Allan Metcalf is author of six previous books on language, most recently OK: The Improbable Story of America's Greatest Word (Oxford University Press, 2010). He posts weekly to the Lingua Franca blog of the Chronicle of Higher Education, and, as executive secretary of the American Dialect Society, invented that group's annual vote on Word of the Year. He is Professor of English at MacMurray College and consultant to attorneys on matters of language and law.

"Flappers, teenagers, hippies, yuppies, slackers, and hipsters - members of every generation will find these word stories fascinating and telling." --Erin McKean, Founder, Wordnik.com

"America is obsessed with generations: The Greatest Generation, Generations X and Y, the Pepsi Generation - every twenty years or so, a new generation of Americans adopts a new worldview and, Allan Metcalf argues, a new vocabulary to go along with it. Some of those distinctive words have fractured American experience (scalawag, 23 skidoo, bobbysoxer, YOLO); others (OK, hot dog, dude, trick or treat) have stitched generations, like so many stars and stripes, into an American heritage. Too often, different generations just don't understand one another, but, with Metcalf's help, we can try to dig what we all say." --Michael Adams, author of Slang: The People's Poetry

"Injecting humorous analogies and examples throughout, Allan Metcalf has compiled a fascinating look at the language of certain periods on the U.S. timeline. Readers will see the birth, evolution and, to some degree, the diminishment of terms. From Skedaddle to Selfie is sure to be a hit with any word lover." --Shelf Awareness