Thursday, December 1, 2011

The Meaning of Everything--A Review

The Meaning of Everything by Simon Winchester is the story of how the Oxford English Dictionary came into existence. While this subject matter has the potential to be completely boring, Winchester creates a narrative that is simply delightful. It's been a very long time since I've enjoyed a book as thoroughly as I've enjoyed this one.

Winchester begins the narrative with a brief history of the English language and then describes the attempts men made to catalogue it in various dictionaries. Then comes the Philological Society of Britain and their commitment to create a comprehensive dictionary of the English language. And thus begins the endeavor that took 70 years, 6 editors, and thousands of "readers"--men and women who dedicated years of their lives to scouring books for words and their many usages.

The story of the OED is fraught with stories of incompetence, fervor bordering on madness, and the struggle between those who wanted to take the time, however long that may be, to do it right, and those who would cut corners to save money. Characters like Frederick Furnivall (second editor of the OED and one who left it in a shambles during his tenure), James Henry (third and most influential editor, who spent over a half century seeing the project to fruition), and Fitzedward Hall (hermit, dedicated reader and eventual sub-editor much admired by Henry) spring to life under the dazzling storytelling of Winchester.

The scope and weight of this project was enormous and it grew exponentially over time. What was estimated at the beginning to take less than a decade turned out to take seven. But what came out of it is the definitive record of the English language, one that will never stop growing.

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