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The Meaning of Everything: The Story of the Oxford English Dictionary Paperback – October 14, 2004

by Simon Winchester (Author)

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From the best-selling author of The Professor and the Madman, The Map That Changed the World, and Krakatoa comes a truly wonderful celebration of the English language and of its unrivaled treasure house, the Oxford English Dictionary.

Writing with marvelous brio, Winchester first serves up a lightning history of the English language--"so vast, so sprawling, so wonderfully unwieldy"--and pays homage to the great dictionary makers, from "the irredeemably famous" Samuel Johnson to the "short, pale, smug and boastful" schoolmaster from New Hartford, Noah Webster. He then turns his unmatched talent for story-telling to the making of this most venerable of dictionaries. In this fast-paced narrative, the reader will discover lively portraits of such key figures as the brilliant but tubercular first editor Herbert Coleridge (grandson of the poet), the colorful, boisterous Frederick Furnivall (who left the project in a shambles), and James Augustus Henry Murray, who spent a half-century bringing the project to fruition. Winchester lovingly describes the nuts-and-bolts of dictionary making--how unexpectedly tricky the dictionary entry for marzipan was, or how fraternity turned out so much longer and monkey so much more ancient than anticipated--and how bondmaid was left out completely, its slips found lurking under a pile of books long after the B-volume had gone to press. We visit the ugly corrugated iron structure that Murray grandly dubbed the Scriptorium--the Scrippy or the Shed, as locals called it--and meet some of the legion of volunteers, from Fitzedward Hall, a bitter hermit obsessively devoted to the OED, to W. C. Minor, whose story is one of dangerous madness, ineluctable sadness, and ultimate redemption.

The Meaning of Everything is a scintillating account of the creation of the greatest monument ever erected to a living language. Simon Winchester's supple, vigorous prose illuminates this dauntingly ambitious project--a seventy-year odyssey to create the grandfather of all word-books, the world's unrivalled uber-dictionary.

Print length

288 pages
Language

English
Publisher

Oxford University Press
Publication date

October 14, 2004
Dimensions

5.25 x 0.25 x 8 inches
ISBN-10

019517500X
ISBN-13

978-0195175004
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Editorial Reviews

Review

"Winchester's book is a wonderfully thorough account of the mechanics of dictionary compilation, the tribulations of a project of this scale, and the array of brilliant and often eccentric characters who brought it to completion."--The Dallas Morning News

"Full of engaging characters and incidents."--Wall Street Journal

"As inspiring as it is informative. A dazzling detective story and a poignant group portrait. A must-read for every language lover."--Seattle Times

"Devastatingly brilliant.... Fascinating, witty, extremely well-written.... Winchester makes words exciting. He obviously loves them."--The Boston Globe

"The extraordinary story of the making of the Oxford English Dictionary is a subject perfectly suited to Winchester's magpie mind.... It can be recommended in all seriousness to committed Scrabble players. Here, for instance, you will learn that the first edition closed with the definition of 'zyxt,' a Kentish dialect word for the past participle of the verb 'to see.' Here, too, you will find words like 'aa,' an obsolete term for a stream or watercourse. An affectionate and frankly partisan study of the making of a great dictionary."--Robert McCrumm, Los Angeles Times

"Winchester has no peer at illuminating massive and complex endeavors through the quirks and foibles of the brilliant and powerful personalities who carry them out."--Chicago Sun Times

"Winchester tells the story with great verve in an easy-going, anecdotal style that's delectably readable."--Christian Science Monitor

"Fascinatingly told. Winchester brings to life the trials and tribulations of creating the OED, particularly the never-dull personalities of those who were involved. Moreover, he delightfully, admiringly gives us an appreciation of the wonderfully adaptive, ever-expanding English language."--Forbes Magazine

"Supremely readable. Teeming with knowledge and alive with insights."--William F. Buckley, The New York Times Book Review

"Entrancing.... An engaging read...resonates with all the chauvinism and misgiving, the self-congratulation and self-doubt that emerge when we think about our language."--Chicago Tribune

Book Description

Best-selling author Simon Winchester delivers a spell-binding account of the making of the OED

