This is the hidden history of an invention that we use every day but seldom dare to speak of. In medieval China it was cutting-edge technology. For 19th-century

Booklist Top of the List Reference Source The heir and successor to Eric Partridge's brilliant magnum opus, The Dictionary of Slang and Unconventional English,

This is the only encyclopedia and social history of swearing and foul language in the English-speaking world. It covers the various social dynamics that generat

Drawn from the Dictionary of Slang and Unconventional English, with the emphasis on the expressions used or coined before 1914.

The definitive work on the subject, this Dictionary - available again in its eighth edition - gives a full account of slang and unconventional English over four