by John Simpson
Proffitt, Michael, 330
project, 78–79
pronunciation
of balcony, 249, 250
of niche, 249–250
of vowels, 263
of zero, 25
pronunciation system, 135–136
proofreading
computerised OED, 153, 174
galley proofs, 89
proper names, 118
proverbs, 79–81
Oxford Dictionary of English Proverbs, 79, 81, 82–86
Prucher, Jeff, 327, 344
public
perception of OED, 72–74
questions about language, 257–258
publicity, for Second Edition of the OED, 179–184
Pudding Book (Byron), 43
punk, as source of new works, 69
Purchas, Samuel, 156
Pylgrimage of Perfection (Bonde), 162
quadraphonic, 40
quay, 40
quean, 48
queen, updating entry for, 39–43, 46–48, 50–52, 63
Queen City of the West, 50
queen excluder, 47
queen of puddings, 43
Queen of the Gypsies, 50
queen-pin, 50
queen’s head, 50
Queen’s Scout, 50–51
queen staysail, 47
queen substance, 50
queen’s ware, 51
Questions of English (Marshall & McDonald), 257, 343
quick, 41
quiet, 36
quisling, 57
Quisling, Vidkun, 57
quotation cabinets, 74, 197
Rabbit Redux (Updike), 149
racism, 65
radiancy, 279
rags, 57
Ramson, Bill, 90, 91, 92, 93–94
Rand McNally, 176
rannygazoo, 56–57
Rastafarianism, 56, 69
“reader,” 35
reading
for dictionary vs. for pleasure, 34–36
sources to document word usage, 37, 44–45, 52–53, 99, 125, 219, 280, 282
See also OED readers
Reading the OED (Shea), 264, 346
Reaganomics, 70
recruiting lexicographers, 239–256
aptitude test, 244–245, 248–249, 251–253, 255–256
letters of application, 246–248
Red Bank oyster, 280
redux, 149
referendum, plural form of, 75–76
reggae, 110
rehab, 40
Relapse (Vanbrugh), 336
Renan, Sheldon, 33
Rett, Andreas, 191
Rett syndrome, 191–192
Rhymes Read in the Queens Drawing Room at Aston Hall (Evans), 62
rhyming slang, 93
Ricks, Christopher, 181
rigour, lexical research and, 63–64
Ristell, Adolf, 294
Rock File series, 110
Rogers, Samuel, 249
Rolling Stone (periodical), 69
Romance languages, 29, 214, 217, 267. See also individual words rosenbuschite, 274
Royall Exchange (Payne), 310
rules, word-selection, 104–105
Russell, William Howard, 61–62
Russian loanwords, 207
sakoku, 185
salad, 291
Salinger, J. D., 125
same, 150–152
same-sex marriage, 55–56
samfie, 110
Samuels, Michael, 325
Sargent, Epes, 313
Satiro-mastix (Dekker), 270
Sayers, Dorothy, 44
scanned text, 152
scanner, 140
Schäfer, Jürgen, 345–346
schalange, 267
schald, 267–268
schalk, 268
science-fiction words, 327–328
scientific words, 119–124, 272–275
Scott, Walter, 37, 219
screening room, 32–33
searching OED on computer, 136–137, 157–158
Second Edition of the OED, 147–149
on CD-ROM, 133, 147, 179–181, 193, 200, 203
language researchers and, 200–207
launch of, 179–184
most-cited authors in, 202–203
online, 278, 290
publication of, 175–178
selfie, 115, 242, 337–338
Selous, Edmund, 126, 127
semantic drift, as source of new words, 115–116
semifreddo, 100
seneschal, 49
serendipity, 1, 2–3
settlement, 93
sexism, 65
Sex Variants (Henry), 312
shaggy-dog story, 317–318
Shakespeare, William, 37, 83, 158–159, 205–206, 219, 310
shalk, 49
Shapiro, Fred, 314
Shaw, George Bernard, 14, 202
Shea, Ammon, 264, 346
Sheidlower, Jesse, 313–315
shenanigans, 265–266
Shepheardes Calendar (Spenser), 270
Sheridan, Richard Brinsley, 336
Shillibeer, George, 67
Shirley, James, 310
shogun, 185
shortening words, 116
Shorter Oxford English Dictionary, 9–10, 81, 131, 176, 210
Show Boat (Ferber), 266
shrapnel, 195
Shrapnel, Henry, 195
Simpson, Eleanor (“Ellie”), 188–193, 207–208, 258–261, 275–277, 302–304, 339
