Jonathon Green is an English lexicographer of slang and writer on the history of alternative cultures.

Early life and education

Of Jewish origin, Jonathon Green was educated at Bedford School (1961–1965) and Brasenose College, Oxford (1966–1969), where he read history.

Career

Green's published books have primarily focussed on sixties counterculture. After publishing All Dressed Up: The Sixties and the Counterculture (1998) he was taken to court for libel by both former Beatle George Harrison and artist Caroline Coon, and the book was withdrawn for 12 months. In June 2000, Coon received damages of £40,000, plus £33,000 costs, from publisher Random House, and received an official apology from Green for making false claims. The book was later republished with the libellous passages removed.

Authority on slang

The single-volume Chambers Slang Dictionary (Chambers Harrap) was first published in 1998; a second edition appeared in October 2008. Green's most substantial work in this field is Green's Dictionary of Slang: a three-volume slang work which traces, via examples and citations drawn from the last five centuries, the history of the slang vocabulary from the earliest use of every term. It was awarded the 2012 Dartmouth Medal, an annual award from the Reference and User Services Association recognising the most outstanding reference work of the year.

Accolades

Green has been described as the English-speaking world's leading lexicographer of slang, and has even been described as "the most acclaimed British lexicographer since Johnson".

Publications

Author

Contributor