The Official Dictionary of Unofficial English

If you’d rather be schmooping or gurgitating, then slangmeister Grant Barrett has the dictionary for you. “The Official Dictionary of Unofficial English” (McGraw-Hill, $14.95) collects hundreds of “undocumented and underdocumented” words like the ones in his subtitle: “A Crunk Omnibus for Thrillionaires and Bampots for the Ecozoic Age.” Barrett’s entries are not mere barroom fancies, but terms you can find in print and on the Internet, scrabbling for a foothold in the mainstream lexicon. Will Trashcanistan, “any poor Middle Eastern country or Central Asian republic,” hang around in the slang lexicon? Will ridonkulous follow humongous into general usage? Barrett, who also tracks such usage on his website, Double-Tongued Word Wrester, (www.doubletongued.org), will be among the first to know. Boston Globe 20060709

This is not your paleoconservative’s dictionary.

The Official Dictionary of Unofficial English is a collection of cutting-edge words used around the English-speaking world. From Nollywood to Califunny and Corrupticut to Trashcanistan, these words are hot off the street and the Internet, and they are definitely not in Webster’s. Inside you’ll learn more than 750 new words, their meanings, and how they became part of the English lexicon.

Bangalored adj.having been relocated to India; having lost business or employment due to such a relocation

Bugs Bunny changeup n. in baseball, a slow pitch disguised as a fast ball that seems to stop in front of the plate

cuff and stuff v. to (physically) place someone under arrest

fundagelical n. a fundamentalist or evangelical Christian

hillbilly armor n. scavenged materials used by soldiers for improvised bullet-proofing and vehicle hardening, esp. in Iraq

I love me wall n. a public display of awards, certificates, plaques, and photographs with or from celebrities

Orange Curtain n. the characteristics, real or imagined, that differentiate Orange County from Los Angeles County and the rest of California

sleeve v. to decorate an arm with tattoos

swankienda n. a mansion or large house

unass v. to dismount or disembark