Showing 1-10 of 46 entries
“People and the OED”
A look back on our 90th anniversary celebrations
With the ink freshly dried on the final pages of the first edition of the Oxford English Dictionary, an extraordinary mission begun over 60 years prior to compile a comprehensive…
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In conversation with Desmond Morris – part one
The Oxford English Dictionary is not the only one with a 90th birthday to celebrate this past year – Desmond Morris, the renowned zoologist and author of The Naked Ape,…
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In conversation with Desmond Morris – part two
The Oxford English Dictionary is not the only one with a 90th birthday to celebrate this past year – Desmond Morris, the renowned zoologist and author of The Naked Ape,…
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What do ‘dungarees’ mean to you? Crowdsourcing an answer from Twitter
In revising one entry for a recent update, one of our editors decided to put Twitter to a different lexicographical use
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The art of reading for the OED: John Birchall
In ‘the art of reading for the OED’, John Birchall explains what makes a good reader and how seventeenth-century prose introduced him to new perspectives.
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Dope and sex and rock ‘n’ roll: slang lexicography with Jonathon Green (part two)
In celebration of the 90th anniversary of the OED’s completed First Edition, slang specialist and lexicographer Jonathon Green sat down with Henry Hitchings, a Consultant Editor for the OED, to…
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Dope and sex and rock ‘n’ roll: slang lexicography with Jonathon Green (part one)
‘My feeling is that I don’t subscribe to a specific definition, rather the sense that slang has a pervasive state of mind. I would suggest that there is an underlying strain that goes through the entire slang lexis, which is sedition.’
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The art of reading for the OED: Colin Bagnall
Over the ‘art of reading for the OED‘ blog series, readers Ruth Mateer, Joy Winnington, John Healey, Vivienne Painting, and Chuck Deodene have shared insights into the various delights of…
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An ode to the OED
‘I carted the 20 volumes home with such elation that I stopped at the fishmonger’s to buy some turbot for a celebratory dinner.’ Assistant editor of the Daily Telegraph Christopher Howse on the OED:
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An antedating for gay, and other treasures from the Burgess Papers
OED Associate Editor, Peter Gilliver, discusses some of the recent research involved in updating the entry for ‘gay’.
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