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Product Identifiers

PublisherBasic Books

ISBN-101541697219

ISBN-139781541697218

eBay Product ID (ePID)234992176

Product Key Features

Number of Pages400 Pages

LanguageEnglish

Publication NameWord Detective : Searching for the Meaning of It All at the Oxford English Dictionary

SubjectEditors, Journalists, Publishers, Lexicography, Personal Memoirs, Linguistics / Historical & Comparative, Linguistics / Etymology

Publication Year2017

TypeTextbook

Subject AreaLanguage Arts & Disciplines, Biography & Autobiography

AuthorJohn Simpson

FormatTrade Paperback

Dimensions

Item Height1.1 in

Item Weight11.9 Oz

Item Length8.4 in

Item Width5.5 in

Additional Product Features

Intended AudienceTrade

TitleLeadingThe

ReviewsProvidence Journal: "Delightful...a fitting companion to Elisabeth Murray's Caught in the Web of Word s and Simon Winchester's T he Professor and the Madman ...Simpson peppers the text of his book with page-long etymologies for everything from 'inkling' to 'balderdash' to 'selfie,' and with affecting touches of his personal and family history, all of which deepen and humanize this fascinating paean to lexicography."

SynopsisCan you drink a glass of balderdash? What do you call the part of a dog's back it can't scratch? And if, serendipitously, you find yourself in Serendip, then where exactly are you? The answers to all of these questions -- and a great many more -- can be found in the pages of the Oxford English Dictionary , the definitive record of the English language. And there is no better guide to the dictionary's many wonderments than the former chief editor of the OED , John Simpson. Simpson 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 culture shapes the language we use, and how technology has transformed not only the way we speak and write but also how words are made. 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. But Simpson also reminds us of the limitations of language: spending his days in the OED 's house of words, his family at home is forced to confront the challenges of wordlessness. A brilliant and deeply humane expedition through the world of words, The Word Detective will delight and inspire any lover of language., "A charmingly full, frank, and humorous account of a career dedicated to rigorous lexicographic rectitude. . . . John Simpson] is an absolute hero." --Lynne Truss, New York Times Can you drink a glass of balderdash? And what do you call the part of a dog's back it can't scratch? The answers to these questions can be found in the Oxford English Dictionary. There is no better guide to the dictionary's many wonderments than its former chief editor, John Simpson. In The Word Detective , an intensely personal memoir and a joyful celebration of English, he weaves a story of how words come into being, how culture shapes language, and how technology transforms words. A brilliant and deeply humane expedition through the world of words, The Word Detective will delight and inspire any lover of language.