The Oxford Companion to the English Language

This work is a collection of essays of varying lengths on a wide variety of English-related projects. As such, it often makes for fascinating reading. As a reference work it falls a bit short, as the amount of attention given a particular topic seems to bear no relation to the topic's significance, nor does there seem to be any attempt at a comprehensive or well-rounded treatment of the book's subject. Also, some of the articles have a tongue-in-cheek tone that seems a bit more casual than one would expect from a reference work; at the same time, this informality is an essential contributor to the unique character of this book. Similarly, the fact that the entire collection of esssays were written by a relatively small number of people allow for unique connections between topics -- I often found myself following paths of cross-references from one article to the next, as particular authors wrote articles on related or similar topics. (The entries on "Golden Bull Award", "Doublespeak", and related topics are truly memorable.) Somewhat surprisingly for Oxford, there are actually several articles to which some might take offense, most notably the fairly extensive discussion of Black English Vernacular (BEV) wherein the definitions and the 'example' sentences and phrases seem -- astoundingly -- deliberately chosen from stock racial cliches. In mentioning the word 'crib', for instance, we read: "...once used to refer only to an infant's bed, comes to mean any place of residence, including a public housing project." Or, "As in Appalachian vernacular, the particle 'a' is oft used to express intention: "I'm a shoot you!"" These seem so blatently lacking in political correctness (and expediency) that one must assume they're intended to be humorous. These caveats notwithstanding, the book is a pleasure to read, and I thoroughly recommend it to anyone with an interest in the English language.

People who love English already have a few books about advanced English usage, such as Fowler, and various style guides. I love Fowler; browsing its pages is a delight. The Oxford Companion (concise ed) is different. It's much more objective, and more encylopedic. There are entries on many important linguistic terms and concepts, excellent definitions of all the grammatical terms you'll come across (what does "dative" mean?), accurate surveys of areas like what is a dialect and what isn't, and the major threads of the academic debate are presented. Every letter of the alphabet is given its history. Curious about Scouse? About the impact of Samuel Johnson and his dictionary? What is the state of opinion about the Sapir-Whorfian Hypothesis? Estuary English? Regional dialects of North America? I can't believe I haven't had this book on my shelf since the moment it was published, and I'm busy making a list of people to give it to. This a breakthrough contribution to books about English.

This book is one of the better purchases I have ever made. Every time I need a detail about the English language, literary devices and terminology, or grammatical usage, this book always has a couple of paragraphs to explain what I need to know -- and usually a handful of cross references to related topics. All with the usual careful and thorough treatment you expect from Oxford. Every library should have a copy of this book.

"Companion" well describes this book. People who love English for its own sake can flip open any page and start reading, and soon find themselves cross-referencing through the whole volume (and learning a lot). Not as essential as a dictionary or style guide, but a way to broaden your understanding of this marvellous, terrifying language and its relatives. For true language junkies, this is not for the bookshelf, but for the bathroom, to read in bits at leisure.