Oxford Dictionary Videos

How to decide what to include in a dictionary?

• Words are added if there is enough evidence of use.
• more rare and technical terms are included in the larger dictionaries and in smaller dictionaries there are more high frequency words included
• In Dictionaries for primary school children, adult terms will be left out 
• In smaller dictionaries its how widely the word occurs and in larger dictionaries the aim is to be as comprehensive as possible

What is the origin of "posh"?

• it is from the acronym " port out starboard home"
• this refers to the fact that on sea voyages between Britain and India the comfortable cabins were on the port side of the boat going out and on the starboard side coming home. The cabins were in the shade so they were much cooler, therefore the most expensive 
• The people operating the boat would print "posh" on the tickets 
• However, there is no physical evidence, no tickets have ever been found with tis word printed on them.

Oxford Dictionary's word of the year is "selfie"

• found evidence for the use of "selfie" as far back as 2002 in Australia
• Mainly popular on social media sites 
• Extended to other media sources, such as; newspapers , magazines and television

Discovering OED appeals

• 150 years ago the public sent in material that formed the core of the dictionary
• In 1879 James Murray published a list of words he needed help with
• They have kept this tradition and collaborated with many different sources, especially in the last decade.
• They will use social media to help with interaction.