Have you ever..........

……opened a Dictionary and kept reading? It is a fascinating habit I commenced eons ago. My little blue Gem dictionary saved many errors and made for interesting reading when bored. This Dictionary is the Collins Concise, on top is my final journal, about to be used to record the descent into mental darkness. That sounds rather dramatic but I now have four years experience with loss of memory and know what is happening. It is time to make sure that the knowledge is passed on to those who may be interested. 

James AH Murray commenced creating the Oxford English Dictionary, (O.E.D.) under the aegis of the Oxford University Press in 1879. The work was completed seventy years later. Many would consider me a pedant for the way I consider it necessary to protect the English language. I have railed against Melvyn Bragg for his willingness to see words distorted, cancelled and slang adopted. Twenty years ago academic institutions on the West Coast of America and many employers found it was easier to lower their standards and allow students and employees to use colloquialisms and their own form of spelling. It was said at the time that it is easier to dumb down than educate. 

This attitude seems an abdication of all that University life should be. Surely the aim must be for the highest possible standards to be maintained? The original O.E.D. was written with dip pens, the latest is available online; I think it is a marvellous tool but wish that future generations at least have an understanding of the sacrifices and skills necessary to create a series of volumes I consider equal to the Bible in terms of the beauty of words contained therein. Languages change and evolve, that is a given, but should they be adulterated?

Mel Gibson has a lot to answer for, especially his Scottish accent, but you may enjoy the film The Professor and the Madman, charting the creation of the O.E.D..

In the extra, the Garden Fairy received her latest gadget today, one of Mr Dyson’s latest vacuum cleaners. Initial testing has been successful. When we left Sarawak our gardener asked if we had a Vaccooooouuum we could sell to him. It took a few seconds for the word to calibrate in my head. Sadly we did not, he would have been welcome to a small parting gift.