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    Samuel Johnson's Insults: A Compendium of Snubs, Sneers, Slights and Effronteries from the Eighteenth Century Master
    Unavailable
    Samuel Johnson's Insults: A Compendium of Snubs, Sneers, Slights and Effronteries from the Eighteenth Century Master
    Unavailable
    Samuel Johnson's Insults: A Compendium of Snubs, Sneers, Slights and Effronteries from the Eighteenth Century Master
    Ebook123 pages1 hour

    Samuel Johnson's Insults: A Compendium of Snubs, Sneers, Slights and Effronteries from the Eighteenth Century Master

    By Jack Lynch

    4/5

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    Currently unavailable

    Currently unavailable

    About this ebook


    Lackbrain, oysterwench, wantwit, clotpoll--Samuel Johnson's famous dictionary of 1755 contained some of the ripest insults in the English language. In Samuel Johnson's Insults, Jack Lynch has compiled more than 300 of the curmudgeonly lexicographer's mightiest barbs, along with definitions only the master himself could elucidate.

    Word lovers will delight in flexing their linguistic muscles with devilishly descriptive vituperations that pack a wicked punch. Many of these zingers have long lain dormant. Some have even come close to extinction. Now they're back in all their prickly glory, ready to be relished once more.
    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherBloomsbury Publishing
    Release dateMay 26, 2009
    ISBN9780802719348
    Unavailable
    Samuel Johnson's Insults: A Compendium of Snubs, Sneers, Slights and Effronteries from the Eighteenth Century Master
    Author

    Jack Lynch

    Jack Lynch is a professor of English at Rutgers University and a Johnson scholar, having studied the great lexicographer for nearly a decade. In addition to his books on Johnson and on Elizabethan England, he has written journal articles and scholarly reviews, and hosts a Web site devoted to these topics at http://andromeda. rutgers.edu/~jlynch/18th/. He is the author of Becoming Shakespeare and Samuel Johnson's Insults and the editor of Samuel Johnson's Dictionary. He lives in Lawrenceville, NJ.

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    Reviews for Samuel Johnson's Insults

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    • 5/5
      This, as is appropriate to Johnson, is a dictionary of insulting terms, not a list of insults used by Johnson, although plenty are thrown in as examples. Johnson's insults were apparently not portable strings of invective, but ad hoc witticisms that need to be heard in context. One can only marvel at a person who is so quick.The bulk of the book is a listing of insulting terms from Johnson's dictionary. Many are then illustrated with examples of usage, as from Shakespeare, and/or with anecdotes illustrating Johnson's wit. Some words are illustrated with drawings by Susan Estelle Kwas; the cover is by Barry Blitt.An introduction sets the scene regarding Johnson and his time. There is also a bibliography, and a list of persons, with page references.A great book for a language lover, and an interesting browse-read for almost anyone.