Slang To-day and Yesterday

"Eric Partridge was the leading English language slang lexicographer of the 20th century. His Dictionary of Slang and Unconventional English appeared in 1937 and editions continued to appear until the posthumous edition of 1984. Partridge cut his lexicographical teeth in 1933, when he published this history of slang, Slang To-Day and Yesterday . This book is not just his own first essay into the subject, but also the first attempt at slang lexicology since John Camden Hotten’s comprehensive history and explanation of slang appeared in 1859. Support Five Books Five Books interviews are expensive to produce. If you're enjoying this interview, please support us by donating a small amount . Partridge begins by offering a discussion of the linguistic phenomenon that is slang. Then he puts forward his own opinion on the etymology of the word “slang”, and suggests what constitutes a slang word – he gives 17 qualifications – as opposed to a colloquial or standard English one. He follows these theoretical chapters by a succession of chronological ones, in which he lays out both the major slang lexicographers from the 16th century onwards and the authors who up until the date of his writing had made the greatest contribution to the recording of slang vocabulary. For me, of course, Partridge is the great mentor. I may not agree with everything he did, and as his successor I have naturally tried to improve on his foundations. But without his example I would have never even considered that slang was something to which I could enthusiastically devote my professional life. Yes, there is a lot of military slang. Partridge was a young man in New Zealand on a sheep farm, went to university there, and came to Europe like a lot of other Antipodeans to fight in World War One . He said he was absolutely fascinated by the working class, particularly cockney Englishmen and their language, which he had never encountered before. I think this is the great formative moment for him. He certainly claimed so. Yes. I do look in the mirror and wonder. You get up, open up yet another book, read it, look for the slang. Then you do it again. There is a degree of eccentricity. Let’s be kind and call it an odd job. It is slightly strange."