- Hardcover: 320 pages
- Publisher: OUP USA (4 Nov 2004)
- Language English
- ISBN-10: 0195176855
- ISBN-13: 978-0195176858
- Product Dimensions: 23.2 x 15.2 x 2.8 cm
- Amazon Bestsellers Rank: 1,940,052 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
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"A handy phrase-book to help us understand the yammering of the Beltway's chatterati."--Wall Street Journal
"Those seriously concerned with the vitality of our wonky Beltway blather may want to skip the next agriculture-subsidy roundtable to train their bifocals on 'Hatchet Jobs and Hardball'.... There, with some imagination, you can freshen your lexicon with some forgotten or fairly obscure, but nevertheless serviceable, bits of political argot. Impress your fellow sheeple!"--Tom Kuntz, The New York Times
"An entertaining and informed lexicon of 600 words and phrases describing both current and past political activities and the politicos who made them happen...a most useful state-of-the-slang compendium."--Library Journal
"Word lovers and miners for old terms of art that deserve new life will find delight here.... The book has a short introduction by James Carville and Mary Matalin. And in addition to nearly 300 pages of citations, Mr. Barrett includes eight brief essays,
Product Description
Here is a wonderful Baedeker to down-and-dirty politics--more than six hundred slang terms straight from the smoke-filled rooms of American political speech. Hatchet Jobs and Hardball: The Oxford Dictionary of American Political Slang illuminates a rich and colorful segment of our language. Readers will find informative entries on slang terms such as Beltway bandit and boondoggle, angry white male and leg treasurer, juice bill and Joe Citizen, banana superpower and the Big Fix. We find not only the meaning and history of familiar terms such as gerrymander, but also of lesser-known terms such as cracking (splitting a bloc of like-minded voters by redistricting) and fair-fight district (which refers to areas redistricted to favor no political party). Each entry includes the definition of the word, its historical background, and illuminating citations, some going back more than 200 years. (We learn, for instance, that a term as seemingly current as political football actually dates back to before the Civil War.) Selected entries will have extended encyclopedic notes. The book also features sidebar essays on topics such as political words in Blogistan; a short history of "big cheese"; all about chads and the 2000 election; the suffix "-gate" and all the related Watergate terms; and the naming of legislation. Political junkies, policy wonks, journalists, and word lovers will find this book addictive reading as well as a reliable guide to one of the more colorful corners of American English.
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9 reviews
5 of 6 people found the following review helpful
Outside the beltway? All over America!
16 Sep 2004
Format:Hardcover
As the editor of this book, I'm happy to contradict the review below. We spent months combing through Oxford University Press' vast lexicographical resources to pick the best American political terms that qualified as slang and could be substantiated in the time and space available. Chinaman, usually found in the phrase "have a Chinaman," does indeed seem to be a Chicago political term, going back to at least 1973, and means "to have political influence." The reason it was not included, however, is that at the time of publishing, we had a single citation for it. Too many other better-substantiated terms took precedence. Fetcher, on the other hand, is almost too common to be considered slang, and so was not included, although juice bill, which means the same thing, is included in the book.
3 of 4 people found the following review helpful
Hate Politics. Dig the book.
16 Sep 2004
Format:Hardcover
I really don't like political slang basically because I never know what the hell people from the "beltway" are talking about on the news. I finally have a resource that will tell me what one of those cloistered freaks taking charge of my government are talking about.
3 of 4 people found the following review helpful
a timely dictionary!
16 Sep 2004
Format:Hardcover
I was given this book as a gift, and was a little shocked - as I love words, but I am not necessarily very politically minded...although I am trying - and I found this book to be truly enjoyable! I can use it when I try to seem "up" on politics and people are impressed! I have enjoyed reading the stories of where and when the terms started to come into use, and it's all thoughtful and well written!
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