Synopsis
Explains the meaning and origins of words created in the last ten years, from access charge and boutique farmer to workaphile and zap-proof
Reviews
Lexicographer Barnhart, who publishes a quarterly updating of general dictionaries, The Barnhart Dictionary Companion , here assembles some 100 terms that gained currency during the 1980s. Many (e.g., fax, hacker, HIV, smartcard) reflect new technologies, discoveries, or lifestyles; others might have arisen in any era. The tersely written entries give the part of speech, short definition, first recorded usage, and probable derivation, occasionally adding a note on pronunciation (e.g., glasnost) or other background. Some terms may be awkward amalgams or dated curiosities, but the need to keep pace with the language suggests that this should be in most libraries. However, a wider selection of new words is found in The New New Words Dictionary by Harold Lemay, Sid Lerner, and Marian Taylor (Ballantine, 1989). Illustrations were not seen.
- William A. Donovan, Chicago P.L.
Copyright 1990 Reed Business Information, Inc.
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