My people get cooler and cooler

Despite centuries of brutal British colonial rule, we've mangaged to save civilization, get lucky all the time,and apparently we also invented slang! Who knew?

Daniel Cassidy has a new book out called How the Irish Invented Slang: The Secret Language of the Crossroads. I haven't read it yet, but I can't wait to. Here's how it's described:
"In a series of lively essays, this pioneering book proves that US slang has its strongest wellsprings in nineteenth-century Irish America. "Jazz" and "poker," "sucker" and "scam" all derive from Irish. While demonstrating this, Daniel Cassidy simultaneously traces the hidden history of how Ireland fashioned America, not just linguistically, but through the Irish gambling underworld, urban street gangs, and the powerful political machines that grew out of them. Cassidy uncovers a secret national heritage, long discounted by our WASP-dominated culture."

Are you feeling inferior about your culture yet? Cause ya should be.