Simpson, Hilary, 1–3, 26, 86, 155–156, 170, 302, 331–333, 336
aptitude test and, 244
Ellie and, 187–188, 190–193, 207–208, 259–261, 275
retirement and, 335, 339
wedding, 53–55
Simpson, John
apprenticeship, 27–38
Australian National Dictionary and, 90–95
Balderdash & Piffle and, 315–320
as chief editor of OED, 256–257
Concise Oxford Dictionary of Proverbs and, 79–86
editing entries, 320
hiring process for position with OED, 4–6, 9, 11–22, 23–24
New Words group and, 98–111
office mates, 76–77
Oxford University relations and, 222–224
promotions, 81–82, 86–87, 171
retirement from OED, 329–330, 335–336, 339–340
Second Edition of the OED and, 148–149, 150, 179–184
student career, 1–5
Supplement to the OED and, 23–38, 86–89
at University of Waterloo, 155–160, 170
wedding, 53–55
Simpson, Katharine Jane (“Kate”), 86, 155–156, 188, 192, 258–260, 275, 302, 332, 339
Sir Gawain and the Green Knight, 4, 18
ska, 110
skanking, 108–111
skiver, 221
slang, 70–71, 93, 221
slick, 112
slips. See dictionary slips and index cards
slogan, 215
Smollett, Tobias, 177
Sniffin’ Glue (magazine), 231
Snowdon (Lord), 179–181
sociolinguistics, 211
Soderwall, Knut Fredrik, 17
software
to integrate OED and Supplement, 172
searching for dictionary entrants based on frequency in text, 198–199
updating OED Online, 305–312
solvitur ambulando, 225–226
Sopranos (television programme), 231
sorrow, 312–313
sorry, 258, 312–313
sources, to document word usage, 37, 44–45, 52–53, 99, 125, 219–220, 280, 282
spa, 335–336
spelling, questions about, 258
Spenser, Edmund, 270, 336
sphairistike, 174
spider, 164
spud, 291
statuette, 323
steak and kidney, 93
Stein, Ge
rtrude, 311
Stevenson, Burton, 61
Stevenson, Robert Louis, 231
Stewart, Cal, 315
stipendiary, 221
Stranger in a Strange Land (Heinlein), 113
stumped, 112
Styles, Tania, 317
subfusc, 220, 222
subject labels, updating, 100
supari, 169
Supernumerary Fellows, 223–224
Supplement to the Oxford English Dictionary, 215
Burchfield and, 15–16
computerising, 131, 133
creation of, 8–9
final volume published, 97
fuck entry, 226, 227–228, 234–235
gay entry, 309, 312
growth of, 40
hotdog entry, 281
index-card-based methods and, 70
jazz entry, 315
most-cited authors in, 202
pressure to finish, 57
rosenbuschite entry, 274
shaggy-dog story entry, 317
Simpson and, 23–38, 86–89
The Surgeon of Crowthorne
(Winchester), 345
Swannell, Julia, 150
Swift, Jonathan, 37, 219, 251
sword-fencer, 269
sword-hand, 269
Sykes, John, 20–22, 75, 176
syntactical constructions, same and, 151–152
Table Alphabeticall (Cawdrey), 163
tablecloth, 288
Takeaway Media, 315
tatami, 185
tay, 93
technetium, 272
technology, new words and, 65–66, 67
ten-code, 70
Tennyson, Alfred, 205
teppan-yaki, 100
text-message, 187
Thatcher’s Britain, 70
theology, 137–138
thesaurus, 162
thesauruses, 161
thin red line, history of, 59–63
Third Edition of the OED approved and funded, 239
beginning revision work at M, 265–266, 267–272
editorial policies for, 209–214, 224–226
M-A words, 268–272
online editing of entries, 286–288
online research for, 277–285
plan for, 264–265
scientific terminology and, 273–275
See also OED Online
three-peats, 194
“The Three Princes of Serendip” (fairy tale), 2
throwing stick, 92
The Times (newspaper), 62, 75, 179, 291
Times Literary Supplement, 4, 86
toastie, 125
Tolkien, J. R. R., 18–20, 22, 84
Tompa, Frank, 159
transformational grammar, 72–73
transpired, 152, 153–155
