Dictionary of Americanisms: A Glossary of Words and Phrases, Usually Regarded as Peculiar to the United States Tapa dura - 2002

A native of Providence, Rhode Island, JOHN RUSSELL BARTLETT (1805--1886) was a bookseller, politician, ethnographer, draftsman, and linguist. He helped found the American Ethnological Society and was part of a government team that surveyed America's new Southwestern borders after the Mexican War. Between 1848 and 1877, he published four editions of the Dictionary of Americanisms.
RICHARD LEDERER (Foreword) is the author of more than 3,000 books and articles about language and humor, including his bestselling Anguished English series. Dr. Lederer's syndicated column, "Looking at Language," appears in news-papers and magazines throughout the United States. He hosts a weekly show, A Way With Words, on San Diego Public Radio. He has been elected International Punster of the Year; has been profiled in magazines as diverse as the New Yorker, People, and the National Enquirer; and is the language columnist for the Toastmaster, Pages, and the old Farmer's Almanac.