A Dictionary of American Regional English. 6 vols.

Frederic G. Cassidy & Joan Houston Hall, eds.

A Dictionary of American Regional English. 6 vols.

Cambridge

Belknap Press

1985–2012

Although British regionalisms were documented beginning in the Victorian era, America had to wait until the late 20th century. Frederic G. Cassidy, a Jamaican-born linguist, sent 500 lexicographic allies armed with questionnaires and tape recorders to interview more than 4,000 Americans across the United States. The focus wasn’t on slang but everyday things like dragonflies, children’s games, sudden rainstorms, and noisy eaters. The resulting six-volume Dictionary of American Regional English, or DARE, was a triumph of 20th-century American lexicography. 

Ex coll. Karolyne & Bryan A. Garner. HHD no. 122