Treasure-house of the Language (Brewer), 344
Treasure Island (Stevenson), 231
Trench, Richard Chenevix, 7
Triggs, Jeffery, 197–199, 283–285, 324–325
A Trip to Scarborough (Sheridan), 336
Trollope, Anthony, 149
Trumble, Bill, 273
Truth (newspaper), 51
Twain, Mark, 202, 266
two-word compounds, 60, 288
typewriter, 140
Ulysses (Joyce), 234, 236, 333–335
unchronological, 32
Uncle Josh in Society (Stewart), 315
Undertones of War (Blunden), 45
United States
North American reading programme, 197, 283
OED and, 195–199, 313–315
Universal Etymological Dictionary (Bailey), 164
universities/colleges, words derived from, 221–222
University of Waterloo, 139, 147, 152, 198, 202
Simpson at, 155–160, 170
Updike, John, 149
Urdang, Larry, 73
usage, in OED entries, 7
Vanbrugh, John, 336
verbs, 116, 159, 216. See also individual
words verb sap, 77
vet, 217–219
veterinarian/veterinary, 218
Vile Bodies (Waugh), 51
visualisations, for OED Online, 321, 322, 323–326
viva, 221
volume spine words, 176–177
von Seebach, Karl, 12
vowels, 263
Walpole, Horace, 2
Walsh, James Morgan, 327
war, 169
The War: From the Landing at Gallipoli (Russell), 62
Warburton, Yvonne, 61–62, 150, 153, 175, 210
warm salad, 291
warranty, 182
Washington Post (newspaper), 57
-watching, 127
Waterloo Gazette (magazine), 170
Waugh, Evelyn, 51
Wayne’s World (film), 187
Webster, Noah, 160, 164
Weiner, Ed, 76, 77, 143, 245
computerising OED and, 133–134, 139, 141, 171
as deputy editor of OED, 256–257
Kellogg College and, 223–224
New Shorter OED and, 97–98
OED Advisory Committee and, 210–211, 224–226
OED Online and, 285, 287
pal entry and, 297
promotion to senior editor, 81, 86–87
Second Edition of the OED and, 148, 150, 152, 179–184
Supplement and, 86–89
Third Edition and, 265
vision for OED and, 199
Wells, H. G., 156–157
When the cat’s away, the mice will play, 85
wikis, 321, 327–328
Wilkes, John, 177
Willinsky, John, 202, 343
Wilson, F. P., 80
Winchester, Simon, 44, 345
windfucker, 226–227
Wired (magazine), 71
wirri, 92
Wodehouse, P. G., 44, 57, 202
Woman Killed with Kindness (Heywood), 85
Wonder Stories Quarterly, 327
Woordenbock der Nederlandse Taal (WNT), 58
Worcester, Joseph, 155
word death, 49, 172
word families, 271–272
word-formation, 11, 92–94, 113, 115–116, 127, 138, 214, 266. See also individual words
“word-lovers,” 166, 243
word of mouth, 147–148
“Word of the Year,” 338
words
compound, 60, 123–124, 198, 288
favourite, 84
history of shortest, 206
obsolete, 268–269
prehistory of, 165–166
science-fiction, 327–328
scientific, 119–124, 272–275
See also new words
word selection and inclusion criteria, 14, 41–42, 71, 87, 104–5, 107, 144, 191, 226–227, 273, 307, 310, 337
word-store, 33–34
Words of the World (Ogilvie), 343
workaround, 305–306
Work expands to fill the time available, 81
world of words, 162
Worlde of Wordes (Florio), 161
Wrinkle (magazine), 283
Yonge, Charlotte, 34, 203
Young Mans Gleanings Gathered Out of Diuers Most Zealous and Deuout Fathers, 140
Zephaniah, Benjamin, 108–109
zero, pronunciation of, 25
PHOTO: WWW.BLOOMINGPHOTOGRAPHY.CO.UK
John Simpson is the former chief editor of the Oxford English Dictionary, where he helped move the dictionary online in the 1980s and led the editorial work on its Third Edition (2000–). He is an Emeritus Fellow of Kellogg College, Oxford, and writes and researches widely on language, literature, and history. John lives in Gloucestershire, United Kingdom.
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