About this title: Begun in 1857, the Oxford English Dictionary (fondly known as the O.E.D.) was not completed until the 1920s. Since then, it has been considered the definitive source for the meaning and, more importantly, the etymology of every English word ever recorded. Simon Winchester's entertaining account of its history begins with a look at the English language and how it has changed over the centuries, as well as at the previous attempts to codify it. He then goes on to profile the O.E.D.'s three main perpetrators: Herbert Coleridge, Frederick Furnivall, and the passionately committed polymath James ...
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Binding: Paperback
Publisher: Oxford Paperbacks
Date Published: 2004
ISBN-13:9780192805768ISBN:0192805762
Description: Good. **SHIPPED FROM UK** We believe you will be completely satisfied with our quick and reliable service. All orders are dispatched as swiftly as possible! Buy with confidence! read more
Binding: Hardcover
Publisher: Oxford University Press
Date Published: 2003
ISBN-13:9780198607021ISBN:0198607024
Description: Good. **SHIPPED FROM UK** We believe you will be completely satisfied with our quick and reliable service. All orders are dispatched as swiftly as possible! Buy with confidence! read more
Binding: Paperback
Publisher: Oxford University Press
Date Published: 2004
ISBN-13:9780192805768ISBN:0192805762
Description: Fine. This item may show signs of shelfwear and handling. Next day dispatch by Royal Mail. International delivery available. 1000's of satisfied customers! Please contact us with any queries. Next working day dispatch from the UK. Please contact us with any queries. read more
Description: Very good. Paperback. May contain minor creasing/scuffing to cover and mild tanning to pages. But otherwise will be of exceptional quality. FAST DISPATCH. read more
Description: Very Good. 8vo: 7.8" Tall 0192805762 260p, some illustrations in the text (*Please ignore the abe default postal charge and note that postage would be VERY low on this book. ) read more
Binding: Hardcover
Publisher: OXFORD UNIVERSITY PRESS
Date Published: 2003
ISBN-13:9780198607021ISBN:0198607024
Description: Published by OXFORD UNIVERSITY PRESS in 2003. Hardback with Dust jacket. Condition: Very Good. May show some wear. #1174892 Shipped from UK. Delivery is usually 2-3 working days from order by Royal Mail, International Delivery is by Airmail. read more
Binding: Hardcover
Publisher: OXFORD UNIVERSITY PRESS
Date Published: 2003
ISBN-13:9780198607021ISBN:0198607024
Description: Published by OXFORD UNIVERSITY PRESS in 2003. Hardback with Dust jacket. Condition: Very Good. May show some wear. #8039215 Shipped from UK. Delivery is usually 2-3 working days from order by Royal Mail, International Delivery is by Airmail. read more
Binding: Hardcover
Publisher: OXFORD UNIVERSITY PRESS
Date Published: 2003
ISBN-13:9780198607021ISBN:0198607024
Description: Ex-Library Published by Oxford University Press in 2003. Binding: Hardback with Dust jacket. Number of pages: 256. Ex. Library copy-usual stamps and marks. Condition: Good. Used book but in Good Condition for sensible price. #8482415 Shipped from UK. Delivery is usually 2-3 working days from order by Royal Mail, International Delivery is by Airmail. read more
Binding: Hardcover
Publisher: OXFORD UNIVERSITY PRESS
Date Published: 2003
Description: Published by Oxford University Press in 2003. Hardback with Dust jacket. Number of pages: 256. Condition: Like NEW. No defects, may have been previously read. Shipped from UK. Delivery is usually 2-3 working days from order by Royal Mail, International Delivery is by Airmail. read more
Edition: First Paperback Editon
Binding: Softcover
Publisher: Oxford University Press, Oxford, United Kingdom
Date Published: 2004
ISBN-13:9780192805768ISBN:0192805762
Description: Very Good. 12mo-over 6¾"-7¾" tall. An enthralling account of the creation of the world's greatest dictionary which was finally published in 1928. Unread paperback-260 pages including index. Slightest signs of storage. Next post dispatch. read more
Binding: Softcover
Publisher: Oxford University Press, USA
ISBN-13:9780198607021ISBN:0198607024
Description: Good. Purchasing this book supports the King County Library System Foundation. Thriftbooks and KCLSF have partnered to help raise additional funds for the library system. Ex-Library book-will contain library markings. Light shelf wear and minimal interior marks. Millions of satisfied customers and climbing. Thriftbooks is the name you can trust, guaranteed. Spend Less. Read More. read more
