With this fifth volume of the "Dictionary of American Regional English", readers now have the full panoply of American regional vocabulary, from Adam's housecat to Zydeco. Like the first four volumes, the fifth is filled with words that reflect our origins, migrations, ethnicities, and neighborhoods. Contradicting the popular notion that American English has become homogenized, "DARE" demonstrates that our language still has distinct and delightful local character. If a person lives in a remote place, would you say he's from the boondocks? Or from the puckerbrush, the tules, or the willywags? Where are you likely to live if you eat Brunswick stew rather than jambalaya, stack cake, smearcase, or kringle? What's your likely background if your favorite card game is hasenpfeffer? bid whist? sheepshead? Whether we are talking about foods, games, clothing, family members, animals, or almost any other aspect of life, our vocabulary reveals much about who we are. Each entry in "DARE" has been carefully researched to provide as complete a history of its life in America as possible. Illustrative citations extend from the seventeenth century through the twenty-first. More than 600 maps show where words were collected by the "DARE" fieldworkers. And quotations highlight the wit and wisdom of American speakers and writers. Recognized as the authoritative record of American English, "DARE" serves scholars and professionals of all stripes. It also holds treasures for readers who simply love our language.
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"To scholars and language lovers [the Dictionary of American Regional English] is an invaluable guide to the way Americans not only speak but also live--a homegrown answer to the Oxford English Dictionary...From the beginning the dictionary was the product of cutting-edge lexicographical science and on-the-ground research of unprecedented scope...Over the years DARE has been consulted by Broadway dialect coaches, detectives analyzing ransom notes, scholars puzzling over a Eudora Welty reference to "piecing" (that is, snacking) and poets looking to mine its 170-plus synonyms for dust bunnies." -- Jennifer Schuessler, New York Times, 24th February 2012
" If you're the kind of person who is delighted to stumble across one strange new word in a book, you may find reading this enormous volume to be an almost excessive pleasure...The Dictionary is a book you can actually sit down and read--not just for colorful words and quotations, but also for a tour of actions, objects, creatures and categories central to far-off or vanished pockets of American life...Without your own team of roaming lexicographers, there is probably no easier way to browse America's past ways of living and talking than to read its books. But Dictionary of American Regional English gathers all these terms into one place, together with samples of the voices and stories and songs that gave rise to them. It's the rare American book whose roots extend not just to one region but to all of them." --Amanda Katz, NPR.org, 13th February 2012
" If you're the kind of person who is delighted to stumble across one strange new word in a book, you may find reading this enormous volume to be an almost excessive pleasure...The Dictionary is a book you can actually sit down and read--not just for colorful words and quotations, but also for a tour of actions, objects, creatures and categories central to far-off or vanished pockets of American life...Without your own team of roaming lexicographers, there is probably no easier way to browse America's past ways of living and talking than to read its books. But Dictionary of American Regional English gathers all these terms into one place, together with samples of the voices and stories and songs that gave rise to them. It's the rare American book whose roots extend not just to one region but to all of them." --Amanda Katz, NPR.org, 13th February 2012
About the Author
Joan Houston Hall is Distinguished Scientist at the University of Wisconsin, Madison. She joined the DARE staff in 1975, became Associate Editor in 1979, and was named Chief Editor in 2000.
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
Format:Hardcover
The product description provided for DARE volume 5 actually belongs to DARE volume 4.
The product description for DARE volume 5 should refer to the letters Sk-Z.
The product description for DARE volume 5 should refer to the letters Sk-Z.
Most Helpful Customer Reviews on Amazon.com (beta)
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4.0 out of 5 stars
5 reviews
27 of 28 people found the following review helpful
5.0 out of 5 stars
Note from the publisher
22 Feb 2012
By Gregory H Kornbluh
- Published on Amazon.com
Format:Hardcover
Harvard University Press is happy to offer new dust jackets to longtime DARE devotees who would like their older volumes to match the updated look of Volume V. You can email the press at contact_hup@harvard.edu for details.
10 of 12 people found the following review helpful
5.0 out of 5 stars
Excellent conclusion; new design for dust jacket
8 Feb 2012
By TwoTooth
- Published on Amazon.com
Format:Hardcover|Amazon Verified Purchase
This reference book is for a very specialized audience; it will likely be purchased mainly by academic libraries. It's the final volume of a work that's been ongoing for decades (the first volume was published in 1985). Actually, there's another volume planned for back matter (bibliography, index, map appendixes), depending on funding.
I leave it to academics more qualified than I to comment on content and method. As a (mostly) amateur student of the English language, I find the DARE both informative and entertaining. But if you don't enjoy reading dictionaries or aren't a professional needing its information, this work isn't for you.
I have one quibble: The first four volumes have identical dust jackets; this one is markedly different, so volume 5 won't look like part of a set when it's shelved next to the others. The only justifiable reason for such a departure would be legal; otherwise, it's inexcusable. [See edit below]
Finally: Anyone questioning its hefty price doesn't understand the tremendous amount of time that goes into producing a volume like this AFTER it's actually been compiled and submitted to the publisher or the cost of printing each copy of what will no doubt be a relatively small press run. Believe me, the price is not out of line.
Edit: As someone commented on my review and as a representative of the publisher has noted, the publisher will ship (free of charge) dust jackets for the first four volumes with the new design. Mine just arrived, rolled in a mailing tube, in good condition.
I leave it to academics more qualified than I to comment on content and method. As a (mostly) amateur student of the English language, I find the DARE both informative and entertaining. But if you don't enjoy reading dictionaries or aren't a professional needing its information, this work isn't for you.
I have one quibble: The first four volumes have identical dust jackets; this one is markedly different, so volume 5 won't look like part of a set when it's shelved next to the others. The only justifiable reason for such a departure would be legal; otherwise, it's inexcusable. [See edit below]
Finally: Anyone questioning its hefty price doesn't understand the tremendous amount of time that goes into producing a volume like this AFTER it's actually been compiled and submitted to the publisher or the cost of printing each copy of what will no doubt be a relatively small press run. Believe me, the price is not out of line.
Edit: As someone commented on my review and as a representative of the publisher has noted, the publisher will ship (free of charge) dust jackets for the first four volumes with the new design. Mine just arrived, rolled in a mailing tube, in good condition.
7 of 10 people found the following review helpful
4.0 out of 5 stars
an awkward fifth
20 Feb 2012
By phineasredux
- Published on Amazon.com
Format:Hardcover|Amazon Verified Purchase
Of course, this is a major, and successful, undertaking. The prior volumes have provided endless opportunities for browsing. Although it sounds like a quibble, I have to second the prior reviewer's comment about the dust jacket. On the shelf, Volume V is a jarring contrast to the other four volumes. Those of us who have cheerfully added each volume as it came out (over a period of 25+ years) deserved better.
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