Stuart Berg FlexnerBesprekingen

Volume 1 of 4 of The Random House Library of Painting and Sculpture

Volume 2 of 4 in The Random House Library of Painting and Sculpture

Volume 3 of 4 of The Random House Library of Painting and Sculpture.

Volume 4 of 4 of the Random House Library of Painting and Sculpture.

3/15/22

As the author writes in his preface, he is attempting to present the American language through American history and to present America and American history through our language. He accomplishes this, although in a quite selective way. It in no way compares, that is to say, with the six-volume Dictionary of American Regional English (DARE) which extensively documents words, phrases, and pronunciations that vary from one place to another place across the United States. As Flexner explains, “This book is a selection of what I consider to be the most revealing, interesting, and typical words and phrases from the American language and American history.”

Each entry varies in length, from very short to short, with occasional longer entries, such as under “The Blacks. ” Examples of word entries include such terms as abolition, hamburgers, OK, and Yankee. Among the phrases he selects you will find “Alibi Ike,” “confidence man,” “goin’ courtin’,” “The Great Depression,” “Lickety Split,” and “The Real McCoy.”

For each entry, Flexner provides a history of the derivation and usage, as well as related terms. (Thus, under “Dashing Men,” Flexner also discusses dude, guy, playboy, smooth apple, Mr. Right, and so on.)

Certainly for those without the time or resources to consult DARE, this is a way to get a taste of how language reflects the American story. It’s a fun way to learn history, and to pick up lots of entertaining trivia.

I especially like this book because it sometimes includes the origin of the word.

Brief sections on historical disasters. Depressing to read straight through for any length of time. I ended up skimming through and picking sections of interest to me to read.

Got this as a birthday gift from my dad's friend, Uncle Ted, on 01/15/1981...

"Dear Peter, Happy thirteenth! Best wishes for many, many more! You might employ this tome in garnering adroit articulation and erumpent erudition in composition to amaze your instructors! Enjoy! Ted"

My dad had interesting friends.

Sucked! Many facts were simply made up. Since when are bible stories counted as actual history? I had to put it down before I ran into some Grimm's Fairy-tales and threw it across the room.

Short, descriptive guide to various calamities from prehistoric times to the present. Light and amusing, but more of a reference for a serious student of the topic, hampered by a lack of bibliography½

A superb dictionary of American slang, from every point of view, presented with a rare lexicographical intelligence. Particularly to be appreciated are the abundant comments on usage and meaning, added in italics to the more conventional presentation of grammatical category and various acceptations. Of these Flexner notes: "Italicized comments are added to many definitions and entries. These usually refer to possible origins, primary group users, approximate dates of origin or peak popularity, or to the spirit with which the word is uttered" (p. xvii).

Sad to say, both Wentworth and Flexner died fairly young. Wentworth was born in 1904 and died in 1965, and Flexner was born on Mar. 22, 1928 and died of bone cancer on Dec. 3, 1990, at the age of 62.

Being an English As a Foreign language teacher, this has been always the source of correct American English.

Of all the dictionaries I've purchased over the years -- and there have been many -- this one ranks as the best. It's very rare that I don't find what I'm looking for in this. This is everything a dictionary is supposed to be. Forget Webster, go for an Oxford dictionary every time.

Great bathroom book! I wish some of the entries had more detail... but they're a good starting point for looking stuff up online.

At the time it was published, this was considered The Source for the definitive usage of the American English language. The Source for spelling, The Source for pronounciation (do you pronounce the "t" in "often"? Do you pronounce the first "r" in "February"? ("No" and "Yes") This dictionary is a "must have" if you want to know how to speak your language.

Family Word Finder is a rich source of words - their meanings, their origins and their connections to other words. It is not just a dictionary, it is also a thesaurus, a phrase-builder and a spelling and pronunciation guide all in one. Within its 928 pages you will find:
- 10,500 key words
- More than 200,000 synonyms and antonyms
- Sample sentences to make work meanings clear
- Word origins to help you understand how the English language grew
- Up-to-date vocabulary, including slang and informal words
- Helpful usage notes so that you can avoid making common errors
- Pronunciation tips, spelled out phonetically rather than with symbols
- Spelling tips
- Exploring the Word features to make building your vocabulary fun
- Parts of speech identified
- Quotations - by great men and women who have used these words to make pithy or even humorous statements
- Technical words and foreign expressions, commonly used in English
- Cross references to related words

This book is so much fun to read! All sorts of unexpected expressions crop up from all sorts of subcultures from the U.S.'s entire history.½

This is the biggest book in our house, at 2500 pages and 350,000 entries. The usage and spelling are American, and there are many entries for American history and geography terms, but there is a lot of international content as well. This second edition was published in 1993, and includes current terms like F.A.Q. for frequently asked questions, as well as medical and scientific and other specialized vocabulary. There are brief encyclopedic and factual entries for general reference. It includes colored maps at the end, and small ink drawings of animals, plants, buildings, equipment and small maps on most pages. It's a very interesting home reference, suitable for libraries as well.

Ex lib. JCC

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Excellent reference work in coordination with other books and programs which are on the computer