Smith College Libraries Class Guides - ENG118: Politics of Language - Ethnic Slurs

Required Research - OED

Oxford English Dictionary
Call Number: ref PE 1625 .O87 1989
The Oxford English Dictionary is the standard source for looking up the historical development of English words. It is available both in print and in electronic formats.

In Depth Research: Finding Articles

Words and Phrases Index
Call Number: ref PE 1689 W3
(Use all four volumes)

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Background on Ethnic Groups

Search in the Five College Library Catalog. Select a SUBJECT BEGINS WITH search and try:

* german americans
* italian americans
* any other ethnic group with "americans" or "in the united states" tacked on the end.
* national characteristics french (or other ethnic group)

Or look in one of the reference sources listed below:

Gale Encyclopedia of Multicultural America
Call Number: ref E 184 .A1 G14 1995
Harvard Encyclopedia of American Ethnic Groups
Call Number: ref E 184 .A1 H35

Going Further - Using Dictionaries

Encyclopedia of Swearing: the social history of oaths, profanity, foul language, and ethnic slurs in the English-speaking world
Call Number: ref PE 3724 .O3 H84 2006
The Color of Words: An Encyclopedic Dictionary of Ethnic Bias
Call Number: ref E 184 .A1 H466 1997
Routledge dictionary of modern American slang and unconventional English
Call Number: ref PE 3721 .P3 2009
LinkStone the crows : Oxford dictionary of modern slang
Call Number: ref PE 3721 .O94 2008
Facts on File Encyclopedia of Word & Phrase Origins
Call Number: ref PE 1689 .H47 2008B
Dictionary of American Slang
Call Number: ref PE 2846 .C46 2007
McGraw-Hill Dictionary of American Slang and Colloquial Expressions
Call Number: ref PE 2846 .S639 2006
The New Partridge Dictionary of Slang and Uncoventional English
Call Number: ref PE 3721 .P325 2006
Cassell's Dictionary of Slang
Call Number: ref PE 3721 .G74 2005
War Slang: American fighting words and phrases since the Civil War
Call Number: ref PE 3727 .S7 D53 2004
Dictionary of Slang and Unconventional English
Call Number: ref PE 3721 .P3 2002
Oxford Dictionary of Slang
Call Number: ref PE 3721 .A973 1998
Dictionary of Contemporary Slang
Call Number: ref PE 3721 .T53 1997
Random House Historical Dictionary of American Slang
Call Number: ref PE 2846 .H57 1994
Thesaurus of Slang
Call Number: ref PE 3721 .L45 1994
Dictionary of Modern Slang
Call Number: ref PE 3721 .A97 1992
Words of the Vietnam War
Call Number: ref PE 3727 .S7 C57 1990