The Meaning of Everything

For a book about the dictionary this was a lot more exciting than I thought it would be. It's even a book where the ending is clear because, obviously, there is an Oxford English Dictionary. It's also pretty clear why Simon Winchester wrote a book about the dictionary. The man loves words. There's plenty of places where he uses an string of obscure words where there were other, more common, words available. In places I wished he'd chosen to follow the rule of the dictionary himself - no word in the meaning should be more complex than the word being described.

It is an enjoyable read for all that though. I certainly learned more about the English language reading it and I have a greater appreciation to people that put dictionaries together and continue to edit them. The task is enormous.