Wordorigins.org

Historical Dictionary of American Slang; J.E. Lighter, editor; Random House; Volume 1: A-G, 1994, and Volume 2: H-O, 1997. An invaluable source for non-standard, American words and phrases. A historical dictionary, the HDAS provides comprehensive citations of usage that outline each term’s history. It is a superb supplement to the OED, correcting two innate biases in the first two editions of that dictionary, giving short shrift to American usage and to slang terms.

The first two volumes were published by Random House. When that publisher folded its dictionary division, the project was continued under the auspices of Oxford University Press. Future volumes are eagerly anticipated, but no dates for publication have been announced.