QUARANTINE BLOG # 386

April 20, 2021

The creation of the Oxford English Dictionary (OED) – the top dictionary of the English language, the definitive authority on the meaning, pronunciation and history of over half a million English words, past and present – is an incredible story.

Plans for the dictionary began in 1857 to produce an up-to-date, error-free English dictionary that would cover all vocabulary from the Anglo-Saxon period (1150 A.D.) to the present.  Conceived of as a four-volume, 6,400-page work, it was estimated the project would take 10 years to finish.  In fact, it took over 40 years until the 125th and final section was published in April 1928 and the full dictionary was complete – at over 400,000 words and phrases in 10 volumes.

Contributors submitted quotations and sources on slips of paper.

Unlike most English dictionaries, which only list present-day common meanings, the OED provides a detailed chronological history for every word and phrase, citing quotations from a wide range of sources, including classic literature and cookbooks. The verb “set” – just one example – has the OED’s longest entry, at approximately 60,000 words and detailing over 430 uses.  No sooner was the OED finished than editors began updating it.  A supplement, containing new entries and revisions, was published in 1933 and the original dictionary was reprinted in 12 volumes.

James Murray, “father of the OED,” with the tens of thousands of submissions.

Between 1972 and 1986, an updated 4-volume supplement was published, with new terms from the continually evolving English language plus more  words and phrases from North America, Australia, the Caribbean, New Zealand, South Africa and South Asia.

In 1984, Oxford University Press embarked on a five-year, multi-million-dollar project to create an electronic version of the dictionary.  The effort required 120 people just to type the pages from the print edition and 50 proofreaders to check their work.  The online version of the dictionary has been active since 2000. 

At a whopping 20 volumes weighing over 137 pounds, it would reportedly take one person 120 years to type all 59 million words in the OED.

Today’s OED, the printed version.

And you thought the Quarantine Blog sometimes ran long.

👉  We hiked yesterday to Catawba Falls.  It was a 40 minute drive along I-40 to get to it, and the mountains were beautiful in spring foliage (we want to drive the Blue Ridge Parkway later this week, so we’ll get some pictures of that).  The Catawba River flows over 2 major waterfalls in a short distance.  The first drop, called Upper Catawba Falls, consists of an upper free-fall drop (and you needed to be a mountain goat to get to it), while the second drop a short distance downstream, just Catawba Falls, is a series of free-falls and cascades (that’s the part we saw).

👉  Some interesting views of life from Shoe:

👉  And some groaners (sent in by our correspondent in Victoria, BC):

👉  QB would be remise if you did not learn that today is Lima Bean Respect Day.   Lima beans, which are named after Lima, Peru, are green and flat with a kidney-shaped curve (why is the bean pronounced Lye and the capital is Lee?). They have been cultivated since about 6000 BC and were being grown in North America long before Europeans arrived.  You can have them fresh, canned or dried, and boiled and buttered.  Lima beans are the main ingredient in succotash, which also includes corn, and often peppers.  Yum.

👉   For today’s close Alisa Nicaud offers Scriptures to pray over your home:

A Peaceful Home: “My people will live in peaceful dwelling places, in secure homes, in undisturbed places of rest” (Isaiah 32:18).

A Serving Home: “But as for me and my household, we will serve the Lord” (Joshua 24:15).

A Blessed Home: “The Lord curses the house of the wicked, but he blesses the home of the upright” (Proverbs 3:33).

A House of Wisdom: “It takes wisdom to build a house, and understanding to set it on a firm foundation. It takes knowledge to furnish its rooms with fine furniture and beautiful draperies” (Proverbs 24:3-4).

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