The Meaning of Everything

I don't read a lot of history, because it's usually really boring. But, this book is an amazing chronicle of dedication, ingenuity and perseverance - the 60+ year story of the making of the Oxford English Dictionary. I know, I didn't think it was going to be a good read either when someone recommended it to me, but it is. It's intelligent without being stuffy, and brings a wonderful human face to the people who worked so hard for so long to produce the dictionary. A real classic.

There's some overlap in content between this book and The Professor and the Madman, which felt repetitive. I recommend waiting a few weeks to read this if you've just finished The Professor and the Madman.

I loved learning that Murray's kids were extremely good at crossword puzzles as adults due to their having helped sort the word slips alphabetically for their dad as a household chore and family bonding activity. I especially found it amusing that the kids learned the insult “toerag” from the slips and it became their insult of choice.