World Wide Words

Website users who enter "kibosh," "the whole nine yards," or any one of 2,000 unusual words or phrases into their favorite search engine may well be directed to World Wide Words www.worldwidewords.org, Michael Quinion's online compendium of articles on new words, word histories, words in the news, and curiosities of native English speech.

The site, aimed at language enthusiasts, provides Quinion, an independent British lexicographer, the opportunity to engage with his readers, debunk folk etymologies and myths about language, and otherwise explore the peculiarities and vagaries of English. He brings the skills of a detective to his columns. Quinion contributes citations to the Oxford English Dictionary (online version) provided many entries for the Oxford Dictionary of New Words; and has written popular books on language myths, vanishing words, and word origins. Some of the site's content is available both in print and online.

Quinion's most recent book derives from the question-and-answer section of the website, and definitions from his 2002 work, Ologies and Isms, are now freely available via a link on the home page titled Affixes Dictionary. New entries are added weekly. Erudite and wonderfully eclectic, this website is a good source of information on words both too new for the dictionary and those vanishing from it. Summing Up: Highly recommended. Lower-division undergraduates and general audience. -- J. Adlington, McMaster University Choice Reviews Online, Nov 2012

Be sure to check TCC Library Databases for access to Oxford Reference Online: Fully-indexed, cross-searchable database of over 100 dictionary, language reference, and subject reference works published by Oxford University Press. In addition to a wealth of facts, figures, definitions, and translations, also includes detailed information across a broad subject range from titles in the world-renowned Oxford Companions Series. Access requires a TCC ID card. Contact the Library for more information.