30 Excellent Terms From a 17th Century Slang Dictionary
In 1699 , an anonymouslexicographerknown only as “ B. E. , Gent . ” published the first comprehensive dictionary of non - stock English . Although shorter word lists and glossary of slang terminology had been published antecedently , A New Dictionary of the Canting Crewlisted over 4000 words and phrases , and is credited with being the first such publication resembling a innovative lexicon . As a result , it remained the received character reference work for English slang and jargon for almost another century ....