Early modern English – an overview
Fresh perspectives: Old English and new science Old English (or Anglo-Saxon) began to be studied during this period. Manuscripts were collected and Old English texts published. The first Old 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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The OED and its cousins
People quite often ask whether there are dictionaries like the OED for other languages. There certainly are. Dictionaries akin to the OED exist for several major world languages, and varieties…
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Varieties of English: World English and the OED
An important part of our work on the New Words side of the OED project is to increase our coverage of vocabulary from the major varieties of world English. We…
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J.R.R. Tolkien and the OED
Amid all the publicity surrounding this year’s release of the film of J. R. R. Tolkien’s The Fellowship of the Ring, it has occasionally been mentioned that Tolkien was an…
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Lex in the City: reflections on a year in the North American Editorial Unit
When I tell acquaintances that I live in New York City, cries of ‘How glamorous!’ unfailingly follow. My new friends seem to expect the life of a young woman living…
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OED Online for A level
I enjoyed a five-week work experience placement with the Oxford English Dictionary as part of my MA in Publishing Studies at City University, London. When I finished the placement and…
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Reading for the OED
As a reader of historical and scholarly texts for the Oxford English Dictionary, I am always alert to materials that promise to yield quotations or other information useful to the…
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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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Harmless drudgery: getting started at the OED
I joined the OED as an Assistant Editor in January 2006. This is how I got here, and what I’ve been doing since. I probably always knew, deep down, that…
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