Research Catalog

Title

The word detective : searching for the meaning of it all at the Oxford English Dictionary : a memoir / John Simpson.

Author

Simpson, J. A., 1953-

Publication

New York, NY : Basic Books, [2016]

Items in the Library & Off-site

Details

Description

xvi, 364 pages; 25 cm

Summary

"What do you call the part of a dog's back it can't scratch? Can you drink a glass of balderdash? And if, serendipitously, you find yourself in Serendip, then where exactly are you? The answers to all of these questions can be found in the Oxford English Dictionary, the definitive record of the English language. And there is no better guide to the dictionary's many wonderments, its quirks, and its quiddities than the former chief editor of the OED, John Simpson. John spent almost four decades of his life immersed in the intricacies of our language, and guides us through its history with charmingly laconic wit. In The Word Detective, an intensely personal memoir and a joyful celebration of English, he weaves a story of how words come into being (and sometimes disappear), how cultures shape the language we use, and how we cope when words fail us. Throughout, he enlivens his narrative with lively excavations and investigations of individual words-from deadline to online and back to 101 (yes, it's a word)-all the while reminding us that the seemingly mundane words (can you name the four different meanings of ma?) are often the most interesting ones. A brilliant expedition through the world of words, The Word Detective will delight, inspire, and educate any lover of language"--

Subject

• Simpson, J. A., 1953-
• Oxford English dictionary
• Lexicographers > Great Britain > Biography
• English language > Lexicography

Note

• Includes index.

Contents

Machine generated contents note: Introduction: The Background to the Case -- 1. Serendipity, Perhaps -- 2. Lexicography 101 -- 3. Marshallers of Words -- 4. The Longest Way Round -- 5. Uneasy Skanking -- 6. Shark-Infested Waters -- 7. Oed Redux -- 8. The Tunnel and the Vision -- 9. Gxddbov Xxkxzt Pg Ifmk -- 10. At the Top of the Crazy Tree -- 11. Shenanigans Online -- 12. Flavour of the Month -- 13. Becoming the Past.

Call Number

JFE 17-1447

ISBN

• 9780465060696
• 0465060692

LCCN

2016025594

OCLC

2016025594

Author

Simpson, J. A., 1953- author.

Title

The word detective : searching for the meaning of it all at the Oxford English Dictionary : a memoir / John Simpson.

Publisher

New York, NY : Basic Books, [2016]

Type of Content

text

Type of Medium

unmediated

Type of Carrier

volume

Other Form:

Online version: Simpson, J. A., 1953- Word detective New York, NY : Basic Books, [2016] 9780465096527 (DLC) 2016032211

Research Call Number

JFE 17-1447