THE GENTLE ART OF LE XI C O GR AP HY as pursued and experienced by an addict Eric Partridge I am not so lost in lexi cog raphy as to forget tha t w ord s are th e dau ters of eart and t at t i n s includin deeds are gh h , h h g ! g ! h sdn t e s of heav en . Samuel ohnson in the reface of hi s Dictiona I r . ! , P y , 75 5 THE M ACM ILL A N C O M PA NY N EW YO R K Printed in Great Butam Eric Partridge 1963 Lib rary of Congress C atalog Card No 63 -1283 3 For Eileen and Anna n ll en the two most i te ig t , delightful and talented l n gir s I k ow. CON TE N T S a s s a a s e a a s a a a a a a a a a a a a ae a a a a a a e a a pag e 9 How It All Began Trial R uns Getting to Grips Th e Problem of Alphabetical Order Trifles Mi ddle-Weights Problems of Assemblage Et ymological a Matter of Origins P l A e c n e hil en rob ems of g ; or, Di tio ari s for C dr R n th e Pen l Non- F lu evisio ; or, a ties of ai re Th e Art ofLexicography ; a Few R andom Bibliographi cal Comments I ndex P R E FA C E as s as s a a s a s a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a s a a HE MR AL HA M mill n n Inc W N RT of the ac a Compa y , invited me to launch upon the perilous waters of belles Iettres ll u n l x a sma barq e carryi g a cargo of e icography , I l in l I ul not n n recoi ed a arm, for co d , at a first rapid i spectio , see how the frail craft could possibly survive the Scylla ofa formidably specialist subject and the Charybdis ofcompeti n u n P R ul tio with s ch professio als as rofessor ! . H bert ictionaries British and American and P L l (D , ) rofessor adis as Orsza h and R n and l e M W . g Dr . Chapma severa oth rs erely to summarize and generalize what they have so pertinently and authoritatively written would be not merely a crass u e n b ut an un n le n n e s per rogatio warra tab imperti e c . Yet the thought ofwriting a small book on lexi cography ‘ ’ h n l ul and somet i g rather ess pop ar , rather more systematic u n n n 1 2 m ch more comprehe sive , tha the essay appeari g , 95 , in F rom S anskrit to Braz il had occurred to me more than once during th e period that has elapsed since Orig ins l e in 1 8 nl mi on appeared , at 95 ; o y to be dis ssed as , brief n n l - n n co sideratio , impracticab e for the above me tio ed Mr n u and u n a n . ents reaso s Hart, the most i sidio s rba e of g ‘ ’ o ocateu s i d : and e r v r W ll n . I d th lu n p , said, e , thi k it over so tio hi n ual h at w ch I eve t ly arrived was t is . 9 The Gentle A rt ofLexicog raphy Instead of attempting a compact multurn in parvo that would satisfy neither the scholars nor the intelligent public ; instead ofwrestling with a mass ofirrefutable principles and repellent techni calities ; instead ofwallowing in an academic exercise ofillusive impartialit y and complacent competence ; and instead of flattering myself that I might be helping : n n n all u n l ul n others aba do i g s ch ob e aims , I co d prese t ’ lexicography in the light of one man s experience ofit the u n hi m and th e impact or, rather, series of impacts po difficulties he encountered and the means he employed to overcome them ; I could even try to convey some idea ofthe u n u u n m n l u l and h ma aspect of this ard o s , i ter i ab e, s bt e n n not u l l n Sisyphea art, by describi g , too pompo s y, the o g road I have travelled and by touchi ng briefly upon a few of n Thi u the perso s I have met by the way . s latter co rse is very much less haphazard and arbitrary than it may seem : Solv tur a ulando i mb . T n nk ml and ull here remai s for me to tha , war y gratef y , the