The OED is 80: Ammon Shea Reports on Bicycles and Bars
Ammon Shea reflects on his trip to Oxford.
The OED is 80: Postcards from Oxford
Like most postcards, this post comes many days after I have returned from Oxford and the 80th anniversary celebration of the OED. My last post left off on Monday after our lunch at the Eagle and Child Pub where Simon Winchester and Ammon Shea joined us for fish and chips and pints of English beer.
The OED is 80: An Interactive Crossword Puzzle
An interactive crossword puzzle to celebrate the OED’s 80th birthday.
The OED is 80: The OED at the Bodleian Library
‘The Oxford English Dictionary: Past, Present, and Future’ at the Bodleian Library, Oxford.
The OED is 80: The OED and the Historical Thesaurus
Exciting news about the Historical Thesaurus of English, coming in late 2009.
The OED is 80: New Words and the Case of the Weapons of Mass Destruction
Among the many interesting talks from senior editors of the OED, this morning we had Fiona McPherson telling us about how a new word is added, and the processes they go through to do it. Fiona and her team collect suggestions for words (or “lexical items”) to be added in a variety of ways.
The OED is 80: Sarah’s Dispatches
Part One
Sarah Russo’s first entry about her trip to Oxford to celebrate the OED’s 80th birthday.
The OED is 80: Some fascinating facts
Some fascinating facts about the Oxford English Dictionary
Britain, Ireland, and their Union: 1800-1921
Historians of both Britain and Ireland have too often adopted a blinkered approach in which their countries have been envisaged as somehow divorced from the continent in which they are geographically placed. If America and the Empire get an occasional mention, Europe as a whole has largely been ignored. Of course the British-Irish relationship had (and has) its peculiarities.
Dublin on Bloomsday: James Joyce and the OED
The sixteenth of June is the day on which James Joyce fans traditionally email each other their Bloomsday greetings. And nowadays it has become the focus for a global celebration of Joyce’s work, marked by readings and performances, and many other acts of Joycean homage.
A definition of ‘hobbit’ for the OED
In a hole in the ground there lived a hobbit… What’s a hobbit and how did J.R.R. Tolkien come by this word? Was it invented, adapted, or stolen? To celebrate the release of The Hobbit film and renewed interest in J.R.R Tolkien’s work, we’ve excerpted this passage from The Ring of Words: Tolkien and the Oxford English Dictionary by Peter Gilliver, Jeremy Marshall, and Edmund Weiner.
The OED needs you! Announcing the new OED Appeals
Today the Oxford English Dictionary announces the launch of OED Appeals, a dedicated community space on the OED website where OED editors solicit help in unearthing new information about the history and usage of English. The website will enable the public to post evidence in direct response to editors, fostering a collective effort to record the English language and find the true roots of our vocabulary.
Criticizing the OED
By Anatoly Liberman
The literature on the history of the Oxford English Dictionary is extensive, but I am not sure that there is a book-length study of the reception of this great dictionary. When in 1884 the OED’s first fascicle reached the public, it was met with near universal admiration. I am aware of only two critics who went on record with their opinion that the venture was doomed to failure because it would take forever to complete, because all the words can not and should not be included in a dictionary, and because the slips at Murray’s disposal must contain numerous misspellings and mistakes.
Reading the OED: A Crossword Puzzle
Answers
The answers to the Reading the OED crossword puzzle.
Reading the OED: A Crossword Puzzle
A crossword puzzle based on Reading the OED.
The Oxford English Dictionary is 80!
Sarah Russo twitters the OED’s birthday celebrations.