Language!: Five Hundred Years of the Vulgar Tongue

Having undertaken decades of research into tens of thousands of English slang words, Green is an expert guide through this 'counter- language' and its origins in the underground worlds of criminal, marginalized and rebellious groups. He traces the changing meaning of slang terms and their spread across social classes, as well as analysing the different styles of American and Australian slang and comparing the many synonyms that illustrate the inventiveness of the 'vulgar tongue'.