Dictionary of American Regional English

Every page in the new volume of the "Dictionary of American Regional English" makes it wonderfully clear that regional expressions still flourish throughout the United States. Depending on where you live, your conversation may include such beguiling terms as "paddybass" (North Carolina), "pinkwink" (Cape Cod) or "scallyhoot" (West); if you're invited to a "potluck dinner", in Indiana you're likely to call it a "pitch-in", while in northern Illinois it's a "scramble"; if your youngsters play "hopscotch", they may call it "potsy" in Manhattan, but "sky blue" in Chicago. Like the popular first three volumes of DARE, the fourth is a treasure-trove of linguistic gems, a book that invites exclamation, delight and wonder. Nearly 600 maps pinpoint where you might live if your favourite card games are "sheepshead" and "skat"; if you eat "pan dulce" rather than "pain perdu"; if you drive down a "red dog road" or make a purchase at a "racket store"; or if you look out your window and see a "parka squirrel" or a "quill pig". The language of our everyday lives is captured in DARE, along with expressions our grandparents used but our children will never know. Based on thousands of interviews across the country, the "Dictionary of American Regional English" presents our language in its infinite variety. Word lovers should delight in the wit and wisdom found in the quotations that illustrate each entry, and should prize the richness and diversity of our spoken and written culture.