Oxford English Dictionary

The Professor and the Madman

 

John Simpson (JS), Chief Editor of the Oxford English Dictionary, and Simon Winchester (SW), author of The Professor and the Madman (published as The Surgeon of Crowthorne in Europe, both published by Penguin Books), discuss William Minor and the Oxford English Dictionary in an edited transcript of a conversation held in New York in April 1999.

How the Professor and the Madman came to be written The book's popularity Why was Dr Minor drawn towards the OED? How to be a lexicographer How the English and French approach their language Mice in the archives How do you appeal for readers today? Is there currently an explosion of new words? What words are being looked at for inclusion in the OED? The origin of the word 'travel' Are some words lovely or horrible? What does 'world English' mean? OED, the IT revolution, and ugly words Do some field of English have large numbers of words?

If you would like to hear more from John Simpson there is a transcript of a live chat with him at wordsmith.org.