The Meaning of Everything

The Story of the Oxford English Dictionary

Simon Winchester

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English

Oxford University Press
18 May 2018

Language: history & general works; linguistics; Social & cultural history

'The greatest enterprise of its kind in history,' was the verdict of British prime minister Stanley Baldwin in June 1928 when The Oxford English Dictionary was finally published. With its 15,490 pages and nearly two million quotations, it was indeed a monumental achievement, gleaned from the efforts of hundreds of ordinary and extraordinary people who made it their mission to catalogue the English language in its entirety.

In The Meaning of Everything, Simon Winchester celebrates this remarkable feat, and the fascinating characters who played such a vital part in its execution, from the colourful Frederick Furnivall, cheerful promoter of an all-female sculling crew, to James Murray, self-educated son of a draper, who spent half a century guiding the project towards fruition. Along the way we learn which dictionary editor became the inspiration for Kenneth Grahame's Ratty in The Wind in the Willows, and why Tolkien found it so hard to define 'walrus'.

Written by the bestselling author of The Surgeon of Crowthorne and The Map That Changed the World, The Meaning of Everything is an enthralling account of the creation of the world's greatest dictionary.

By: Simon Winchester
Imprint: Oxford University Press
Country of Publication: United Kingdom
Dimensions: Height: 196mm, Width: 131mm, Spine: 18mm
Weight: 358g
ISBN: 9780198814399
ISBN 10: 0198814399
Pages: 304
Publication Date: 18 May 2018
Audience: General/trade , ELT Advanced
Format: Paperback
Publisher's Status: Active

FOREWORD; PROLOGUE; EPILOGUE: AND ALWAYS BEGINNING AGAIN; BIBLIOGRAPHY AND FURTHER READING; INDEX

Simon Winchester, OBE, is a British writer, journalist, and broadcaster. As a journalist he covered major events, including Bloody Sunday and the Watergate Scandal. He is the author of Atlantic: A Vast Ocean of a Million Stories (2010), The Professor and the Madman (1999), The Map that Changed the World (2001), and A Crack in the Edge of the World (2005), all of which have been New York Times bestsellers.

Reviews for The Meaning of Everything: The Story of the Oxford English Dictionary

A lively and largely informative chronicle of a still-staggering enterprise * Helen Zaltzman, Observer * Simon Winchester has told this story with a touch of human drama and with a true sense of the social history that surrounded the enterprise. * Stephen Wade, Contemporary Review * Simon Winchester's book is a fascinating catalogue of political wrangles, logistical conundrums and personal battles that underlay the work's creation. This book is a delightful curiosity * Zoe Green, Daily Telegraph * Irresistible * The Independent * compelling reading. Winchester is excellent on the theory and practice of lexicography * Sunday Times * exuberant, serious, funny, short, full, entrancingly readable * Jane Gardam, Spectator * teeming with knowledge and alive with insights. Winchester handles humor and awe with modesty and cunning. His prose is supremely readable. * New York Times Book Review *