Product details

Publisher ‏ : ‎ Oxford University Press; Reprint edition (October 14, 2004)
Language ‏ : ‎ English
Paperback ‏ : ‎ 288 pages
ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 019517500X
ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-0195175004
Item Weight ‏ : ‎ 9.6 ounces
Dimensions ‏ : ‎ 5.25 x 0.25 x 8 inches

Best Sellers Rank: #1,935,179 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
- #1,114 in English Dictionaries & Thesauruses
- #2,645 in Historical British Biographies
- #9,995 in Author Biographies

Customer Reviews:
367

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Simon Winchester

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Simon Winchester studied geology at Oxford and has written for Condé Nast Traveler, Smithsonian, and National Geographic. Simon Winchester's many books include The Professor and the Madman ; The Map that Changed the World ; Krakatoa; and A Crack in the Edge of the World. Each of these have both been New York Times bestsellers and appeared on numerous best and notable lists. Mr. Winchester was made Officer of the Order of the British Empire (OBE) by HM The Queen in 2006. He lives in Massachusetts and in the Western Isles of Scotland.

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Bruce Loveitt

Love's Labors Last

Reviewed in the United States on October 8, 2003

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Oddly enough, I first became fascinated by words and their meanings many moons ago when I learned the difference between etymology and entymology (and had to use the "trick" of remembering that, because it contained an "n", as did the word insect, entymology was the word which meant the study of insects, and etymology was the word that defined the study of the history and development of words). The world, thank goodness, is full of people who love words and language, and Simon Winchester is one of those people. His enthusiasm comes through on every page of this wonderful book. One gets the impression that Mr. Winchester, if he possessed a time machine, would happily go back to, say, 1880, and be one of the numerous and unsung readers that sent in "slips" to the editors of the "great dictionary project," to show the various historical usages of words. As Mr. Winchester points out, this was a labor of love by the few who were paid, and by the many who were unpaid. The man who was mainly responsible for the form the dictionary assumed, its thoroughness and layout, and who guided the great project from when he signed a formal contract in March 1879, up until his death in 1915, was James Murray. (The 1879 contract, by the way, specified that the project would be completed within 10 years. It wasn't. The OED wasn't completed until 1928, 13 years after Murray's death.) Murray was an amazing man. Although he had very little formal education, he was intellectually formidable - being familiar with over 20 languages. As Mr. Winchester points out, though, Victorian England seemed to produce an inordinate number of such people - and quite a few of them contributed to the creation of the dictionary. A great deal of the fun of this book comes from learning about the personalities of some of these people. Murray's predecessor, Frederick Furnivall, was a brilliant man, but he lacked staying power and lost interest in the project - leaving things in a muddle. (When Murray took over he had to try to track down millions of the vital "usage slips" that were scattered all over the place - Furnivall had some and readers all over England, Europe and North America had others. There were sacks and sacks of crumbling, moldy, wet, and sometimes illegible slips. One sack had a dead rat in it. Another sack had a family of mice living quite happily amongst all that paper, which was perfect "nesting material.") Unfortunately for the dictionary, Furnivall seemed to be more interested in women. He dumped his wife and, at the age of 58, took up with his 21 year old secretary. He was also very interested in sculling, and managed to combine his two favorite interests by frequenting the local teashop and gathering up as many pretty waitresses as he could, and taking them out on the river to teach them the joys of sculling. Another interesting man was Henry Bradley, who became joint senior editor in 1896. He had taught himself Russian in 14 days, and had the uncanny ability to read a book when it was upside down. Mr. Winchester also mentions that the editors sometimes consulted "linguistic advisers," such as James Platt "who knew scores of languages and once famously declared that the first twelve tongues were always the most difficult, but having mastered them, the following hundred should not pose too much of a problem." Sometimes Mr. Winchester mentions a contributor only, I suspect, because of the author's love of language: he relishes telling us about the "magnificently named" Hereward Thimbleby Price, who was born in - are you ready for this? - Amatolakinandisamisichana, Madagascar. The author tells us that the dictionary was supposed to take 10 years, but it took 54; it was supposed to be 7,000 pages, but it wound up being 16,000; and, it was supposed to cost 9,000 pounds, but wound up costing 300,000 pounds. Lest you think think the delays and cost overruns have something to do with British academic quirkiness, Mr. Winchester informs us that it is much more a matter of thoroughness. He points out that a German dictionary started in 1838 was not finished until 1961; a Dutch dictionary started in 1851 was not completed until 1998; and the Swedes, who started a comprehensive dictionary back in the 1800's, are currently stuck on the letter S. "The Meaning of Everything" is a great story, well and lovingly told by Mr. Winchester, full of incredibly bright and interesting people, and - best of all - giving you a behind-the-scenes look at the labor-intensive creation of this great dictionary.

