Allen Walker Read

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Allen Walker Read (1906 - October 16, 2002) was an American etymologist, best known for his studies into the words "okay" and "fuck".

His first work, Lexical Evidence from Folk Epigraphy in Western North America: A Glossarial Study of the Low Element in the English Vocabulary, was privately published in Paris in 1935 since its material was considered too racy for American presses; it included bathroom graffiti such as:

When you want to shit in ease

Place your elbows on your knees

Put your hands against your chin

Let a fart and then begin

It was eventually published in the United States in 1977, under the title Classic American Graffiti.

External links

[An essay] on goodbyemag.com.
[An obituary] on Economist.com.

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