Paul Dickson
Paul Dickson is the author of more than 45 nonfiction books and hundreds of magazine articles. Although he has written on a variety of subjects from ice cream to kite flying to electronic warfare, he now concentrates on writing about the American language, baseball and 20th century history. Dickson, born in Yonkers, NY, graduated from Wesleyan University in 1961 and was honored as a Distinguished Alumnae of that institution in 2001. After graduation, he served in the U.S. Navy and later worked as a reporter for McGraw-Hill Publications. Since 1968, he has been a full-time freelance writer contributing articles to various magazines and newspapers, including Smithsonian, Esquire, The Nation, Town & Country, The New York Times, The Los Angeles Times, and The Washington Post and writing numerous books on a wide range of subjects. He received a University Fellowship for reporters from the American Political Science Association to do his first book, Think Tanks (1971). For his book, The Electronic Battlefield (1976), about the impact automatic weapons systems have had on modern warfare, he received a grant from the Fund for Investigative Journalism to support his efforts to get certain Pentagon files declassified. His book The Bonus Army: An American Epic, written with Thomas B. Allen, was published by Walker and Co. on February 1, 2005. It tells the dramatic but largely forgotten story of the approximately 45,000 World War I veterans who marched on Washington in the summer of 1932, at the height of the Great Depression, to demand early payment of a bonus promised them for their wartime service and of how that march eventually changed the course of American history and led to passage of the GI Bill—the lasting legacy of the Bonus Army. A documentary based on the book aired on PBS stations in May 2006 and an option for a feature film based on the book has been sold. Dickson's most recent baseball book, The Hidden Language of Baseball: How Signs and Sign Stealing Have Influenced the Course of our National Pastime, also by Walker and Co, was first published in May, 2003 and came out in paperback in June, 2005. It follows other works of baseball reference including The Joy of Keeping Score, Baseballs Greatest Quotations, Baseball the Presidents Game and The New Dickson Baseball Dictionary, now in it's second edition. A third edition is currently in the works. The original Dickson Baseball Dictionary was awarded the 1989 Macmillan-SABR Award for Baseball Research. Sputnik: The Shock of the Century, another Walker book, came out in October, 2001 and was subsequently issued in paperback by Berkeley Books. Like his first book, Think Tanks (1971), and his latest, Sputnik, was born of his first love: investigative journalism. Dickson is working on a feature documentary about Sputnik with acclaimed documentarians David Hoffmanand Kirk Wolfinger. Two of his older language books, Slang and Label For Locals came out in the fall of 2006 in new and expanded versions. Dickson is a founding member and former president of Washington Independent Writers and a member of the National Press Club. He is a contributing editor at Washingtonian magazine and a consulting editor at Merriam-Webster, Inc. and is represented by Premier Speakers Bureau, Inc. and the Jonathan Dolger Literary agency. He currently lives in Garrett Park, Maryland with his wife Nancy who works with him as his first line editor, and financial manager.