31 people found this helpful

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Andrew Desmond

The Triumph of English

Reviewed in the United States on April 4, 2008

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The English language is now, and has been for some time, the world's language. This may grate with the Francophones of the world but it is, nevertheless, an indisputable fact.

Perhaps the greatest strength of English is that it is constantly evolving. New words and expressions come and go at a rate of knots. There is no equivalent of the Academie Francaise monitoring matters and trying to guide the language is certain directions. English is wonderfully malleable.

Yet for all its flexibility, every modern language needs certain basic rules or understandings in order that we can communicate in some common manner. To a large extent, these "rules" were laid out by the creators of the Oxford English Dictionary. In this regard, the chief driving force was James Murray who supervised the dictionary's first edition.

Simon Winchester has done a terrific job in covering the history of Murray's efforts and the trials and tribulations of the dictionary's creation. I can appreciate that many might think that a book about a dictionary could be overly dry. Do not be concerned. The book is interesting, sometimes whimsical and always fascinating. To all lovers of the English language, read this book.

5 people found this helpful

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Amazon Customer

Fascinating history of a reference book that everyone knows but no one actually reads

Reviewed in the United States on November 3, 2018

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This is a fascinating story of the decades-long work to complete the most comprehensive ever dictionary of the English language--from the time of its beginning to the present day. Starting in the mid-nineteenth century, teams of scholars from varied backgrounds collected two million quotations from around the English-speaking world that detailed the etymology, uses, and pronunciation of 100,000's of words and idiomatic expressions. The result was, arguably, the most comprehensive and authoritative reference work ever published on any language in the history of the world, one that has become instantly recognizable merely by its initials--the OED. From the beginning of the undertaking, however, its successful outcome was often in doubt because of intrateam rivalries and squabbles, and, equally important, because nearly all involved in the enterprise seriously underestimated the time and money that would be required to assemble a dictionary with the stated intent of collecting literally an entire language encompassing the evolution of every word ever used. I would have given this 5 stars except for the poor editing. Every 'tl', for example, was transposed to a lower-case 'd'. At times I wondered if the Kindle version of the book was published by scanning a hard copy and running an OCR program.

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Antonio

Excelente

Reviewed in Mexico on March 3, 2022

Verified Purchase

Excelente libro con la historia del OED. Si eres amante de la lexicografía, este libro es para ti.

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Ian Howlett

Informative and entertaining: a surprising history

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on May 5, 2023

Verified Purchase

As a big fan, and big user, of the Oxford English Dictionary, I found this a very helpful and informative book. It was also very readable, and held my interest throughout, with its cast of seemingly unbelievable characters! It has really helped my understanding of the OED and what's in it.

b. k.

full of mistakes - a great book ruined through digitalization

Reviewed in Germany on February 9, 2019

Verified Purchase

the book is one of my all time favourite. BUT: the editing company sells some crude scanned version of the printed book, obviously never controlled by nobody and therefore with dozens of mistakes on every single page. a crying shame for such a reknowned publishing company!!!

2 people found this helpful

Ian A. Umbach

Excellent

Reviewed in Canada on November 26, 2016

Verified Purchase

An excellent read. Informative and entertaining and keeps the reader interested rom start to finish.

Christopher

Interesting

Reviewed in Australia on January 14, 2021

Verified Purchase

Relevant to other reading.

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