Here's a NYT article on Daniel Cassidy's work on American slang, much of which he traces to Gaelic words brought here by Irish immigrants. Also, here are a couple of articles on slang from Mr Cassidy in Counterpunch. He's the director of the Irish Studies program at the New College of California in San Francisco.
And here's a critique of Cassidy's work from lexicographer Grant Barrett.
UPDATE: Cassidy has taken a lot of heat in the lexicography blogosphere for his phonetic matching; here's a similar approach to video subtitling, courtesy of the matchless Buffalax.
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