John Williams served as a consulting lexicographer on this project. He has been contributing to general language dictionaries, both monolingual and bilingual, for more than 20 years. He is the author of three children's dictionaries, as well as several articles on the practice of lexicography. | OBSERVATIONS ON SLANG AND UNCONVENTIONAL ENGLISH Some notes on the challenges of lexicography drawn entirely from the writings of Eric Partridge 1894-1979 Partridge wrote widely on matters concerning the English language. He did not by any means restrict his interest to matters slang and unconventional however it is his work in this area that had and continues to have the greatest impact and on which his reputation is most celebrated. He wrote more than forty books in his lifetime considering such diverse topics as abbreviations American tramp and underworld slang British and American English since 1900 comic alphabets English and American Christian names Shakespeare s bawdy usage and abusage and he contributed to many many more. It is so substantial a body of work that any list short of a full bibliography will inevitably do his great achievement a disservice. He was a philologist etymologist lexicographer essayist and dictionary-maker he is a legend and an inspiration. The flavour and wisdom of Partridge s work is gathered in the quotations that follow loosely grouped by subject and presented under sub-headings that make new use of a selection of his book and article titles. usually at first sight only that their simplicity is what strikes one the most forcibly. And slang after all is a peculiar kind of vagabond language always hanging on the outskirts of legitimate speech but continually straying or forcing its way into the most respectable Language in general and every kind of language belongs to everyone who wishes to use Slang being the quintessence of colloquial speech must always be related to convenience rather than scientific laws grammatical rules and philosophical ideals. As it originates so it flourishes best in colloquial Slang may and often does fill a gap in accepted Slang Today and Yesterday From about 1850 slang has been the accepted term for illegitimate colloquial speech but since then especially among the .
