Oxford University Press's
Academic Insights for the Thinking World
Several months ago, John McGrath of Wordie interviewed me for this blog. He asked me about my favorite words that I had come across in reading the OED and I gave him a list of what they were at the time. But words can be capricious things, and the ones of which I am fondest are constantly changing.
The OED refers to two men; Pliny and Nicander—in its etymology for the word magnet. Pliny was a Roman who lived in the 1st century and wrote the ‘Natural History’. Nicander was a Greek, who lived 300 years earlier. It’s very useful in figuring out how past peoples thought of the world around them.
Anatoly celebrates a word pioneer.
An excerpt from Ammon Shea’s Reading The OED.
Peters explores the vocabulary used on the show Futurama.
The podictionary word of the week is “truffle”.
In celebration of the latest edition of The Concise Oxford English Dictionary, we reveal the origins of some everyday words and phrases.
Anatoly looks at apostrophes.
Ammon Shea ponders the word “bailout”.
A teenager I know was recently at a weekend party up at a lake. Two of the girls there had an altercation and one pushed the other off the wharf and into the water. This was reported to me in the following terms: “Suzie and Nancy really had beef.” This was a new one on me. Did they share a steak?
Anatoly answers questions.
Ammon Shea wonders what makes a dictionary “hardcore”.
The podictionary word of the week is “croissant.”
Anatoly finds the appropriate sustenance for spelling reformers.
At Book Expo America 2008 in LA, OUP held a raffle to win a free OED. Many enthusiastic attendees assured us they had sturdy a shelf that could hold the voluminous set. Let’s hope Angel Castellanos of Distant Lands, Traveler’s Bookstore & Outfitters in Pasadena, CA actually has a good sturdy bookshelf because he is […]
Ammon Shea looks at the word “make.”