A practical guide to down-home expressions and the ways they are used.

In this pioneering exploration of African American slang - a highly informal vocabulary and a significant aspect of African American English - Maciej Widawski explores patterns of form, meaning, theme and function, showing it to be a rule-governed, innovative and culturally revealing vernacular. Widawski's comprehensive description is based on a large database of contextual citations from thousands of contemporary sources, including literature and the press, music, film and television. It also includes an alphabetical glossary of 1,500 representative slang expressions, defined and illustrated by 4,500 usage examples. Due to its vast size, the glossary can stand alone as a dictionary providing readers with a reliable reference of terms. Combining scholarship with user-friendliness, this book is an insightful and practical resource for students and researchers in linguistics, as well as general readers interested in exploring lexical variation in contemporary English.

Three women, three generations, one shared DNA. Each one with a love for words who shared that love with each other as well as with our own spheres of influence. Now, all three women are sharing their words to a larger audience; you, the reader. Each woman has their own unique style of writing, but all mesh together to form a cohesive reading experience. Join them as the author shares stories and experiences that each one shared separately, yet when they are side-by-side, you will find humor, similar stories, faith, and other what-not ditties and pithy sayings! Thank you for reading.

Contains definitions, explanations, cross-references, and examples for 14,000 formal and informal American expressions.

Learn the language of Nebraska . . .and 49 other states With more entries than any other reference of its kind,McGraw-Hill’s Dictionary of American Idioms and Phrasal Verbs shows you how American English is spoken today. You will find commonly used phrasal verbs, idiomatic expressions, proverbial expressions, and clichés. The dictionary contains more than 24,000 entries, each defined and followed by one or two example sentences. It also includes a Phrase-Finder Index with more than 60,000 entries.