Words from the 1920s
In the decade following the war to end war (a coinage first recorded in 1914) there was frivolity in the air, but also a residue of tension, of anxiety, that…
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Philippine English in the October 2018 update
In its latest update, the Oxford English Dictionary published several new words from Philippine English. These new additions are notable for having been brought to the dictionary’s attention by Filipino…
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Baking the OED: Kate Young’s ‘formerly’ and ‘subsequently’ cheesecakes
Cheesecake, n. 1.Formerly: †a tart or pie containing a mixture originally including cheese, later usually curds or cream, eggs, sugar, butter, and various flavourings (obsolete). Subsequently: a dessert or sweet…
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New words notes for October 2018
The latest update of the OED adds more than 1400 new words, senses, and phrases, including the selection of items described in greater detail below. The full list of entries…
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A look under the bonnet in the October 2018 update
It’s a routine feature of words in the English language that over time they begin to demonstrate a number of figurative or extended uses of the original meaning, which then…
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Raking through dunghill and rehabilitating the dunghill duck: October 2018 update
When revising the text of OED for its third edition, it is hard as an editor not to be amazed by the achievements of one’s predecessors. In compiling the first…
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OED 3: The Revisioning (October 2018)
The phrase ‘the language of cinema’ is typically used when referring to visual literacy: the means by which we ‘read’ the way a film was shot and edited, with camera…
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Oxford lexicographers of the 1950s: Raymond Goffin, Jennifer Dawson, and Joyce Hawkins
The 1950s saw the resumption of English-language lexicography at Oxford University Press after a hiatus of two decades. Senior figures at OUP came to the conclusion that it was time…
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