Various Lexical Resources
Lexical References - Local & Regional Lexicons - International Lexicons - Computer & Hacker Lexicons - Ethnic Lexicons - Various Peculiar Lexicons - Other Resources
Lexical References
Local & Regional Lexicons & Glossaries (U.S.)
- How to Talk San Franciscan -- Find out about Bezerkely, Snob Hill, Coitus Tower, The Herpes Triangle, and more.
- The Pittsburgh Dictionary -- Learn to speak "Pittsburghese." Learn to drop your D's just like a real Pittsburgher: say cooun't for couldn't, wooun't for wouldn't, and din't for didn't.
- CoalSpeak -- A "list of words, phrases, locations, and colloquialisms commonly used in the Coal Region of Eastern Pennsylvania."
- American Slanguages: The Hick-to-Hip Translation Guide. Lists slang words and phrases for many cities, both American and international, including Atlanta, Boston, Chicago, Detroit, Hong Kong, L.A., New Orleans, San Francisco, and, of course, Seattle. What this page lacks in depth, it makes up for in its breadth.
- The House of the Rising Sun Lexicon. A site dedicated to the patois of past and present residents of a shifting group-residence of young people and students (Sacramento State and CSU Chico, apparently), with the primary focus being on Sacramento and Northern California slang. An excellent compilation! -- Note: As of late 2004, the parent site for the HRS Lexicon, DrinkMoreThinkLess.com, seems to have disappeared. One can only imagine that the perpetrators of the HRS Lexicon have finally grown up and would be embarrassed to have it read by employers, wives, or children, or perhaps might simply now want to have them. Purely in the interest of preservation of what is a very interesting time capsule, however, I here present links to all 12 pages of the HRS Lexicon as they still exist in the Internet Archive (you will need to click each link individually, as the internal JavaScript menu in the pages, for jumping to the separate pages, does not work: dict.html, dict2.html, dict3.html, dict4.html, dict5.html, dict6.html, dict7.html, dict8.html, dict9.html, dict10.html, dict11.html, dict12.html.
International Lexicons, Glossaries & Dictionaries
Ethnic Lexicons, Glossaries, and Dictionaries
- Aboriginal English by Diana Eades.
- A Dictionary of Chinook Jargon Find out what Alkie, Callipeen, Cosho, Cultus, Hoolhool, Klahowya, Klootchman, Siwash, Skookum, and Tumtum mean. Chinook jargon (or Tshinuk Wawa) was a trade language spoken by both Indians and whites in the Pacific Northwest. Some jargon words survive to this day among Northwesterners. To find out more about Chinook Jargon, see:
- Chinook Jargon - The Hidden Language of the Pacific Northwest.
- Chinook Jargon Phrasebook.
- The Chinook Jargon: Trading pidgin of Northwest Indians and pioneers; inside slang of contemporary Seattle.
- Seattle's Lost Language.
- The Chinook Jargon And How To Use It.
Computer, Hacker & Web Lexicons, Glossaries & Dictionaries
- The Microsoft Lexicon -- A lexicon of terms originating from the Microsoft campus (a world unto itself). Find out what Blue Badger, BOOP, Dogfood, Facemail, Gronk, and Permatemp mean.
- The Ultimate Silicon Valley Slang Page -- Learn what Chat-Fly, Nerd Bird, and Loser Error mean.
- A Hacker's Glossary -- A short list of hacker terms. Learn what deep magic, raster burn, and wetware mean.
- The New Hacker's Dictionary -- The granddaddy of hacker slingo references. Learn what bag on the side, barfmail, cybercrud, feeping creaturism, field circus, fritterware, joe code, luser, paper-net, scratch monkey, security through obscurity, and war dialer mean.
- Web-To-English Dictionary -- the original Webspeak list posted at The Asylum, which is no more. Only available at one other place on the Web, that I know of (after an exhaustive search). Presented here in the interest of preservation.
Various Peculiar Lexicons and Glossaries
- The Big Lebowski Lexicon.
- The College Slang Page.
- The Dictionary of Mountain Bike Slang.
- Gorton's Fish Glossary.
- transL8it's SMS LINGO dXNRE & gloSRE. Online glossary of SMS, text, chat, and online lingo.
- Taco Trucks: Hot food to go. Includes a Taco Truck Lexicon. Learn what mulita, sopita, and adobado mean.
- Motorcycle Club Glossary & Terminology. Glossary of terms used by dangerous motorcycle gangs, including the Hell's Angels, the Banditos, the Outlaws, the Pagans, and other "1%er" outlaw biker gangs. Learn what a citizen, a dresser, a garbage wagon, and to pull a train mean.
- RustedFables - Old West Slang. Glossary of terms and expressions used in the Old West (or in western movies). Find out what "barkin' at a knot," "California widow," "exodusters," and "lightin' a shuck" mean.
Other Resources
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Contributions, suggestions, corrections, and amendations are welcome: send them to Steve Callihan at
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since May 1, 1998.
A Seattle Lexicon
Copyright © 1998-2001 Steve Callihan
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