The last such dictionary
The last such dictionary

Summary/Abstract: The paper is a review of Słownik polskich leksemów potocznych (Dictionary of Polish colloquial vocabulary), conceived and edited by the late Professor Władysław Lubaś and executed by a team of which the professor was a member and leader. The review concentrates on lexicographic method, internal consistency and coverage of Polish colloquial lexicon. To this end the dictionary is placed in the context of other dictionaries of Polish published since mid 20th century including specialized dictionaries which focused on colloquial language and other related varieties, such as e.g., slang, sexual and vulgar vocabulary, feminitiva. The main point of criticism is that the dictionary is too traditional, having drawn its headwords almost exclusively from written sources – fiction and non-fiction – or from other dictionaries, noticeably frequently taking over material from them verbatim. On the other hand, only lip service is paid to authentic conversational behavior. Other than that the work is truly impressive and great fun to thumb through. Significantly, and unsurprisingly, the dictionary is the most extensive treatment of colloquial vocabulary by far, but also compares very favourably with e.g., Polish phraseological dictionaries.

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