Video Friday: More on the HTOED

30 October 2009

OUP has put out a couple of videos of Ammon Shea, author of Reading the OED: One Man, One Year, 21730 Pages, commenting on the new Historical Thesaurus of the Oxford English Dictionary. First up, Love, Pregnancy, and Venereal Disease:

And then, comments on how the thesaurus is organized and how one can encounter some rare treasures in its pages:

Hat tip to the OUP Blog.

(Disclosure: Oxford University Press is the publisher of my book, Word Myths: Debunking Linguistic Urban Legends. Additionally, if you click through the links and make a purchase, I receive a very small referral payment from Amazon.com.)

New Reference: Historical Thesaurus of the OED

28 October 2009

Oxford University Press has just published the Historical Thesaurus of the Oxford English Dictionary. I haven’t seen it and this is not a review, but given OUP’s track record with such reference works, it would be surprising if it were anything but an invaluable reference. At $400, though, it’s not for everyone, but taking a gander at it the next time you’re in your local library will certainly be worthwhile.

The OUP Blog has some fun facts about the HTOED.

And OUP-US is running a contest in which a copy of the HTOED is one of the prizes.

(Disclosure: Oxford University Press is the publisher of my book, Word Myths: Debunking Linguistic Urban Legends. Additionally, if you click through the links and make a purchase, I receive a very small referral payment from Amazon.com.)

crash blossoms

18 October 2009

Mark Peters over at Good has an article on crash blossoms, confused readings of poorly worded/punctuated newspaper headlines. As in: “Violinist linked to JAL crash blossoms,” a story about a violinist whose career took off after his plane didn’t. Crash blossoms are like snowclones, eggcorns, mondegreens, and the Cupertino effect.