For the 411 on American slang, this guidebook is the top banana

From head trip to foot in mouth, American Slang Dictionary gives you the complete definitions of thousands of uniquely American words and phrases, ranging from golden oldies such as catch some rays and take the fifth to more up-to-the-minute coinages like Wall Street’s jonx, the Internet’s ping, and the gangsta’s favorite, shizzle.

Inside you’ll find more than 12,000 words and expressions from a wide variety of sources, including gangsta rap, the blogosphere, and the U.S. prison system. In a New York minute, you’ll be down with the colloquialisms, vulgarities, and substandard English that make everyday interactions in contemporary American life so colorful.

BSOD or blue screen of death the blue computer screen that appears after a programming or operational error crunk wild; crazy; out of control kvetch to complain left-handed monkey wrench a nonexistent tool word of mouse a message spread by e-mail