Smaller Slang Dictionary [antikvár]

FOREWORD THERE exists no good short dictionary of modern British slang: slang importantly current either throughout or for a longish period of the 20th century. To achieve this, I have abridged A Dictionary of Slang and Unconventional English (16th-20th centuries) to about one-twelfth the size of the original—a task very much more difficult than it sounds— by doing these three things: (1) by excluding all material obsolete by the year 1900; (2) by omitting nearly all the cant, as scholars call the language of the underworld; (3) by omitting absolutely all matter that could offend against propriety or even delicacy. Iliis Smaller Dictionary, intended for general consumption, can therefore go into any home, any school, any library. Such a dictionary was badly needed. eric partridge ABBREVIATIONS AND SIGNS abbr.: abbreviated; abbreviation adj.: adjective adv.: adverb app.: apparently c.: cant (language of underworld) C.: Century, as in 'C. 18* ca.: about (the year) cf.: compare coll.: colloquial(ism)—midway between slang and Standard English c.p.: catch-phrase d.: died dial.: dialect(al) Eng.: English esp.: especially ex: out of, from: derived from fig.: figurative(ly) Fr.: French gen.: general(ly) Ger.: German Gr.: Greek i.e.: that is imm.: immediate(ly) It.: Italian j.: jargon or technicality) L.: Latin lit.: literal(ly) n.: noun n.b.: note carefully ob.: obsolescent (dying); cf. t below occ.: occasional(ly) O.E.D.: The Oxford English Dictionary opp.: opposite; as opposed to orig.: original(ly) pi.: (in the) plural Port.: Portuguese ppl.: participial; participle prob. : probable; probably pron. : pronounced ; pronunciation q.v.: which see resp. : respective(ly) s.: slang sc.: understand or supply S.E.: Standard English sol.: solecism; solecistic Sp.: Spanish U.S. or' VThe United States of America ; U.S. A.:, J American v.: verb v.i. and v.t. j-verb intransitive—transitive vbl n.: verbal noun —: (before a date) known to exist at least as early as +: (after a date) recorded then and still existing t: obsolete (dead); cf. 'ob.' above >: becomes or become; became; has become =: equal(s); is or are equal to A Note on Etymology: The etymologies, when given at all, are necessarily brief. They lean heavily upon these four works: The Oxford English Dictionary; Ernest Weekley's Concise Etymological Dictionary (W); Webster's New International Dictionary; my Origins: A Short Etymological Dictionary of Modern English.