Drunk
The Definitive Drinker’s Dictionary
Paul Dickson
Here it is—from the Guinness World Records holder for the most synonyms ever recorded, for the word “drunk.”
Wise-guy lexicographer Paul Dickson, a consulting editor at Merriam-Webster, has long held the record for collecting the “Most Synonyms” for any term in the English language. He made the Guinness Book of World Records with 2,231 terms meaning “drunk”—beating out no less than Benjamin Franklin, who published his own list (The Drinker’s Dictionary) in 1736. But records are made to be broken . . . .
Enter Drunk, wherein Dickson breaks his own record by a mile with 2,964 terms for tipsy: blitzed, roasted, on the sauce, whazood, whiskey frisky, and Boris Yelstinned. And thousands more.
An introduction puts the list into context: Why are there so many synonyms for “drunk” and how did Dickson get to collecting them? Dickson’s wacky terms are annotated, too, and lushly illustrated, explaining the twist and turns of a language that has thousands of ways to describe somebody who is two sheets to the wind. How, for example, does a word like “blotto” go from the lips of P.G. Wodehouse, into the writings of Edmund Wilson, before landing with Otto from The Simpson’s (“My name is Otto, I like to get blotto”).
It’s a terrific exploration of language and a meditation on drinking culture throughout the ages.
THE ONLINE DICTIONARY OF DRINK
“Is your favorite way to say smashed, roasted, on the sauce, or Dean Martoonied missing from our list?” If so, let us know!
Visit the website to submit your most beloved word or phrase describing drunkenness. Just a few rules: You can submit as many ways to express inebriation as you wish. All we ask is that you keep it relatively inoffensive, source your entry (whether it was overheard in a restaurant, circulated among a certain college’s alumni, or discovered in a book) and leave us your name and email. Oh, and make sure you’re not suggesting a term that we’ve already included in the dictionary!
Eventually we’ll compile all of the submissions and pick out our favorites for a second revised edition of Drunk: the Definitive Drinker’s Dictionary, so your word or phrase could end up a permanent part of the dictionary (and you can claim to be part of a world record).
PRESS AND REVIEWS
"Where else could we learn that 30 years after the term plastered entered the drunk lexicon, the Arizona Lath and Plaster Institute would protest the use of the term?"
—Carolyn Kellogg, Los Angeles Times Jacket Copy book blog Link
"Dickson has done it again, entrancing those who want to eavesdrop on the slanguage of everyone from barista to bitheads.”
—Erin McKean, American lexicographer and editor of Verbatim: The Language Quarterly
“With focus, a passion for language, and a world-class ear, Dickson has produced brilliant chapter after brilliant chapter, any one of which would be a lifetime achievement for most lexicographers.”
—Tom Dalzell, senior editor of The New Partridge Dictionary of Slang and Unconventional English and author of Flappers to Rappers—American Youth Slang
"Is it a worthy book for anybody who likes food or wine (or beer or cocktails)? Absolutely. Because reading through these definitions, accompanied by Brian Rea’s charming drawings, is so immensely pleasurable that it’s intoxicating. Just like the title suggests."
—Time Out Chicago Link
SEE ALSO
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Drunk
Paul Dickson
Reference Word Lists
224 pages / Hardcover
$20.00 US / $24.95 CAN
ISBN: 978-1-933633-75-6
Published: October 2009
