This differs from Dictionaries of Slang in that the words selected are part of the American heritage, the folklore, the regionalisms, provinciation, colloquialisms that comprise ""dialect"". There are 15,000 entries, examined from various angles, -- what they mean, how their meanings vary in different locales, where they are used, how pronunciations vary, how grammatical usage varies, and illustrated by quotation from spoken or written sources. The author is a well-known lexicographer and philologist, and has lived and studied the subject in all of the regions from which the three main dialect classifications stem. This should prove a valuable reference item.