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Drunk: The Definitive Drinker's Dictionary
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$ 15.56
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$ 19.95 |
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$ 4.39 (22%) |
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| Item Number |
777767 |
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Item Description...
Overview
A consulting editor at Merriam-Webster and the world-record holder for the most synonyms for the word "drunk" breaks his own record with this collection of three thousand synonyms for "tipsy," in an illustrated and annotated edition that also includes an author introduction explaining his reasons for embarking on this endeavor.
Publishers Description
Here it is: from a Guinness World Records holder, the most English synonyms ever recorded for a single word—“drunk.”
Wise-guy lexicographer Paul Dickson, a consulting editor at Merriam-Webster, has long held the record for collecting the "Most Synonyms" for any term in the English language. He made the Guinness Book of World Records with 2,231 terms meaning "drunk"–beating out no less than Benjamin Franklin, who published his own list (The Drinker's Dictionary) in 1736. But records are made to be broken . . . .
Enter Drunk, wherein Dickson breaks his own record with 2,964 terms for tipsy: blitzed, roasted, on the sauce, whazood, whiskey frisky, and Boris Yelstinned.
An introduction puts the list into context: Why are there so many synonyms for "drunk" and how did Dickson get to collecting them? Dickson's wacky terms are annotated, too, and lushly illustrated, explaining the twist and turns of a language that has thousands of ways to describe somebody who is two sheets to the wind. How, for example, does a word like "blotto" go from the lips of P.G. Wodehouse, into the writings of Edmund Wilson, before landing with Otto from The Simpsons ("My name is Otto, I like to get blotto").
It's a terrific exploration of language and a meditation on drinking culture throughout the ages.
"A splendid new book."
—Ben Schott, The New York Times
"Where else could we learn that 30 years after the term plastered entered the drunk lexicon, the Arizona Lath and Plaster Institute would protest the use of the term?"
—Carolyn Kellogg, Los Angeles Times
"Is it a worthy book for anybody who likes food or wine (or beer or cocktails)? Absolutely. Because reading through these definitions, accompanied by Brian Rea's charming drawings, is so immensely pleasurable that it's intoxicating. Just like the title suggests."
—Time Out Chicago
“Dickson has done it again, entrancing those who want to eavesdrop on the slanguage of everyone from barista to bitheads.”
—Erin McKean, American lexicographer and editor of Verbatim: The Language Quarterly
“With focus, a passion for language, and a world-class ear, Dickson has produced brilliant chapter after brilliant chapter, any one of which would be a lifetime achievement for most lexicographers.”
—Tom Dalzell, senior editor of The New Partridge Dictionary of Slang and Unconventional English
Paul Dickson is the author of more than 45 nonfiction books and hundreds of magazine articles. Although he has written on a variety of subjects from ice cream to kite flying to electronic warfare, he now concentrates on writing about the American language, baseball, and 20th century history. His most recent titles include The Dickson Baseball Dictionary, Sputnik: The Shock of the Century, and Slang: A Topical Dictionary of Americanisms. |
Item Specifications...
Pages 208
Dimensions: Length: 8" Width: 5.1" Height: 0.9"
Weight: 0.65 lbs.
Binding Hardcover
Release Date Sep 29, 2009
Publisher Melville House
ISBN 1933633751
EAN 9781933633756
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Availability 2 units.
Availability accurate as of May 24, 2012 07:27.
Usually ships within one to two business days from La Vergne, TN.
Orders shipping to an address other than a confirmed Credit Card / Paypal Billing address may incur and additional processing delay.
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Reviews - What do our customers think?
 | drunk on words Dec 12, 2009 |
| What a terrifically fun book. Technically I suppose it's a thesaurus for one word -- drunk -- but it felt more like a fascinating and hilarious chat with a new friend about how sometimes we find witty ways to avoid saying a thing, and other times we find startling ways to say it better. Nothing like a touchy subject -- boozing, war, religion, politics -- to bring that about. There's actually a nice lesson to learn here as such. Regardless, a lovely book that rewards you no matter what page you open to. Fantastically funny illustrations, too. | | | | It's about our hysterical language! Dec 5, 2009 |
| This is a really wonderful book about our wonderful language -- how creative it is, how funny, how much room it gives the imagination. To say it's in any way supporting drunkenness is just not true. It's like saying that discussing odd synonyms for war is promoting war. That's obviously not true. But that's also not as much fun as discussing synonyms for drunk! | | |  | A Sad Commentary - Dec 4, 2009 |
| Yes, author Dickson is clever, compiling innumerable synonyms for the term, but the topic is not funny. Almost 11,000 have been killed so far this year by driving while drunk, or by others DUI. Then there are countless others ruining their careers and marriages due to drinking. Please do not buy this book. | | | | EAT, DRINK (NOT TOO MUCH) AND BE MERRY: READ, LEARN AND ENJOY. Oct 7, 2009 |
Did you ever have a teacher who made it fun to learn: a teacher who passed along knowledge and insight in a way that you wished ever teacher could/would?
Sadly, teachers like that are a rare breed, but they do exist, and when you have the good fortune to come across one, it's a delight (as anyone who has had such a teacher knows full well).
In any case, that's what comes to mind when you peruse Paul Dickson's latest contribution to the literature of lexicography: "Drunk".
Paul's like that teacher whose classes you actually look forward to, whose classes you would never even dream of cutting.
By compiling the seemingly endless euphemisms, surrogate words and phrases for perhaps the most human of all human conditions, Paul brings into focus and amply illustrates the wonderful richness of language - the endless capacity of humans to express themselves - and he does so in the most entertaining (and quite comprehensive) manner imaginable.
Simply put, there's a lot to learn - and laugh about - in this latest tome by perhaps the most prolific and astute author putting pen to ink to paper these days, and although the rather straight-forward title may not impart the full width and depth of what can be found between the covers, "Drunk" is a wonderful book that everyone who reads it will enjoy and learn from (on many levels) be they drunk, sober, or somewhere in-between.
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