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Article published In: Historiographia Linguistica
Vol. 34:2/3 (2007) ► pp.351–361

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Howard N. Rose’s Thesaurus of Slang (1934)

Its purpose, structure, contents, reliability, and sources

 | University of Leicester
Published online: 13 November 2007
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https://doi.org/10.1075/hl.34.2.07col
Summary
This paper is a re-examination of Howard N. Rose’s Thesaurus of Slang (1934): of its purpose, structure, contents, reliability, and sources. Contemporary reviewers were largely unimpressed, and their criticisms are also considered. Despite its undoubtedly poor quality, Rose’s work provides some interesting insights into attitudes towards American English, the power of the word “thesaurus”, and the partiality of the reviewing process.
Résumé
Cet article porte un nouveau regard sur l’ouvrage de Howard N. Rose, Thesaurus of Slang (1934): son but, sa structure, son contenu, sa fiabilité et ses sources. Les commentateurs de l’époque n’ont guère dit de bien sur cet ouvrage, et l’on prend ici en considération leurs critiques. Malgré sa qualité manifestement piètre, l’ouvrage de Rose fournit d’intéressantes indications en ce qui concerne les attitudes envers l’anglais américain, le prestige du mot ‘Thesaurus’, et le manque d’impartialité des comptes-rendus et des activités connexes à l’époque.
Zusammenfassung
Der Beitrag untersucht (erneut) den Thesaurus of Slang (1934) von Howard N. Rose hinsichtlich Zielsetzung, Aufbau, Inhalt, Verlässlichkeit und hinsichtlich seiner Quellen. Zeitgenössische Kritiker waren wenig beeindruckt von dem Werk. Trotzdem werden die von ihnen vorgebrachten kritischen Gesichtspunkte hier auch in Betracht gezogen. Wenn auch von bescheidener Qualität, bietet das Werk einige interessante Einblicke in die zeitgenössische Einschätzung des amerikanischen Englisch, in den Bedeutungsumfang des Wortes ‘Thesaurus’ und die Besonderheiten des Rezensionsverfahrens der Zeit.
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