Preface -- 1. Introduction: Slang: A User's Manual -- 2. In the Beginning: The Pre-history -- 3. Lewd, Lousey Language: Beggars and Their Books -- 4. Crime and Punishment: The Vocabulary of Villainy -- 5. Play's the Thing: The Stage and the Song -- 6. The Sound of the City: No City, No Slang -- 7. Flash: This Sporting Life -- 8. Down Under: Larrikin Lingo -- 9. Sex in the City: The Agreeable Ruts of Life -- 10. Cockney Sparrers: Mean Streets and Music Halls -- 11. America: Pioneers -- 12. Keeping Score: Nineteenth-century Slang Lexicography -- 13. Gayspeak: The Lavendar Lexicon -- 14. American Century: The Slang Capital of the World -- 15. African-American Slang: The Flesh Made Word -- 16. Campus and Counter-Culture: Teenage Skills -- 17. War: One Thing It's Good For -- 18. Conclusion: As It Was in the Beginning -- Notes -- Bibliography -- Acknowledgements -- Index.
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