Neuroscience
Terrific TedTalk by Erin McKean, editor in chief of the Oxford American Dictionary; on the TedTalks web site, they call her infectiously exuberant, and I'd have to agree. It's 15 minutes, but I could have listened for much longer.
On the word "lexicographical": it's a double dactyl, defined by the OED thusly: "Prosody. A metrical foot consisting of a long syllable followed by two short (or, in modern verse, of an accented syllable and two unaccented)." Heh heh, she said "double dactyl".
McKean suggests that the "book-shaped" dictionary no longer going to be the "only shape dictionaries come in." "No one hugs dictionaries", she asserts (tho' honestly, I have been known to pet a dictionary's pages ...)
Further, she defines serendipity -- known in dictionary-land as well as library-land -- as finding unknown things because finding the original item was "so damn difficult."
One of her favorite words? Erinaceous. From the OED again: "Pertaining to the hedgehog family; of the nature of a hedgehog."
Her metaphors and similes are delightful, and her enthusiasm for words and dictionaries is inspiring. If you use words, you should watch this presentation.
For More Information
* Erin's bio @ TedTalks
* Redefining the dictionary: Erin McKean on TED.com Recorded, March 2007 in Monterey Calif. and released online August 30, 2007. Also available via iTunes.
Erin's two blogs:
* Dictionary Evangelist
* A Dress A Day
- More On Neurowords
Neuromarketing is not that new, so reading a story in EurekAlert about "a groundbreaking new study" that is supposedly "the first to use fMRI to assess consumer perceptions" is a little disappointing. Neurowords aren't spreading through the lexicon...
- From Unregistered Words To Oed3
Just heard a great lecture / podcast by Simon Winchester on the Oxford English Dictionary. Winchester spoke at TVOntario’s Big Ideas show in May and told fascinating stories about the genesis of monolingual dictionaries, which came later than the multilingual...
- American Heritage: __scriptive Dictionary
Cute story in today's Times about the American Heritage Dictionary: is it prescriptive or descriptive? Read bits about its history, Webster's Third, and the Oxford American Dictionary. And find out about the panel who decides what's in & what's...
- Print Is Mighty, Too
Have you seen the New Dictionary of the History of Ideas yet? Very impressive! The new edition is 6 volumes (compared with 4) and has some very topical and cognitive entries. There are several having to do with consciousness, the philosophers among you...
- Lexicographers: The Next Generation
Read about the next gen of lexicographers, including a 33-year-old editor-in-chief of the Oxford American Dictionary, and the 38-year-old "second-in-command" at the American Heritage Dictionary who has the phonetic vowel chart tatooed across his back....
Neuroscience
"Infectiously Exuberant [Lexicographical] Talk"
Terrific TedTalk by Erin McKean, editor in chief of the Oxford American Dictionary; on the TedTalks web site, they call her infectiously exuberant, and I'd have to agree. It's 15 minutes, but I could have listened for much longer.
On the word "lexicographical": it's a double dactyl, defined by the OED thusly: "Prosody. A metrical foot consisting of a long syllable followed by two short (or, in modern verse, of an accented syllable and two unaccented)." Heh heh, she said "double dactyl".
McKean suggests that the "book-shaped" dictionary no longer going to be the "only shape dictionaries come in." "No one hugs dictionaries", she asserts (tho' honestly, I have been known to pet a dictionary's pages ...)
Further, she defines serendipity -- known in dictionary-land as well as library-land -- as finding unknown things because finding the original item was "so damn difficult."
One of her favorite words? Erinaceous. From the OED again: "Pertaining to the hedgehog family; of the nature of a hedgehog."
Her metaphors and similes are delightful, and her enthusiasm for words and dictionaries is inspiring. If you use words, you should watch this presentation.
For More Information
* Erin's bio @ TedTalks
* Redefining the dictionary: Erin McKean on TED.com Recorded, March 2007 in Monterey Calif. and released online August 30, 2007. Also available via iTunes.
Erin's two blogs:
* Dictionary Evangelist
* A Dress A Day
- More On Neurowords
Neuromarketing is not that new, so reading a story in EurekAlert about "a groundbreaking new study" that is supposedly "the first to use fMRI to assess consumer perceptions" is a little disappointing. Neurowords aren't spreading through the lexicon...
- From Unregistered Words To Oed3
Just heard a great lecture / podcast by Simon Winchester on the Oxford English Dictionary. Winchester spoke at TVOntario’s Big Ideas show in May and told fascinating stories about the genesis of monolingual dictionaries, which came later than the multilingual...
- American Heritage: __scriptive Dictionary
Cute story in today's Times about the American Heritage Dictionary: is it prescriptive or descriptive? Read bits about its history, Webster's Third, and the Oxford American Dictionary. And find out about the panel who decides what's in & what's...
- Print Is Mighty, Too
Have you seen the New Dictionary of the History of Ideas yet? Very impressive! The new edition is 6 volumes (compared with 4) and has some very topical and cognitive entries. There are several having to do with consciousness, the philosophers among you...
- Lexicographers: The Next Generation
Read about the next gen of lexicographers, including a 33-year-old editor-in-chief of the Oxford American Dictionary, and the 38-year-old "second-in-command" at the American Heritage Dictionary who has the phonetic vowel chart tatooed across his back....