The Storied 'Oxford English Dictionary' - National Review - Dictionary

(Image Source/Getty Images)

Scholars wouldn’t be surprised at the copious literature about lexicography — “the art or practice of writing dictionaries,” as Samuel Johnson defined it in 1755. After all, every scholarly discipline has its technical treatises and learned journals. What might surprise anyone, though, is the number of trade books about the writing of one particular dictionary: the Oxford English Dictionary.

The genre began with K. M. Elisabeth Murray’s Caught in the Web of Words: James A. H. Murray and the Oxford English Dictionary (1977). The author was the chief lexicographer’s granddaughter, who gave us a serious and searching account of how an …

To Read the Full Story

This article appears as “The Storied OED” in the February 7, 2022, print edition of National Review.

Something to Consider

If you enjoyed this article, we have a proposition for you: Join NRPLUS. Members get all of our content on the site including the digital magazine and archives, no paywalls or content meters, an advertising-minimal experience, and unique access to our writers and editors (through conference calls, social media groups, and more). And importantly, NRPLUS members help keep NR going.

If you enjoyed this article and want to see more premium content like this, we have a proposition for you: Join NRPLUS.

Become a Member

Adblock test (Why?)