Introducing the OED

You know you're a bibliophile if you read this blog title and knew that "the OED" is not a mental compulsion . . .

This morning over breakfast, John remarked to me, "Hey, I think I know where the word 'plow' comes from! It sounds like 'ground.' See? Owwwww . . ."

Now, first of all, it strikes me only in retrospect that perhaps it is because this seven-year-old has me as a teacher that breakfast conversation was on the origin of words. My favorite part of teaching him Latin is going over derivatives, like it's a treasure hunt. When reading or spelling, I'll remark that he doesn't know that particular word because it derives from the Greek language (or whatever), whose spelling rules he doesn't yet know.

Meeting the OED for the first time

So, when John thought he understood the origin of 'plow,' I couldn't just nod and say that was nice. I explained that we can look it up in the Oxford English Dictionary, which is not just any old dictionary, but is the largest dictionary of English, a dictionary which gives the etymology of all English words.

"You know, honey, most people don't own an OED. Mostly libraries own this book because it is so expensive and big." (Truly, it didn't occur to me that most people don't own this book because, you know, etymology isn't utterly fascinating to them.) "But Mama owns one because she loves words so much. I wanted one very much so my daddy bought one for me for my birthday when I was a girl."

John: "What do you mean? It doesn't work that way around here!"

"What are you talking about?"

John: "Around here, you get to pick our birthday presents."

And that's when I remembered that our children have no concept of making a list of gifts that they want. At birthdays and Christmas, they don't request particular gifts. They just show up on the day, receive what we give them (which they like because we do, in fact, know their likes and dislikes), and are generally grateful. I've been happy to keep it such that our children do not know about Making A List.

So I quickly covered . . . "Oh, honey, you know, my daddy just knew that I wanted it. You know how you've been telling me lately that you want a wooden rifle? Well, I know that and, if your birthday were coming up, I might buy you that."

John: "Oh!"

Close call . . .

We really enjoyed looking up the etymology of 'plow' for John. Mary then wanted in on the action and asked to learn about 'flower.' Today was a Red Letter Day for this homeschooling mom because it was the first day I got to use my Oxford English Dictionary while teaching.

I note that an online source is suggesting that the third volume of the OED will be printed only electronically, which means that my edition will be the last one printed on paper. I'm sorry for those who will miss out on the tactile joy of hauling the very heavy book, flipping through the onion skin paper, and using the magnifying glass to find the entries in the itty bitty, teensy weensy print. I am delighted to own this piece of history. Thanks again, Dad!