Slang, writes Michael Adams, is poetry on the down low, and
sometimes lowdown poetry on the down low, but rarely, if ever,
merely lowdown. It is the poetry of everyday speech, the people's
poetry, and it deserves attention as language playing on the cusp
of art. In Slang: The People's Poetry, Adams covers this
perennially interesting subject in a serious but highly engaging
way, illuminating the fundamental question "What is Slang" and
defending slang-and all forms of nonstandard English-as integral
parts of the American language. Why is an expression like "bed
head" lost in a lexical limbo, found neither in slang nor standard
dictionaries? Why are snow-boarding terms such as "fakie," "goofy
foot," "ollie" and "nollie" not considered slang? As he addresses
these and other lexical curiosities, Adams reveals that slang is
used in part to define groups, distinguishing those who are "down
with it" from those who are "out of it." Slang is also a rebellion
against the mainstream. It often irritates those who color within
the lines-indeed, slang is meant to irritate, sometimes even to
shock. But slang is also inventive language, both fun to make and
fun to use. Rather than complain about slang as "bad" language,
Adams urges us to celebrate slang's playful resistance to the
commonplace and to see it as the expression of an innate human
capacity, not only for language, but for poetry. A passionate
defense of slang, jargon, argot and other forms of nonstandard
English, this marvelous volume is full of amusing and even
astonishing examples of all sorts of slang. It will be a must for
students of language and a joy for word lovers everywhere.
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