| Abstract |
This article reports the dictionary making process, particularly the construction of definitions, for a dictionary of slang with 882 entries, all currently used by students at a state university in the US. COBUILD style sentence definitions were employed by the students who understood and manipulated the formulaic sentence patterns in order to take advantage of psychological distance, illustrate connotative meaning, and manage several levels of appropriateness for slang expressions. Pre-planning was essential for the semester-long project; out of 600 plus items of slang collected prior to the course, only 318 items were well attested in their usage. The students in this Lexicography course profited from the project for four reasons: (1) They learned new slang used by various groups on campus; (2) they learned "new" senses for "old" slang expressions; (3) they enjoyed the perceived elevation of their own slang with COBUILD's formulaic definitions using its 'proper" language; and (4) they learned a great deal about the practice of lexicography in the process. |
| BibTex |
@InProceedings{ELX02-028,
author = {Don R. McCreary},
title = {Body shots, Sorostitutes, and Fratagonia: Manipulating COBUILD's Formulaic Sentence Definitions to Treat Contemporary College Slang },
pages = {273-279},
booktitle = {Proceedings of the 10th EURALEX International Congress},
year = {2002},
month = {aug},
date = {13-17},
address = {København, Denmark},
editor = {Anna Braasch and Claus Povlsen},
publisher = {Center for Sprogteknologi},
isbn = {87-90708-09-1},
} |
