Table of Contents

1. Entering the OED; 2. A global dictionary from the beginning; 3. James Murray and words of the world; 4. James Murray and the Stanford Dictionary controversy; 5. William Craigie, Charles Onions, and the mysterious case of the vanishing tramlines; 6. Robert Burchfield and words of the world in the OED Supplements; 7. Conclusion.

Promotional Information

Demonstrates that the Oxford English Dictionary is an international product in both its content and its making.

About the Author

Sarah Ogilvie is Director of the Australian National Dictionary Centre, Reader in Linguistics at the Australian National University and Chief Editor of Oxford Dictionaries, Australia. Prior to that she was Alice Tong Sze Research Fellow at Cambridge University. She has a doctorate in linguistics from the University of Oxford and worked for many years as an editor on the Oxford English Dictionary in England and the Macquarie and Oxford dictionaries in Australia.

Reviews

'Sarah Ogilvie brings a unique conjunction of abilities to this book: deep practical knowledge of [the] OED and its archives, powerful analytical skills, and personal warmth and flair as a storyteller.' John Considine, University of Alberta

'Sarah Ogilvie, by forensically examining the OED text, demonstrates convincingly that, as envisaged by James Murray, it was a truly international enterprise, in both its contributors and the World Englishes represented.' Howard Jackson, Emeritus Professor of English Language and Linguistics, Birmingham City University

'A penetrating and brilliantly conceived work that decisively refutes the assumption that Victorian prejudice disposed the original editors of the OED to neglect foreign loanwords and non-British English. Ogilvie writes with a refreshingly brisk intelligence.' Sidney Landau, author of Dictionaries: The Art and Craft of Lexicography

'A beauty of a book …' Financial Times

'… cleverly documents the discomfort of Little England.' Peter Conrad, The Observer

'[A] meticulous study …' The Times Literary Supplement

'Ogilvie challenges the commonly held assumption that the OED originally reflected Anglocentric and Victorian views of race and empire, and only progressively recognised in its supplements loanwords and words from the world's Englishes … Ogilvie makes her case while also giving a fascinating account of work in the OED's offices. Recommended. Upper-division undergraduates and above.' J. K. Bracken, Choice