Showing 51-59 of 59 entries
“The language of...”
Place names in the Oxford English Dictionary
Problems with place As any Scrabble player knows, dictionaries of English tend not to include entries for names—of people, organizations, or places. For the lexicographer names in general, and place…
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Genes and genetics: the language of scientific discovery
It is sometimes the case that a scientific field experiences such dramatic progress that the rate at which new discoveries are made outpaces the language needed to describe them. How…
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A hat, a hypnotist, and one (partially) bad egg
The Du Maurier family had several illustrious members. Daphne Du Maurier (1907-1989) is now probably the best-known, a prolific novelist whose writing inspired such films as Rebecca, Don’t Look Now,…
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‘Fly in the ointment’? Assessing the influence of the King James Bible (1611)
Please note: several of the following links to dictionary content require subscriber access to the OED Online. What is the influence of the King James Bible (1611) on the English…
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‘Ware man-traps: rethinking an OED entry
When revising an OED entry, one often ends up thinking about the meaning not only of the word in question but also of the entry itself—what, in other words, was…
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Tracking down tofu: library research in the US
Washington, DC, is rich in libraries. The Oxford English Dictionary employs two full-time library researchers on staff and one part-time freelancer there, assigned to the Library of Congress, the Folger…
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Balderdash and Piffle
It was several years ago that Takeaway Media approached the OED with the idea of making a series about words for BBC2. Word programmes are notoriously tricky to make for…
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Material world: the language of textiles
The English language is rich in words for fabrics and textiles imported from various regions of the world. From the seventeenth to the nineteenth centuries in particular an enormous number…
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P.G. Wodehouse in the OED
Pelham Grenville Wodehouse, born in 1881, came of age at the dawn of mass culture. He was an Englishman of that generation, shaped by the Education Act of 1870, for…
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