Within each section the words are listed chronologically, starting with the century's earliest words and progressing right through to the present, thus illuminating the development of slang and colloquial language over the last hundred years. Each entry contains the headword, part of speech, and definition, and most also have illustrative examples of the term in context, often drawn from writers such as John Updike, John Lennon, and Woody Allen. Many entries contain labels indicating the social group or discipline from which a word derives--such as theatrical, military, or nautical--as well as the place where it originated. In addition, when the term has had more than one meaning, the various senses are listed chronologically.