30 Books Written
Dickson's Word Treasury: A Connoisseur's Collection of Old and New, Weird and Wonderful, Useful and Outlandish Words
by Paul Dickson
Rating: 4.5 ⭐
Will appeal to anyone who enjoys language or who wants to learn new and interesting words. Includes 58 collections of words, from Acronyms to Written Words. There is a wealth of new material, including brand new sections on ``animalisms'' (e.g., ``bullpen,'' ``catnap,'' ``as the crow flies,'' and more); words stemming from family folklore; a glossary for decoding journalese; colorful and intriguin
War Slang: American Fighting Words & Phrases from the Civil War to the Gulf War
by Paul Dickson
Rating: 4.4 ⭐
Dickson -- the country's foremost authority on American slang & author of the critically acclaimed Slang! -- offers the first comprehensive collection of fighting words & phrases used by Americans at war. Arranged war by war, this definitive dictionary reveals military slang at its most colorful, innovative, brutal, & ironic -- & shows how language mirrors the unique experience of
Toasts: Over 1,500 Of the Best Toasts, Sentiments, Blessings, and Graces
by Paul Dickson
Rating: 3.6 ⭐
For anyone who will ever face a sea of expectantly raised glasses, or anyone who is fascinated by words and word-play, this rich compendium of toasts for every occasion will prove as entertaining as it is useful.The best toasts ever proclaimed (and a few of the worst), funny and sentimental toasts, cynical and heartfelt toasts, old-fashioned and contemporary toasts, justly famous and u
Baseball is set apart from other sports by many things, but few are more distinctive than the intricate systems of coded language that govern action on the field and give baseball its unique appeal. During a nine-inning game, more than 1,000 silent instructions are given-from catcher to pitcher, coach to batter, fielder to fielder, umpire to umpire-and without this speechless communication the gam
Unlike most slang dictionaries that list entries alphabetically, Slang takes on modern American English one topic at a time, from "auctionese" to "computerese", the drug trade and sports slang. Slang was originally published by Pocket Books in 1990 in paperback (ISBN 0671672517, out of print) and revised in 1998 in hardcover and paperback (ISBN 0671549200 and 0671549197; hc out of print soon after
Book by Dickson, Paul
Introduces unusual names for people, animals, apples, businesses, places, vehicles, and other items, as well as name anagrams, fashionable names, and other remarkable names
On October 4, 1957 as Leave It to Beaver premiered on American television, the Soviet Union launched the first man-made object into space, an 84-kilogram satellite carrying only a radio transmitter. While Sputnik immediately shocked the world, its long-term impact was even greater, for it profoundly changed the shape of the twentieth Century.Washington journalist Paul Dickson ch
In the summer of 1932, at the height of the Depression, some forty-five thousand World War I veterans-whites and blacks together-descended on Washington D.C., from all over the country to demand the bonus promised them eight years earlier for their wartime service. Fearing violence after the Senate defeated the "bonus bill," Herbert Hoover's Army Chief of Staff, Douglas MacArthur, led tanks throug
A comprehensive and immensely entertaining baseball reference with fascinating quotes and lore that will delight millions of the game's fans.
An up-to-date collection of popular beliefs current in today's America reveals--and provides backgrounds for--what Americans believe about themselves, each other, their country, and the world
You may think that you know what you know, but at least some of what you know is not what you think. This rich, myth-shattering compilation debunks thousands of such myth-taken "facts." Organized by category into more than forty chapters, it is a veritable Baedeker to indelible beliefs that just ain't so.
With more than 225 photographs and thousands of pieces of baseball trivia, this renowned, comprehensive reference to the sport has been updated to include revised definitions of terms, as well as a thesaurus and a thorough bibliography. Simultaneous. 20,000 first printing.
A compendium of more than three thousand practical and outlandish words includes food terminology, ancient and obscure words, unusual dialects, and media and technical jargon
The Joy of Keeping Score: How Scoring the Game Has Influenced and Enhanced the History of Baseball
by Paul Dickson
Rating: 3.9 ⭐
In this unique book, Paul Dickson celebrates one of the most unusual traditions in all of sports--the baseball scorecard. Within the history of the scorecard are some of baseball's greatest moments. From the first scorecard introduced in 1845, to the scoring system devised by direct-marketing genius L. L. Bean; from presidential scoring habits to batting titles decided by official scorers, to Phil
Providing a vast collection of words developed in households across the country and through the decades, this creative reference book defines crafty words created within specific families. These words carry significant meaning within the originating family unit but are meaningless to those outside. For example, a "gluebottom" is the name for the guest who would not leave and "ootocks" became the e
Paul Dickson has created a light,affectionate,detailed,and informative book on ice cream-its history,its on going renaissance, its subtleties,its essence.
The Unwritten Rules of Baseball: The Etiquette, Conventional Wisdom, and Axiomatic Codes of Our National Pastime
by Paul Dickson
Rating: 3.7 ⭐
From beanballs to basebrawls, the most important rules governing the game of baseball have never been officially written down—until now. They have no sanction from the Commissioner, appear nowhere in any official publication, and are generally not posted on any clubhouse wall. They represent a set of time-honored customs, rituals, and good manners that show a respect for the game, one's teammates,
The all new, annotated, illustrated and even more definitive collection of laws, principles and instructions for getting along in the real world.
