Lexicography
Spelling it out: the volunteers who made the dictionary
From an employee of a tram company in Birkenhead to the deeply eccentric Alexander Ellis, a celebration of the army of unpaid contributors to the first edition of the OED
Spotting the mountweazels: The Liar’s Dictionary, by Eley Williams, reviewed
There is a particular sub-genre of books which are witty and erudite, comic and serious and often of a bibliophilic…
Why must every ‘accident’ be an ‘incident’?
I had thought that the saying ‘Accidents will happen in the best regulated families’ was a vulgar reference to children…
Should ‘suicide’ mean pig-killing?
There was a marvellous man in Shakespeare’s day known as John Smyth the Sebaptist. ‘In an act so deeply shocking…
What other job lets you swear in front of your parents?
There aren’t many jobs that allow a nice middle-class Jewish boy to say ‘fuck’ in front of his parents. But…
What’s in a Surname, by David McKie - review
In South Korea, some 20 million people share just five surnames. Every one of Denmark’s top 20 surnames ends in…
After ‘literally’, is it time to start a Neighbourhood Watch for the OED?
There was outrage last week when it was found that the Oxford English Dictionary had listed one sense of literally…
