In Eric Partridge's A Dictionary Of Slang and Unconventional English, which was published in 1937, the lexicographer could not quite bring himself to include the word "penis" in his collection - he used instead the term "membrum virile". In Jonathon Green's new Dictionary of Slang, which is published next week, there are 997 different words for the penis. There are also, for the record, 856 words for vagina and 1,232 words for sexual intercourse, writes Brian Boyd
Green has spent five years compiling his mightily impressive work. The 75,000 entries reflect slang usage down through the centuries (the first slang dictionary appeared in 1531, apparently) but the main interest here is in the amount of new slang words that have been coined in the past few years.
It will come as no surprise that five new slang expressions are coined every day and words drop in and out of favour on a seemingly random basis.
Although slang gets what might be called a "bum rap" for being a cheapening or coarsening of the language, it does serve some useful sociolinguistic functions. Slang has a creative function in coming up with new words to describe new events or ideas not already covered by the lexicon.
It can also function as "encryption", in that only certain groupings can understand what is being referred to. Skateboarders and drug users, for example, rely heavily on this inclusion/exclusion aspect. It can also be very confusing: the word "wicked" means one thing in standard English but quite another in slang - or it does this month, at least.
Whether it is associated with the encrypted speech of the criminal underworld or the playful, humorous use of Cockney rhyming slang, "the non-standard use of words in a language of a particular social group" (as standard dictionaries have it) has a long, rich and creative history.
"Slang is the street," says Jonathon Green. "We know that the Romans and the Greeks had it, I have no doubt that other civilisations had it too.
"My definition of slang today is that it's a counter-language - it's oppositional, it's youth, it's urban and it's street. It's exciting."
Exciting for Green, maybe, but also very exacting due to the speed that slang now moves at.
There are two main reasons for this. First, the growth in global English. Whereas before it was mainly just British or American English, now there are the "new Englishes", such as Pakistani English, Singaporean English and Ghanaian English - all of which come complete with new slang party tricks. And second, the internet.
Whereas before it would take a few years for slang to cross the Atlantic, nowadays it happens within minutes.
THE MAJOR NEW development in slang, as evinced by Green's dictionary, is the impact of black culture on the language. More and more white European teenagers now view black street culture, and its associated argot, as credible and significant. The hybrid slang language formed by this mix of standard English and urban black/Caribbean English is now called "Blinglish" - taken from the word "bling", which refers to ostentatious wealth or the wearing of oversized, chunky gold jewellery.
The British marketing agency TRBI, which advises its blue-chip clients on how to sell products to young people, recently published a report on youth trends which noted that "the days when popular culture was controlled by white artists and pushed by cultural organisations have faded. Black youth have a disproportionate influence on mainstream culture".
Which is why white, middle-class youth in Ireland can sometimes sound like (or would wish to sound like) they come from inner-city Los Angeles as opposed to Blackrock or Dalkey.
What is most remarkable about how slang is used now is the specific manner in which it is articulated. Spoken standard English has stresses occurring at more or less equal intervals, but when white people use black slang they also borrow the machine gun-style rhythm of Caribbean English.
It's not enough just to know the "correct" slang words - you have to pronounce them as if you were born and bred in Kingston, Jamaica.
Linguist Tony Thorne - who is the head of the language centre at King's College, University of London - noted in the Financial Times last week that "you can now go into a playground anywhere in the UK, even where there are no black children, and still everyone is using black street speech. Black North American, Jamaican, even black British (words that have been invented on the streets of Britain), have all come together to make this variety. It's too complex to separate out all the influences."
Whereas previously white youth would have had their own musical movements - as in punk rock or acid house - today they look to black cultural icons, such as the hip-hop artist Kanye West.
Embracing black culture and using its non-standard language is also a perfect way to recreate the generational divide. Whereas many adults would have (rather distressingly) approved of the Britpop musical movement (Oasis, Blur et al) of the 1990s, today's hardcore rappers and the language they use are not so accessible.
As musicians - and the language they use - drift in and out of fashion and cultural significance, so the language follows. And once a slang word goes mainstream, it's discarded - which is what happened to the term "bling" after it was included in the Oxford English Dictionary a few years ago.
After all, if everyone understands what you are saying, what's the point?
Cassell's Dictionary of Slang by
Jonathon Green is published by Cassell Reference (£25)
In da hours: See you soon
Grep: Highly unpleasant person or thing
Shubs: a party
Brap: really good/excellent, as in a brap shubs
Munter: very unattractive
Crapweazel: a stupid person
Bare-live: really cool
To go bitchcakes: to become angry