Trend Results : Oxford English Dictionary
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FILTER RESULTS ►The Inventor Of The GIF Says Everyone Is Pronouncing 'GIF' Incorrectly
Steve Wilhite, the inventor of the GIF, a file format that's used to create moving images on the web, says everyone is pronouncing GIF incorrectly. Speaking with The New York Times, he said, "The Oxford English Dictionary accepts both pronunciations... Show More Summary
Choosy Developers Choose GIF
The Oxford English Dictionary accepts both pronunciations. They are wrong. It is a soft ‘G,’ pronounced ‘jif.’ End of story. –Steve Wilhite, the inventor of the gif, on its pronunciation. Mr Wilhite was the recipient of a lifetime achievement award at the Webbys
For the birds.
The phrase "for the birds" — originally, "strictly for the birds" (I guess the strictures broke down over time) — is defined by the (unlinkable) Oxford English Dictionary to mean "trivial, worthless; appealing only to gullible people." This isn't such an old expression, according to the OED, which finds its first print appearance in J. Show More Summary
Oxford English Dictionary's hunt for the origins of 'revirginize'
Here ye, all you secret lovers of 19th century pornography. The august and decidedly non-pornographic Oxford English Dictionary needs your assistance.
Whodunnit
And then there was you: the Oxford English Dictionary is soliciting public help in tracking down “a mysterious, possibly pornographic, 19th-century book from which a number of its quotations are derived.” Related posts: “Swamp Fuschia”...Show More Summary
Why F. Scott Fitzgerald Is All Over the Dictionary
F. Scott Fitzgerald may not have coined the word stinko, but he may well have been the first English-speaking soul to write it down—according to the Oxford English Dictionary. In the historical dictionary business, finding the first citation is a holy grail. Show More Summary
Etaoin Shrdlu and Other Odd Words in the Oxford English Dictionary
The massive Oxford English Dictionary is, practically speaking, the official and exhaustive guide to the words of the English language. John Simpson, the Chief Editor, is retiring after 37 years with the project. He's spent decades tracking down the origins of different words. Show More Summary
Have You Seen This Book? An O.E.D. Mystery
On Friday afternoon, the Oxford English Dictionary’s Web site appealed to the public for help in identifying a mysterious book, “Meanderings of Memory.” The book is cited as an early source for words like “chapelled” (“adj. placed or stationed in a chapel”), “revirginize” (“trans. Show More Summary
Oxford English Dictionary Editor John Simpson To Retire
Oxford English Dictionary chief editor John Simpson has decided to retire in October 2013. Simpson has been a member of the editorial staff at the celebrated dictionary since 1976. He assumed the chief editor post in 1993, only the seventh editor to hold that prestigious post since 1879. Show More Summary
How Angelina Jolie’s Bosom Got “Fashionista” Into The Dictionary
“Fashionista” never existed until Stephen Fried made it up. And the editors of the Oxford English Dictionary didn’t take notice until Angelina Jolie stripped down. Any devotee of the English language has been tempted to expand the dictionary. Show More Summary
The best doctors teach their patients
The Oxford English Dictionary (OED) identifies the first use of the term “doctour”, as the year 1303 AD, shortened to “doctor” in the 1557 addition of the Geneva Bible. The OED first defines doctor not as a caregiver or healer, not as a science researcher or expert and not even as one with an advanced [...]
"If you'll take thunder and lightening, and a steamboat and a buzz-saw, and mix 'em up, and put 'em into a woman, that's jasm."
Wrote J.G. Holland in "Miss Gilbert's Career," published in 1860, the oldest historical use of the U.S. slang word "jasm," which means "Energy, spirit, ‘pep,'" according to the Oxford English Dictionary (which, unfortunately, I can't link to). Show More Summary
Pool
Shawn asked about the word pool -- its origin, meaning, and use. According to the Oxford English Dictionary, here are three separate nouns with that spelling and two verbs. Pool, n.1 is based on words in Dutch, Danish, Lithuanian, and German that meant a hole, bog, or swamp. Show More Summary
"It is noteworthy that among the Germanic languages the word (as the name for Easter) is restricted to English and German..."
"... in other Germanic languages, as indeed in most European languages, the usual word for Easter is derived from the corresponding word for the Jewish Passover; compare pasch n." Says the Oxford English Dictionary (to which I cannot link). Bede... Show More Summary
"A person who lives by philosophy and reason; a person who accepts things philosophically."
That's Definition #2 for "philosopher" in the the Oxford English Dictionary (which I'm reading because, as you can see in the previous post, someone, presumably mistakenly, referred to me as "the philosopher, Ann Althouse"). This definition...Show More Summary
They Are Adding ‘Friend Zone’ To The Oxford English Dictionary
Greetings, angry misogynists of the internet! Did you know that today is your lucky day? No, your female friends are not finally going to give you the sex that they owe you in return for being friends with them. But they are adding your...Show More Summary
Homesick
Homesickness: Sadness caused by longing for one’s home or family during a period of absence. Also: an instance of this. In early use sometimes regarded as a medical condition. Oxford English Dictionary As a newcomer to Pittsburgh, I am homesick. Despite … Continue reading ?
THE BOOKSHELF: WORDS OF THE WORLD.
Last year I wrote about Sarah Ogilvie's Words of the World: A Global History of the Oxford English Dictionary on the basis of a (sloppy, as it turns out) newspaper story; now that Cambridge UP has sent me a review copy, I can reportShow More Summary
The original meaning of the word "bless" is about blood.
"Bless" is the word of the day, blogged already here. Now, I'm looking in the Oxford English Dictionary (which, unfortunately, I don't have a way to link to) to see whether it is only God that blesses, and I see that in the original meaning, it is human beings who do the blessing and they do it with blood. Orig. Show More Summary
A noun for being upside down
Q: Why is there no word that describes the state of being upside down? A: There’s a hyphenated word that may be what you’re looking for. It’s a noun, “upside-downism” (what else?), and the Oxford English Dictionary has exactly one citation for its use. The word appeared in a book called The Oxonian in Iceland... ? Read More: A noun for being upside down