Here it from a Guinness World Records holder, the most English synonyms ever recorded for a single word—“drunk.”Wise-guy lexicographer Paul Dickson, a consulting editor at Merriam-Webster , has long held the record for collecting the "Most Synonyms" for any term in the English language. He made the Guinness Book of World Records with 2,231 terms meaning "drunk"–beating out no less than
The definitive work on the language of baseball―one of the “Five Best Baseball Books” ( Wall Street Journal ). Hailed as “a staggering piece of scholarship” ( Wall Street Journal ) and “an indispensable guide to the language of baseball” ( San Diego Union-Tribune ), The Dickson Baseball Dictionary has become an invaluable resource for those who love the game. Drawing on dozens of nineteenth- and e
A masterful biography of one of most influential, sharp-witted, and often zany figures in baseball history, whose drive and imagination helped transform the game and the country. As owner of the minor league Milwaukee Brewers, and then the Cleveland Indians, the St. Louis Browns, and the Chicago White Sox-twice-Veeck truly changed the face of baseball.Praise for Bill Veeck: <br
A smart, hilarious, and lavishly illustrated guide to the most euphemised word in the English DrunkA record-breaking assemblage of 2,964 different ways to say "drunk." Tipsy, roasted, three sheets, whazooed and Boris Yeltsinned are just the beginning....With an introduction by the wise-guy lexicographer himself, Paul Dickson, and illustrations by renowned artist Brian Rea.D
Words from the White House: Words and Phrases Coined or Popularized by America's Presidents
by Paul Dickson
Rating: 3.3 ⭐
The founding fathers (a term created by Warren G. Harding for his "front porch campaign" of 1920) felt that coining words and creating new uses for old ones was part of their role in creating a new American culture and language, distinct from the proscriptive King's English. Noah Webster called the creation of such Americanisms "acts of defiance," along with such radical ideas as universal literac
William Shakespeare's written vocabulary consisted of 17,245 words, including hundreds that were coined or popularized by him. Some of the words never went further than their appearance in his plays, but others-like bedazzled , hurry , critical, and anchovy -are essential parts of our standard vocabulary today.Many other famous and lesser-known writers have contributed to the popular l
The perfect pocket guide for anyone who ever needs to give a toast.Paul Dickson's Rising to the Occasion is the ideal pocket reference for any moment when one might need to raise a glass. Organized by category, it contains sayings famous and profound, suitable and sentimental, created by the likes of Groucho Marx, Mark Twain, and Willard Scott alongside equally engaging anonymous toasts. Co
Americans weren’t supposed to drink during Prohibition—but that’s exactly when “cocktail culture” came roaring to life. The Bloody Mary, sleek cocktail shakers, craft mixology, and hundreds of other essentials of modern drinking owe their origins to the Dry Years. In Contraband Cocktails, Paul Dickson leads us on a fascinating tour of those years—from the “Man in the Green Hat” making secret del
Leo Durocher (1905–1991) was baseball’s all-time leading cocky, flamboyant, and galvanizing character, casting a shadow across several eras, from the time of Babe Ruth to the Space Age Astrodome, from Prohibition through the Vietnam War. For more than forty years, he was at the forefront of the game, with a Zelig-like ability to be present as a player or manager for some of the greatest teams and
The Rise of the G.I. Army, 1940-1941: The Forgotten Story of How America Forged a Powerful Army Before Pearl Harbor
by Paul Dickson
Rating: 4.2 ⭐
In September 1939, when Nazi Germany invaded Poland and initiated World War II, a strong strain of isolationism existed in Congress and across the country. The U.S. Army stood at fewer than 200,000 men―unprepared to defend the country, much less carry the fight to Europe and the Far East. And yet, less than a year after Pearl Harbor, the American army led the Allied invasion of North Africa, begin