“Nineteen eighty-nine is a significant year for the English language, though it is probably true to say that few outside this hall would know it.” There is a smattering of laughter, and he looks up, clearly pleased. “This year, the second edition of the Oxford English Dictionary has been published, sixty-one years after the completion of the first. It combines the first edition and all the supplements, as well as an additional five thousand words and meanings.
