Dictionary of American Regional English, Volume II, D-H

Editor-in-chief Frederic G. Cassidy

Edited by Joan Houston Hall

    Because these volumes are the most complete lexical records we have of the American experience, much of the history and contemporary condition of American society can be found in their pages...We are very fortunate to have DARE; it is not a dictionary; it is a national treasure.
       --Edward Callary, Language in Society

    The long-awaited, definitive and fascinating Dictionary of American Regional English [DARE]...is all we had hoped for and more. It includes the regional and folk language, past and present, of the old and the young, men and women, white and black, the rural and the urban, from all walks of life. Although DARE will be one of the most scholarly, comprehensive and detailed dictionaries ever completed...it will also be one of the easiest and most enjoyable to use or browse in...This is an exciting, lasting work of useful scholarship accomplished with excellence, a work that scholars and laypeople alike will study, use and enjoy for generations.
       --Stuart B. Flexner, New York Times Book Review

    Proof that tourism, television and technological change haven't rounded off all the gaudy and gracious edges of the way we talk.
       --L. A. Jolidon, USA Today

    A staggering work of collective scholarship...DARE is not only a reference treasure for the scholar and the general word lover, it's a lode for raiding parties by specialists of all kinds...Most of all, DARE is evidence that American speech will never become stale and fusty, that the great linguistic homogenization of television is a myth.
       --Henry Kisor, Chicago Sun Times

    In its scope and thoroughness, Cassidy's dictionary is unmatched as a kind of refuge for colloquialisms threatened with extinction ...Writers, etymologists and other devotees of verbal arcana have never been given a richer browsing ground.
       --Ezra Bowen, Time

    DARE is a monumental and impressive work...For those studying American English or linguistics, this is a work that will be consulted again and again.
       --Daniel F. Phelan, Language and Linguistics

    For the first time, in the nation of homogenized milk and golfheaded pifflespeakers, we have a definitive picture of who says what where when the TV is off. This picture, literally dotted out on helpful maps, provides a raucous hymn to linguistic diversity. Even more important, it serves as a sort of verbal game preserve where all manner of endangered species-from big hats to blind tigersmay linger a while longer.
       --Boston Globe

    The most exciting linguistic project going on in the United States.
       --William Safire, New York Times

    To open its pages is to thrill at the exploration of the New World and to trace the course of American history through its language...Its editors, led by Professor Frederic G. Cassidy, have caught the native poetry of America on every page.
       --Fred Strebeigh, Smithsonian

  • Cover: Dictionary of American Regional English, Volume II, D-H
  • A photo of the author

Frederic G. Cassidy was Professor of English at the University of Wisconsin, Madison.

Joan Houston Hall is Senior Scientist at the University of Wisconsin, Madison. She joined the DARE staff in 1975, became Associate Editor in 1979, and was named Chief Editor in 2000.