Fifty Years among the New Words

Fifty Years Among the New Words looks at the new words of the past five decades, providing a fascinating demonstration of the change in word patterns and social norms that has taken place. American Speech, the journal of the American Dialect Society has for fifty years included a regular collection of neologisms called ‘Among the New Words’. Complete documentation is given for all citations and both British and American sources have been consulted. A survey of ‘Among the New Words’ reveals, therefore, a great deal about the origin and early use of these expressions and the social climate from which they sprang. Now, this unique and valuable resource is available in a single volume, Fifty Years Among the New Words. John Algeo has written recognisably perceptive introductory essays exploring both the linguistic and social implications of the new words and has produced a comprehensive index and glossary for this unique repository of language use from 1941–1991.