# Online etymological dictionary for English slang? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [January 24, 2009, 12:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/online-etymological-dictionary-for-english-slang/482783 "2009-01-24T12:19:32Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 6\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Capt.Ridley\_s\_Shooting\_Party](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/cc9497/32.png) [@Capt.Ridley\_s\_Shooting\_Party](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Capt.Ridley_s_Shooting_Party)\ **Post date:** [January 24, 2009, 12:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/online-etymological-dictionary-for-english-slang/482783/1 "2009-01-24T12:19:32Z")
Is there an online etymological dictionary for slang and regional words in English? ---
**Author:** ![An\_Gadai](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/d6d6ee/32.png) [@An\_Gadai](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/An_Gadai)\ **Post date:** [January 24, 2009, 2:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/online-etymological-dictionary-for-english-slang/482783/2 "2009-01-24T14:38:29Z")
Depending on the entry [http://www.urbandictionary.com](http://www.urbandictionary.com) includes etymologies but as the content is user generated it varies from informative to useless. ---
**Author:** ![Capt.Ridley\_s\_Shooting\_Party](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/cc9497/32.png) [@Capt.Ridley\_s\_Shooting\_Party](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Capt.Ridley_s_Shooting_Party)\ **Post date:** [January 25, 2009, 1:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/online-etymological-dictionary-for-english-slang/482783/3 "2009-01-25T01:31:30Z")
Cheers. I’m already aware of UrbanDictionary, but I’m after something more formal, like the OED for slang and regionalisms (for my purposes, it suffices to restrict the slang to that found in the UK). I doubt that something of the sort exists, but it may be possible to find something like it… ---
**Author:** ![samclem](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a9a28c/32.png) [@samclem](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/samclem)\ **Post date:** [January 25, 2009, 2:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/online-etymological-dictionary-for-english-slang/482783/4 "2009-01-25T02:18:07Z")
> [@Capt.Ridley\_s\_Shooting\_Party](#): > > Cheers. I’m already aware of UrbanDictionary, but I’m after something more formal, like the OED for slang and regionalisms (for my purposes, it suffices to restrict the slang to that found in the UK). I doubt that something of the sort exists, but it may be possible to find something like it… You’re really out of luck, both in the fact that a good slang dictionary only exists in print and the fact that you specifically would prefer UK. 🙂 You might write to [Michael Quinion](http://www.worldwidewords.org/index.htm) . He’s British, and writes a great site on etymology. ---
**Author:** ![Wendell\_Wagner](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/8491ac/32.png) [@Wendell\_Wagner](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wendell_Wagner)\ **Post date:** [January 25, 2009, 2:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/online-etymological-dictionary-for-english-slang/482783/5 "2009-01-25T02:52:28Z")
The OED is pretty good for slang and regionalisms, although it obviously can’t keep itself up to date very well. ---
**Author:** ![Exapno\_Mapcase](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/exapno_mapcase/32/1051_2.png) [@Exapno\_Mapcase](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Exapno_Mapcase)\ **Post date:** [January 25, 2009, 3:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/online-etymological-dictionary-for-english-slang/482783/6 "2009-01-25T03:23:29Z")
Well, the third edition of the OED is going to be online and constantly updatable. I don’t know how much they’re incorporating their findings into the current online version. It costs money so I don’t use it. The [Online Etymology Dictionary](http://www.etymonline.com/) draws from: > [@](#): > > Weekley’s “An Etymological Dictionary of Modern English,” Klein’s “A Comprehensive Etymological Dictionary of the English Language,” “Oxford English Dictionary” (second edition), “Barnhart Dictionary of Etymology,” Holthauzen’s “Etymologisches Wörterbuch der Englischen Sprache,” Ayto’s “20th Century Words,” and Chapman’s “Dictionary of American Slang.” It’s quirky, but a good place to start.