Dickhead

[Joanne M. Despres]

On 23 Sep 2003, at 9:35, Jesse Sheidlower wrote:

> This is no longer OED's policy; we now give words in the order of
> the evidence, regardless of what our expectations are for the
> word's development. We do add notes if necessary to explain why
> we think that something may have derived from a later-attested
> sense.

Sorry for having forgotten about OED's change of policy, Jesse.
Am I correct in thinking that this change was motivated in part by
the availability of a great deal of new documentary evidence that
put many "illogical" orderings right?

Joanne


Joanne M. Despres, Senior Editor
Merriam-Webster, Inc.
jdespres at merriam-webster.com
http://www.merriam-webster.com