The 2010 edition of the "Encyclopedia of Contemporary Words" was recently put on sale by publisher?Jiyukokuminsha. The bulky paperback's English title doesn't really do justice to the Japanese name, which is "Gendai Yogo no Kiso Chishiki." Broken down by its individual components, it becomes 現代 (gendai, present era or current); 用語 (yōgo, words or terms in use), 基礎 (kiso, basic); and 知識 (chishiki, knowledge). A more idiomatically translated title would be "Fundamental Knowledge of Terms in Current Use."
This annual compendium, now in its 61st year, contains a whopping 1,734 pages of topics on just about everything under the sun, making it well worth the outlay of \3,000.
While the book incorporates the latest terms in business, science, technology, entertainment, sports and other fields — plus foreign-word adoptions and new acronyms — the part I always head for first is the section devoted to the latest teen slang.