Tag: language
-
The Oxford English Dictionary celebrates one hundred years of Roald Dahl.
Last week marked the centenary of Roald Dahl’s birth and to celebrate, the Oxford English Dictionary has published a range of revised and newly drafted entries containing references to Roald Dahl’s writing in its latest update. The words included are recognisably ‘Dahlesque’ and while not all are coined by him, they have magical qualities that…
-
Oxford Roald Dahl Dictionary
To mark the centenary of Roald Dahl’s birth this week we are publishing the Oxford Roald Dahl Dictionary. Books including Matilda, The BFG, Charlie and the Chocolate Factory and The Twits have inspired generations to play with language and make up words. Some Dahlesque words for your everyday: A word for the weekend… Hopscotchy – adjective…
-
Oxford Word of the Month: August – Bush bride
noun: 1. a bride who lives and is married in a country area, in early use with the implication that her wedding lacks the external trappings of a city wedding. 2. a British woman who married an Australian servicemen in the UK during or immediately after the Second World War, and who migrated to Australia….
-
Oxford Word of the Month: July – Deso
noun: a person who abstains from alcohol at a social gathering so as to be fit to drive others home; a designated driver. In 2012 the Transport Accident Commission (TAC) in Victoria ran a competition, Make A Film, Make A Difference, which asked people aged 25 or under to come up with an idea for…
-
Horace Hart: the fascinating creator of an Oxford classic
Shortly after I became Editorial Assistant at OUP, my manager lent me a book called New Hart’s Rules: The Handbook of Style for Writers and Editors. It’s a useful and interesting book for an editor, as it tells you: to avoid the greengrocer’s apostrophe (e.g. lettuces instead of lettuce’s) the correct way to indicate stammering,…
-
Oxford Word of the Month: June – Convict class
noun: the cheapest class of travel; economy class. One of the most frequent complaints when it comes to travel is flying in economy class, especially on international flights. A popular term used to refer to economy class is cattle class, alluding to passengers being herded into close proximity in narrow seats with cramped leg room….
-
Oxford Word of the Month: May – Tag dag
noun: a person who accidentally leaves a garment label showing. In 2008 a newspaper article with the heading ‘No panties OK, but what about the tag?’ drew attention to a fashion faux pas made by model Jennifer Hawkins. It wasn’t the fact she had chosen not to wear underpants, but that a garment label was…
-
Oxford Word of the Month – April: Kangaroo mile
noun: a distance usually longer than an actual mile because of the nature of the terrain. THE STORY BEHIND THE WORD OF THE MONTH In 1842, on an overland expedition with Sir John and Lady Jane Franklin in Tasmania, settler and author David Burn wrote in his diary: ‘The path throughout, Mr. Calder reckons at…