While browsing through the TED videos I came across this lovely, full of spank and enthusiasm lexicographer. After that I was hooked! I became such a fan that I thought that I could, maybe, gather in this post all the Erin McKean videos I could find online. This most certainly will not be an exhaustive list but I am sure if you watch even a couple of them you will become a fan and at the same time will see your dictionaries from a whole new perspective.
Who is Erin McKean? I will copy/paste here the entry from Wikipedia, Erin McKean, and feel free to visit the Wikipedia article for all of the sites this active lexicographer maintains. Here is a short bio:
Erin McKean (born 1971) is an American lexicographer. Erin is a founder and the CEO of the new online dictionary Wordnik.She was previously the Principal Editor of The New Oxford American Dictionary, second edition. McKean is also the editor of Verbatim: The Language Quarterly and the author of Weird and Wonderful Words, More Weird and Wonderful Words, Totally Weird and Wonderful Words, and That?s Amore. She has a novel, The Secret Lives of Dresses, coming out from Grand Central.She writes about dresses in her blog, A Dress A Day, and about lexicography at Dictionary Evangelist. She is currently a member of the advisory board of the Wikimedia Foundation and of Credo Reference. She has written “The Word” column in The Boston Globe during times when Jan Freeman has been on leave. McKean has formulated McKean’s law: “Any correction of the speech or writing of others will contain at least one grammatical, spelling, or typographical error”, a variant of Muphry’s law.
So, here is the list of videos I have collected so far…
- Erin McKean at TED: “Redifining the dictionary” (click here for her bio page). Link here.
- Erin McKean at Google: In her speech titled “Verbatim” Erin McKean, editor and lexicographer for the New Oxford American Dictionary, tells Google the ten things she wishes people knew about dictionaries, how people go about making new words, and how lexicographers use Google. Link here.
- Erin McKean at iSummit: Erin McKean delivers the keynote speech at iSummit08. Link here.
- Erin McKean at Google TechTalk: Earn the basics of word formation in English, get “raw materials” for new words, and invent your own word (and have it critiqued) before you let it loose into the English language. The maker of the “best new word” (as voted on by the participants) will win a new dictionary. Link here.
- Erin McKean at Pop!Tech: Erin McKean (2006) Pop!Tech Pop!Cast: Self-proclaimed word geek Erin McKean, editor-in-chief of U.S. Dictionaries for Oxford University Press, is on a mission to debunk common misconceptions and elevate the use-and cool factor-of dictionaries. And what’s this about dictionaries being “the vodka of literature”? Link here.
- Erin McKean at Gel 2007. Link here. You can follow on Twitter and don’t forget to visit Wordnik…
{jcomments on}