Binding: Softcover
Publisher: Oxford University Press, USA
ISBN-13:9780198607021ISBN:0198607024
Description: Very good. Book has appearance of light use with no easily noticeable wear. Millions of satisfied customers and climbing. Thriftbooks is the name you can trust, guaranteed. Spend Less. Read More. read more
Binding: Softcover
Publisher: Oxford University Press, USA
ISBN-13:9780198607021ISBN:0198607024
Description: Good. Light shelf wear and minimal interior marks. Millions of satisfied customers and climbing. Thriftbooks is the name you can trust, guaranteed. Spend Less. Read More. read more
Binding: Softcover
Publisher: Oxford University Press, USA
ISBN-13:9780198607021ISBN:0198607024
Description: Fine. Almost in new condition. Book shows only very slight signs of use. Cover and binding are undamaged and pages show minimal use. Millions of satisfied customers and climbing. Thriftbooks is the name you can trust, guaranteed. Spend Less. Read More. read more
"How embarrassing. I recommended this for our book club based on its reviews, and the fact that it's about the dictionary. We're all word lovers, of course we're going to love this book! Right? No one liked it. The words most often used were "boring" and "dry." Very disappointing! (I yelled this like Kevin Kline in A Fish Called Wanda, when he finds no diamonds in the safe. Then I threw the book across the room.)"
"Simon Winchester writes lots of popular history/cultural books. The first one I encountered, Krakatoa, was horrible and I couldn't finish it, although I am interested in the subject (the big volcano eruption off Java in the 1880s). The problem was the relentless jocularity that so many popular historians adopt, apparently in an attempt to keep readers reading by constant, ponderous "wit." How in the world this appeals to a reader I'll never know. The other problem with Krakatoa was the TV-type pacing, by which I mean it was like one of those shows where the big "revelation" (Is there really a Sasquatch on film? Will Justin be the last survivor? Will a dime really destroy a car if dropped from a thousand feet?) is shamelessly and pointlessly drawn out by means of breathless voice-overs and ominous soundtracks. But to my considerable surprise, Winchester's book on the making of the Oxford English Dictionary was a far, far better book. Much lighter on its feet, nicely paced, and with a reduction in the awful wit, although the awful wit is still there. It's been a while since I read it, but as I recall, sometimes the funny asides are put in footnotes, which is to this reader very annoying. But still, a great story."
"Having read The Professor & the Madman, I was looking forward to this one . . . and indeed, to being able to say I'd read "The Meaning of Everything" . . . and I have to say that it was interesting, but not as good as the former book, being a somewhat drier and more technical account of the making of the OED. Worth reading, but don't expect as wild a ride as The Professor & the Madman!"
"I think it while I was a college student that I first really noticed the Oxford English Dictionary (OED). A roommate had a copy of the "compact edition" - the complete text of 20 volumes "micrographically reproduced" in two large volumes in a tiny typeface, and boxed into a set with a magnifying glass to be able to examine the print. It didn't take me long to see the difference between this dictionary's approach, and the typical American dictionaries. I loved looking through that glass and discovering the etymologies and subtleties of meaning exposed in those tiny words.
This book describes the fascinating history of the original compiling of the OED, which stretched from 1857 to 1928. I loved the way the author introduces us to the personalities of the men and women who participated through the years, the process of compiling and writing, the obstacles they encountered, and the insights into many of the interesting and challenging words they dealt with. I loved hearing details of how unexpectedly tricky certain words were, and how particular contributors or editors brought critical insights. There are descriptions of contributors as diverse as an inmate in an insane asylum (about whom the author has written a separate book), and the inimitable J.R.R. Tolkien.
I really like Winchester's writing. What might seem like trivia to some, in his hands, makes history come alive."
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