Re: Ammon Shea, _Reading the OED_

Catawumpus <kimmerian@xxxxxxxxxxx>:

Ammon Shea, _Reading the OED_. Not out til July, but this
is o.k.: some examples of Absurd Entries and Blatant
Disregard in a short article (an ad, really) on the OUP website.
My pick:

I'll confess that on several occasions I thought
that the editors of the OED were having a joke at
the reader's expense. The entry for _unpoetic_ gives
no definition, but there is a note that tells the
reader to 'cf. next.' The reader dutifully looks
ahead to the next entry which is _unpoetical_, the
definition of which reads 'cf. prev.'

John Dean <john-dean@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>:

Looks like Ammon is struggling to understand how the OED works. 'cf' simply
means 'compare' so those who look up 'unpoetic' are invited to compare it
with 'unpoetical' and vice versa. Innocuous enough and you don't have to
compare if you don't wanna. In each case, there is no definition because the
reader is given the clue 'un-1 7' referring them to the seventh usage of the
first entry for the prefix 'un' which explains how the prefix is attached to
adjectives to make the negative meaning. Simple and elegant.

Cf. "git, humorless." Look, your picture! I remember you
from the DMW. After making me wait twenty minutes while you
did some Very Important Tidying at your desk, you explained I'd
need to complete Bureau of Licenses Form 591EED642 in
triplicate before I could submit Form D75483aa, and that unless
I had Form D75483aa stamped "approved," I couldn't have a
blank copy of Form 591EED642. When I protested, you said, "You
don't have to drive if you don't wanna. Now please, there
are people in line behind you. Don't make me ask an officer to
step over here."

(BTW of the various entries for "til" in the OED, the only one that has the
meaning you use has an apostrophe - 'til.)

"The fi^H^H second thing we do, let's kill all the lawyers."

-- Catawumpus
.

Relevant Pages

  • Re: Ammon Shea, _Reading the OED_
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