Book excerpt: "Western Lore and Language is the first dictionary to document the extraordinary range of words that are an integral part of the West, old and new. Focusing on words that either originated in the West (forty-niner, skookum, quaking aspen), are used mainly in the West (butte, skink, Spanish sword), or are associated with the West (mesa, rodeo, surfer), Thomas Clark has compiled an entertaining and essential reference of the Western word. This generously illustrated resource gives readers everything they need to talk western: a pinch of Border Spanish, (Tex-Mex, Tejana, Spanglish), some California Mellow, a generous portion of Old West, and a broad scoop of New West (from vineyard cultivation to Valley Girl vapidity). For more serious readers, the dictionary also offers complete lexicological entries for each word - part of speech, pronunciation, definition, source, etymology, dates, cross-references, and editorial comments."--BOOK JACKET.Title Summary field provided by Blackwell North America, Inc. All Rights Reserved