Michael Adams teaches English language and literature at Indiana University. He is the author of Slayer Slang: A Buffy the Vampire Slayer Lexicon and editor of From Elvish to Klingon. In his new book, Slang: The People's Poetry , Adams illuminates the fundamental question "What is Slang?" and defends slang--and all forms of nonstandard English--as integral parts of the American language.