The City in Slang: New York Life and Popular Speech

New Yorkers hail a ``cab'' because of the one-horse, two-wheeled European carriage called a cabriolet. The ``flappers'' of the 1920s were named after fledgling ducks, and the original ``skyscrapers'' were mere 16-story buildings. University of Connecticut sociology professor Allen has researched the origin of slang words commonly used today and in the past, and has produced an unusual and interesting cultural history of urban life. By dividing his study into such categories as ``The Sporting Life,'' ``Tall Buildings'' and ``The Social Meaning of City Streets,'' he draws connections between a diverse, rapidly changing metropolis and the language that its citizens have used to explain themselves to each other and to the outside world. A readable study of interest to urban and cultural historians and linguists as well as a general audience. Illustrations not seen by PW. (Jan.)