following publishers for their prompt permi ssion to out l n x l of l l and n n i e , as e amp es a phabetica order arra geme t, their entries for the word set and its derivatives : the Claren d on P The Shorter Ox ord En l sh ctiona 8c ress ( f g i Di ry) ; the G . ’ M bs e s New I n e at ona Dictiona . n We t r t rn i l r C erriamCompa y y , 2nd edi tion ; the order varies slightly in their recent 3 rd ’ M 8: Chambe s s n W . R r editio ) ; essrs . Chambers , Ltd ( Twentieth Century Dictionary) ; and Messrs R outledge K n ul A ictionar o lan and Unconventional ega Pa , Ltd ( D y f S g En lis h W u n u m n IV g ) . itho t those ge ero s per issio s , Chapter u an n Th e l n n wo ld have been a poor d meatless thi g . C are do Press has also very kindly allowed me to quote from Dr I O Preface ’ R W an exico ra h M n Mu . Chapm s L g p y ; essrs joh rray, Ltd, ’ from Ernest Weekley s larger di ctionary ; and Messrs R u 8 c K n P ul Ori ins l . o t edge ega a , from g ERIC PARTRIDGE I : HOW IT ALL BE GAN As ONE mi x n n mi m l ght e pect, Dr ! oh so has per tted hi se f three or four remarks upon lexicography or the art of n n r . As one ex en writi g dictio a ies might pect, they t d to be an r both wry d d y. Like most great as opposed to merely u m n d u e an l . famo s , he was modest h mb e ‘ ’ ‘ n n l e : Dictio aries , he o ce said, are ike watch s the worst is e h n n n and nn x ui b tter t a o e, the best ca ot be e pected to go q te ’ ‘ ’ u H n lexico a n tr e . e defi ed g r pher as a writer of dictio aries ‘ ’ and ch ara ctéristicall l u . y added the words , a harm ess dr dge n x lifi dull n n e Withi his great work, he e emp ed with the se te c , ‘ ’ To n u n u lan make dictio aries is d ll work . Eve a c rsory g ce at a few pages ofA Dictionary of the Eng lish Lang uage (1 75 5) shows us that he did not fi nd the word dull; that he di d not regard hi mselfas a drudge ; that it is unlikely he thought of hi l l But l x l u mse f as harm ess . e icographica hacks are dr dges and the result of their work is dull and lifeless : and they s l one u l ll ul them e ves are , s pposes , harm ess fe ows , who wo d be so much better employed in compiling pedestrian en l F u l n . or l x cyc opaedias as do bt ess ma y ofthem are me , e i co ra h no ull b ut x n e ul not g p y is t d , e citi g ; oth rwise I sho d be n i r n u l l al No e . writi g th s itt e book at l. have I ev r bee a dr dge ' l l h n u t dictionar l n C ear y, w e I se he word y, I primari y mea 1 3 The Gentle A rt ofLexicog raphy — not n n of con a word book, a refere ce work that , for reaso s v eni ence i s n in l l in sa A , arra ged a phabetica order, as ( y) Dictionary of A rchitecture as opposed to A Dictionary of A rchitectura l T ms Th e di n - lin er . divi g e is sometimes hard to draw ; b ut let us not diverge upon that fascinating theme ! N end not ull l Al a N ear the ofa too d ife , bert ! y ock pro ‘ l : As e u l n - ll find c aimed sh er cas a readi g matter , I sti the ’ Engli sh di ctionary the most interesting book in the language ’ Memoirs o a Su e uous Man 1 and ul ( f p rfl , 943) that s as it sho dbe , un n l n ndi n l for what more f dame ta tha , what so i spe sab e as , ’ a di ctionary ? Nock s proclamation reminds me ofthe trivial old l on n n story ofthat ady who , borrowi g a dictio ary from ‘ ‘ h er munici al li u n n A ver p brary , ret r ed it with the comme t, y unus ual n b ut x l book i deed the stories are e treme y short, ’ ’ n ? A one l l l are t they remark, fee s , rather more app icab e to ’ Who s Who an un h the of y co try w atsoever .