognition and laughter; and amazement because of how well-put together the book overall is! If you're a hip word nerd or know one, this book is the perfect gift!

I was an English major in college and enjoy reading books about language and writing, especially since I am in a profession that requires me to write clearly and persuasively. I was looking forward to reading a book whose title held the promise of exploring in a clever way a colorful use of the English language. Instead I found a tedious textbook filled with jargon, and written in a manner that I think even academics would find boring.

To be sure, this book contains a wealth of information, and the list of slang terms in the index is a fun way to look up terms that you are familiar with as well as learn about many new slang terms. But the discussion in this book about these terms is not of interest to a general reader. For example, here is what the author has to say (at p. 134) about the term "f**king -A": "According to McMillan's Rule, infixed and interposed inserts aren't supposed to carry lexical meaning, but f**king-A, a form of both expletive and meaningful has it both ways." He then "explains" this by saying that the examples he has cited "suggest that McMillan's Rule extends not only to infixing, but also to syntactic interposing,'the insertion of emotive intensifiers into collocations that are normally not interruptible or are interruptible under restrictions that exclude intensifiers.'" Not to be disrespectful, but that kind of jargon is meaningless to a reader who does not have expertise in the author's field.

In the preface the author states that he has written the book not just for "Lexicographers, language historians, linguists of various stripes, and cultural critics," but also "for 'everyone', by which I mean university-educated or other really smart people interested in slang and contemporary American culture." However, while this book may serve as interest as a reference to "everyone"--at least those who can understand all of the jargon--this is not something that you will want to read from cover to cover.

I have read the reviews of people who really enjoyed this book, but without exception I found this a tedious textbook that succeeded in focusing not on the poetry of slang, as the subtitle misleadingly suggested, but rather on a pedantic analysis that buries the fun and shock value of even the most colorful terms under a pile of jargon.

If I had to teach an alien (or an android like Star Trek's Data) what slang is, I would give them this book. It is full of the "how and why" of slang, something most people grasp naturally. The issue then is presenting this information in an engaging way, and unfortunately it seems like Mr. Adams has spent too much time buried in literature and academia to really pull in the casual/average reader.
I studied linguistics (electives, did not major in it) in college and this book would feel at home on a professor's syllabus or stacked dauntingly in a college book store. But, despite the inviting title, I can't really see too many people wanting to sit down with this academic drag. Its written in a way that is casual only to people who read academic journals and its not 'slangy' enough on its own. The writer sounds almost too nerdy about the subject to get me to come along for the ride here.

I love geeking out on things, but for a casual read this was too dry.