Wordorigins.org

Oxford American Writer’s Thesaurus, 2nd Edition; Christine A. Lindberg, ed.; Oxford University Press, November 2008; $40.00.

I’m generally not a big fan of thesauruses. They’re open to misuse by inexperienced or bad writers and those that follow the Roget taxonomic schema are impenetrable to anyone who hasn’t spent a lifetime learning the Roget system. (My aversion to thesauruses may, in part, be due to being bewildered by the Roget system as a youth.)

But I’m willing to make an exception for the Oxford American Writer’s Thesaurus. Here we have a thesaurus that is actually a useful tool to both the budding and the experienced writer.

Here are some gift ideas for that person in your life who really enjoys words and language (even it that person is you).

Of course, the first book on the list is Word Myths: Debunking Linguistic Urban Legends, by David Wilton, Oxford University Press, 2004. The paperback version is just out and and if you haven’t picked up a copy already, now is the time to do it.

I’ve disabled the comments feature here on the main wordorigins.org site. The comments had simply become a way for spammers to get their message through. The signal to noise ratio was somewhere around 1:100 and I simply don’t have time to hunt down the individual spam posts and kill them.

If you wish to comment on one of the posts here in the main site, please use the discussion forum.

Crystal, David (2008). txtng: the gr8 db8. Oxford, Oxford University Press.

Linguist David Crystal is one of the most prolific writers about language for general audiences. You’ll see several of his books listed on these pages. In txtng, Crystal takes on the question of what effects text messaging is having on literacy. Will texting destroy a generation’s ability to write a coherent English sentence? Crystal’s answer is a resounding “no” and along the way debunks much of the conventional wisdom about texting.

Word Myths: Debunking Linguistic Urban Legends was published in 2004. Since then, there have been a number of advances in scholarship regarding the myths and terms detailed in that book. This page is your guide to the latest information and research since that book’s publication.

Further evidence supporting or refuting the conclusions of the book have been found for:

• Dixie: Solid evidence of the pre-war existence of the New York children’s game called Dixie’s Land has been found. The game definitely antedates the Civil War and Emmett’s song.

Earlier citations of use have been found for:

• the whole nine yards