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The Hidden History of the Oxford English Dictionary
Yale University Press
May 2005
On Sale: May 10, 2005
304 pages ISBN: 0300106998 EAN: 9780300106992 Hardcover
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Non-Fiction
The Oxford English Dictionary (OED) holds a cherished
position in English literary culture. The story behind the
creation of what is indisputably the greatest dictionary in
the language has become a popular fascination. This book
looks at the history of the great first edition of 1928, and
at the men (and occasionally women) who distilled words and
usages from centuries of English writing and “through an act
of intellectual alchemy captured the spirit of a civilization.”
The task of the dictionary was to bear full and impartial
witness to the language it recorded. But behind the
immaculate typography of the finished text, the proofs tell
a very different story. This vast archive, unexamined until
now, reveals the arguments and controversies over meanings,
definitions, and pronunciation, and which words and senses
were acceptable—and which were not.
Lost for Words examines the hidden history by which the
great dictionary came into being, tracing—through letters
and archives—the personal battles involved in charting a
constantly changing language. Then as now, lexicographers
reveal themselves vulnerable to the prejudices of their own
linguistic preferences and to the influence of contemporary
social history.
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