Why the OED does not know everything

[Fred Shapiro]

On Sat, 9 Feb 2002, James A. Landau wrote:

> First problem:  the OED accepts the title page of Kerr's translation as
> dating the translation as 1790.  However, according to the "Advertisement of
> the Translator" in the book,  this translation was prepared during September
> and October of 1789.  Which is the proper date for this book?

Many books are "prepared" a year or more prior to the publication date.
But obviously the publication date is the only practicable date to use.
And how do you know whether the "prepared"  translation of 1789 was
altered in the process of publication or not?

> college).  Yet it would appear that in the entire lifetime of the OED I was
> the first person who ever made a systematic search of this well-known book.

John Simpson, the Chief Editor of the OED, has told me that he considers
older scientific vocabulary to be the single area of the OED most in need
of improvement.  So your study of such texts is quite helpful to them, I
am sure.

> 1) Even the OED and its legion of contributors (Tribune Shapiro?  Quaestor
> Popik?) cannot search everything every printed.

This seemingly obvious fact seems to elude some people.

Fred Shapiro


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Fred R. Shapiro                             Editor
Associate Librarian for Public Services     YALE DICTIONARY OF QUOTATIONS
  and Lecturer in Legal Research            Yale University Press,
Yale Law School                             forthcoming
e-mail: fred.shapiro at yale.edu               http://quotationdictionary.com
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