Slang and Its Analogues Past and Present: Stra to Z

Slang and Its Analogues Past and Present, completed with the final volume covering 'Stra to Z', was an ambitious lexicographical project undertaken by John Stephen Farmer and William Ernest Henley in the late nineteenth century. The work was conceived as a monumental attempt to catalog English slang, cant, and colloquialisms that had been largely excluded from standard dictionaries of the era. The project was driven by a desire to provide a comprehensive, scholarly examination of the linguistic underbelly of the English language, reflecting the Victorian era’s growing, albeit cautious, fascination with sociolinguistics and the vernacular of the streets.

The design and execution of the work were heavily influenced by the rigorous, often provocative methodology of its creators, who sought to capture the nuance of marginalized speech through historical citation. Farmer and Henley faced significant social and professional hurdles, as the explicit nature of the slang they documented often offended contemporary sensibilities. Despite the controversy surrounding the inclusion of vulgarities, the set was eventually recognized as a seminal reference work for its unprecedented depth and its commitment to preserving the ephemeral history of the English-speaking world's informal lexicon.