The Word Detective: Searching for the Meaning of It All at the Oxford English DictionaryBasic Books, 25 d’oct. 2016 - 384 pàgines Can 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. |
Continguts
Lexicography 101 | |
Marshallers of Words | |
The Longest Way Round | |
Uneasy Skanking | |
SharkInfested Waters | |
OED Redux | |
Gxddbov Xxkxzt Pg Ifmk | |
At the Top of the Crazy Tree | |
Shenanigans Online | |
Flavour of the Month | |
Becoming the Past | |
Acknowledgments | |
Praise for The Word Detective | |
About the Author | |
The Tunnel and the Vision | |
Altres edicions - Mostra-ho tot
The Word Detective: Searching for the Meaning of It All at the Oxford ... John Simpson Previsualització limitada - 2016 |
The Word Detective: Searching for the Meaning of It All at the Oxford ... John Simpson Previsualització no disponible - 2017 |
The Word Detective: Searching for the Meaning of It All at the Oxford ... John Simpson Previsualització no disponible - 2016 |
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