According to a fascinating article in the Wall Street Journal by JenniferOrdonez (Sept 7, 2000), this dictionary may never get beyond the letter O.Random House have stopped work on the editing because of the cost, andlinguist J E Lighter has stopped delivering the text because of a row overroyalties. Ambitious dictionaries don't make a profit for publishers, andRandom House says it only commissioned a one volume work originally, wayback in 1984. But it has made some money. The article points out that thecult best-seller "The F-Word" is in fact an extraction of asingle entry from volume 1 - published under project editor JesseSheidlower's name after Lighter refused to have his name used. One of thereasons Lighter has stopped giving material to Random House, says thearticle, is that he's worried they'll try and do the same thing with"the S-Word" and he doesn't want to be remembered as the F and Sguy. You can read the whole article at wsj.com if you have a subscription.
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Random House Historical Dictionary of American Slang, Vol. 1: A-G (Hardcover)
I write as a hobby and am a reference book addict. I own 10 dictionaries. I've had my copy of RH/Webster's for 3 years and have yet to find a word not listed in stunning detail. Buy this dictionary!